Newly resolute and health-conscious customers flock to this popular Salinas salad bar every January.

Ah, January. That fresh start on a new year when anything seems possible – when we’re encouraged to review our habits and resolve to do better this time. While you might not be aware that January is also National Health Awareness month, the owners of Salinas-based Salad Shoppe certainly are. Each January, this popular Salinas locale sees an influx of newly resolute and health-conscious consumers who aspire to make the new year their healthiest journey around the sun yet.

“We see a huge surge in business every January,” says Josh Gentle, one of two co-owners of the Salad Shoppe. “It’s great to see people who are trying to commit themselves to a healthier diet. We just hope they keep coming back on a consistent basis.”

Some of the not-so-consistent customers who haven’t visited the Shoppe since their last diet (which may or may not include this Weekly contributor) are greeted by several improvements to the Main Street mainstay this year. What started as a glorified salad bar back in 1986 has become a multi-functional business with both a modern look and feel. From the menu to the ambiance, Salad Shoppe has evolved with the times.

“We’ve made a lot of changes since we took over, but even more so over the past year-and-a-half,” says Chuck Hague, who, along with Gentle, assumed ownership in 2011. “We rolled out a website, complete with a full menu and online ordering platform. That, along with our new app for carry-out and delivery service, has really created some nice new revenue streams.”

While Hague was managing the business side of things, Gentle was making some changes to the foodservice element of the business. The menu, which for years consisted almost entirely of fresh salads and soups, now offers an array of deli sandwiches and wraps to go with a host of other fresh and tasty options – think a Thai chicken wrap with spicy peanut sauce or artisan cheese and charcuterie boards to share. Couple that with a salad bar offering over 60 ingredient options, and suddenly Salad Shoppe is a center-of-the-plate destination for both the lunch and dinner crowd.

Salad Shoppe also partnered with Salinas retailer Star Market, which generously offered to lend retail space for grab-and-go items to help keep a few local eateries afloat. The added cash flow helped carry Salad Shoppe through their most difficult and slowest months during the pandemic-induced shutdown and beyond.

“We’re very appreciative to Mark [Rollins] and the team at Star Market,” says Gentle. “We’ve had some pretty slow months during the last year-and-a-half, but we can always count on January.”

Gentle estimates that the salad eatery sees a 25 – to 30-percent boost in sales every January. It doesn’t seem like a coincidence that nearby Pastabilities, a carry-out pasta business, experiences a corresponding dip in their numbers. “January is definitely our worst month,” says Pastabilities co-owner Mike Filice. “But things usually pick up in the spring.”

By spring, the short-time crowd at the Salad Shoppe has usually abandoned their hopes of getting back into that old pair of jeans, or whatever motivated that sudden fascination with salad greens, and perhaps found their way back over to Pastabilities. But Gentle and Hague (as well as the aforementioned Weekly contributor) are optimistic that 2022 will be different. If you have a New Year’s resolution that involves eating healthier (or anything else for that matter), the internet is awash in tips for making these resolutions stick – like breaking your big goals into smaller, less intimidating goals, making a (public) commitment to your goal and celebrating all the little steps en route.

Meanwhile, the Salad Shoppe is continuing to focus on fresh, locally sourced ingredients and hoping for a big year.

“I’m excited about the changes we’ve made,” Gentle says. “I just hope the lines at the salad bar continue.”

SALAD SHOPPE is at 1138 S Main St., Salinas. 422-9600, saladshoppe.com.