I can't have gluten or my entire digestive system throws a temper tantrum. So while there are some downsides to this trend, I am personally delighted that it's become so common. Finally I have a good, semi-affordable, quick option for lunch or even dinner that can be trivially obtained and isn't a salad. For all their faults, for all their flaws, slop-bowls are exactly what I want and what I've always wanted and honestly it's how I eat at home half the time.

Mock them, disdain them, but as long as we keep buying them, I'm able to eat lunch away from home easily and that's worth a lot to me.
posted by Tomorrowful at 9:10 AM on October 2 [18 favorites]

...."Slop bowls"? Dude, the concept of "stuff on top of a bowl of grains" dates at least as bar back as the 1500s in some places. Just because it's not a sandwich with chips or something doesn't make it a bad lunch option.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:14 AM on October 2 [24 favorites]

But they missed on the most classic slop bowl - The Failure Pile in a Sadness Bowl

There's a mostly california chain - Flame Broiler, which was started by a Korean immigrant to LA and it would fall into the author's realm (and seriously slop bowl is so godawful a term and forgetful about just how much of humanity has eaten over the millenia). It's stupid simple - chicken, steak or tofu over rice with cabbage, carrots and broccoli with a handful of self service options. You can get the chicken bowl for just over $10 (used to be $7!)

It's a much better and more fulfilling option than the Poke place nearby for about half the cost and it's miles healthier and less "ugh" inducing than more fast/fast casual food. (And it's loads healthier and tastier than the other old school LA "stick it in a bowl" fast food - Yoshinoya
posted by drewbage1847 at 9:33 AM on October 2 [6 favorites]

When I¡¯ve seen this posted in other spaces, people have noted that it has a weird eating disorder feel. As someone in recovery from anorexia, I totally agree¡ªfinding food disgusting or deliberately describing it in unappetizing terms is a huge part of the thinking of the disorder.
posted by lorddogbotherer at 9:35 AM on October 2 [7 favorites]

The kids meal at CAVA is filling and under $8. I usually get it with the lentils and wind up taking that part home for dinner.

I am ridiculously proud of never having eaten at Chipotle. For some reason the food there looks completely unappealing.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:37 AM on October 2

Yeah this is like saying "I guess we're all FILTHY PIGS for putting CEREAL and MILK into the same bowl hahahaha look at us we're disgusting." It's okay to enjoy things without ironically (?) insulting them! We have bowls! We have food! The two can go together!
posted by mittens at 9:37 AM on October 2 [6 favorites]

I was disappointed the first time I went to Bibibop because it wasn't really the Korean restaurant I was hoping for but it is delicious.
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:40 AM on October 2

For some reason the food there looks completely unappealing.

One problem with Chipotle is that quality can vary tremendously from store to store, especially after the pandemic. So much depends on whether you have a food preparer who sees guacamole as a right, or a privilege. Their relationship with the salt-shaker can also make or break the meal. However, when they get it right, it's so good.
posted by mittens at 9:41 AM on October 2 [1 favorite]

Wait until Slate hears about the retro classic Totally Random Leftovers Bowl. It's customized to your diet, helps eliminate food waste, and is functionally free!
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 9:44 AM on October 2 [8 favorites]

Bibimbap! I forgot about that - I was sitting here thinking of all the different bowl-type dishes that have been long-time established meal options (Japanese donburi, poke bowls, there's lots of French and Italian stews that are served over rice...) and wondering how in the hell someone would call all of that a "slop bowl". Hell, my own DIY lunches tend to be some variant of that.

When I¡¯ve seen this posted in other spaces, people have noted that it has a weird eating disorder feel.

....Huh, that makes a lot of sense.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:45 AM on October 2 [2 favorites]

I wonder if the same folks have consistently described curry or vindaloo as a "slurry."
posted by Tomorrowful at 9:49 AM on October 2 [3 favorites]

Huh, I guess I called it the wrong thing when I was on the hunt a while back. My bad.
posted by phunniemee at 9:50 AM on October 2

I was eating Wahoo's Fish Taco bowls twice, sometimes three times a week when I lived in Denver and I've never come across anything as healthy and tasty for the price. Call it whatever you want, but push that slop my way!
posted by hairless ape at 9:58 AM on October 2

I wish the article leaned more into self-referentiality - this is the journalistic equivalent of a slop bowl, and barely mid one at that.
posted by 99_ at 10:01 AM on October 2 [6 favorites]

Businesses are really sleeping on the efficiency gains and team building benefits of just installing slop troughs in the office. Employers love the shorter lunch times and increased team cohesion, and employees love the free lunches. It's a win-win!
posted by phooky at 10:22 AM on October 2 [1 favorite]

Businesses are really sleeping on the efficiency gains and team building benefits of just installing slop troughs in the office.

You jest, but it'd be pretty cool for American businesses to have a big rice cooker (¨¤ la the communal coffee maker) to provide employees fresh rice to throw random leftovers onto. It wouldn't cost much, would greatly improve the overall quality of lunching.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 10:41 AM on October 2 [5 favorites]

Seattle had a local place that let you build your own SE Asian style bowl, selecting protein, veggies and sauce. They do not seem to have survived the pandemic ?

I recall someone trying an India cuisine one too, it never checked it out.
posted by funkaspuck at 10:43 AM on October 2

Our bowl lunch places here are completely different yet exactly the same, other than Chipotle, which also exists here. I don't really understand the disdain. I recognize this kind of eating isn't traditionally the province of restaurants, but it is how lots of people eat normally and it is perfectly attenuated to people getting exactly what they want and nothing they don't want, and I really appreciate that.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:52 AM on October 2 [2 favorites]

I recall someone trying an India cuisine one too, it never checked it out.

Lots of Indian restaurants used to have lunchtime buffets, which basically amounts to the same thing but self-serve, but I haven't seen it as much since the pandemic.

Also, this is a completely NYC-centric list, even though Slate is ostensibly a national publication? It looks like Dig is only available in between DC and Boston, and THISBOWL only has one U.S. location, in Manhattan. Strangely, Dos Toros, the NYC/DC burrito-and-bowl chain that's generally better than Chipotle or Qdoba, isn't included. And if you're going to include regional slop offerings, I'm very skeptical you can't find something better in California.
posted by smelendez at 11:00 AM on October 2 [1 favorite]

For some reason the food there looks completely unappealing.

Chiptotle is fine - the best order is 3 soft tacos if you want to maximize meat. But the salsa and lettuce are both fresh vegetables and the cost is 1/2 of an Acai bowl. I'm not sure who would rate Qudoba above Chipotle, since most of Qudoba's are generally premade with fewer options.

The food missing: fast food spaghetti. Not sure why it's considered a 'swanky' food in the US when an entire family meal worth of noodles is $1 and an entire jar of acceptable sauce is $1.50 and an entire jar of decent sauce is $6. It exists - Fazolli's exists, but it's rare.

I'm surprised the author ranked Poke bowls so high when that trend came and went. Nobody wants their sushi in a bowl. I personally think they are fine, but society disagrees.

The fruit stuff is good, but again $14 for a basic acai bowl. Man that's moving into sit-down dining territory.
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:06 AM on October 2

And if you're going to include regional slop offerings, I'm very skeptical you can't find something better in California.

Shit, you can find better grain bowl options in New York City as well.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:07 AM on October 2 [1 favorite]

There's a new Playa Bowls I've seen around, but it seemed so oddly focused¡ªa?ai products¡ªthat I haven't given it a second glance. Any personal (or even impersonal) experiences eating there?
posted by the sobsister at 11:28 AM on October 2

No, 'slop bowl' needs a better name. 'Comfort Mix'?
One of my favorite Kdrama tropes is the late night nosh scene of a despondent protagonist. She (usually she -- the despondent 'he' scenes involve slomo showers) stumbles to the fridge with a big mixing bowl of rice and starts emptying containers of leftover banchan into it ... then pours in kimchi, gochujang, other assorted bottled sauces, and stirs angrily. Then she sits cramming the mess into her mouth -- much in the way the broken hearted manic pixie girl gobbles mint chocolate ice cream from a huge container in US films.
posted by Surfurrus at 12:02 PM on October 2 [4 favorites]

Noodles and Co is basically this though I can't remember if it's bowl or plate. My experience was very meh.

At home, I prefer my proteins and vegs chopped small and served with something that soaks up the juice, usually rice but sometimes potatoes or pasta.
posted by emjaybee at 12:02 PM on October 2

And it's loads healthier and tastier than the other old school LA "stick it in a bowl" fast food - Yoshinoya

Back when I was an English instructor in Japan my students asked me what my favourite restaurant was (this was a class for kids in junior high) and my response was something like "I don't know, maybe Yoshinoya". Then one of the students asked me if I was poor and I don't remember how I answered that.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:19 PM on October 2 [5 favorites]

Yeah, my main "bowl" that I make frequently is gnocchi, Jimmie Dean's hot sausage, Arribiata sauce, and green bell peppers, (Or whatever not hot peppers might come in the farm bag (got a yellow and a red, red is a bit hot, a few weeks ago, and have been using them a lot)).

It times out pretty smoothly. Start the gnocchi. 8 Minutes in, flip the Gnocchi, toss inn the sausage. Maybe on its own side of the pan so you can flip it without flipping the gnocchi again. Give it enough time for the sausage to be safely cooked. I knock the temp a bit, add the sauce, stir it around. Get my peppers and dump them in. Stir. Couple of minutes and then turn the burner off. I cook in cast iron, so it will keep cooking. (Might add some cheddar cheese at some point on top).

It's all well more than I can eat in one sitting. So next day leftover meal!
posted by Windopaene at 12:24 PM on October 2 [1 favorite]

No, 'slop bowl' needs a better name. 'Comfort Mix'?

Why not the existing name if it has one like "donburi", "poke" or "bibimbap"?

Or why not "Buddha Bowl" which I know I have seen before this?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:29 PM on October 2 [4 favorites]

I've been calling them slop bowls for a while--this article didn't make up the name, it's been floating around. I feel that MetaFilter is a lot of retirees, WFH, and People Who Cook, so maybe you don't know what Sweetgreen looks like after you've shoved it in your tote bag and jogged back to work. It's slop in a bowl.

Anyway, the Autumn Harvest bowl is a banger, delicious kale slop. I also like DIG and Playa Bowl even though those acai bowls are ridiculously overpriced. With Sweetgrean and DIG you're basically getting two meals, but there's no such thing as leftover acai bowl.

I might give Moonbowls a try next week. Unfortunately, all these bowls are so expensive that they are more of a treat than a daily lunch. Four of the frozen Trader Joe's acai bowls are about the same price as one playa bowl.
posted by betweenthebars at 12:30 PM on October 2

You jest, but it'd be pretty cool for American businesses to have a big rice cooker

So, about a decade and a half ago when we were looking for light manufacturing space, we saw a bunch of places that were recently vacated sweatshops. One of them had a little room off to the side with the largest rice cooker I had ever seen; so big I could almost have climbed inside. That, and empty 5lb cardboard drums of MSG.

Despite the perk, it did not seem like a great place to work.
posted by phooky at 12:32 PM on October 2

Decades ago there was a Seattle place called ¡°Happy Bowl: makes people happy¡± that was standard Seattle teriyaki , but in a bowl.

Made me happy.
posted by clew at 12:40 PM on October 2 [2 favorites]

slop bowl places are great for folks with dietary restrictions and/or alternative diets who want a complete meal and also work outside the house. being able to run to chipotle if i didn't have any leftovers to bring for lunch and i know i can get a protein-filled vegan lunch is nice.
posted by europeandaughter at 12:50 PM on October 2

It sounds as though whenever you see one of these bowl spreads placed before you at a luncheon, your disappointment is immeasurable and your day is ruined. I wish you all the best as you carry yourself forward through the tragedy that is this hardship, difficult though it may be. Life¡¯s travails can be so capricious.
posted by hilberseimer at 12:52 PM on October 2 [2 favorites]

9. CAVA
8. Sweetgreen
7. Playa Bowls
6. Chop¡¯t
5. Pok¨¦works
4. Honeygrow
3. Moonbowls
2. THISBOWL
1. Dig

These are all just made up
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 1:03 PM on October 2

This is a derail but...

Nobody wants their sushi in a bowl

The entire Kingdom of Hawai¡®i would (perhaps) respectfully disagree. Also I will never not be infuriated by seeing it written as "pok¨¦."
posted by deadbilly at 1:13 PM on October 2 [5 favorites]

wow using words like "slop" or "slurry" to describe such a common (and delicious) thing as "throw some stuff in a bowl and eat it" is really weird. its one of my favorite ways to eat and I could list all the different delicious combos of leftovers and fresh stuff and that is before we even get into PUTTING A POACHED EGG ON TOP. sheesh.
posted by supermedusa at 1:18 PM on October 2

I think the slop thing is a reference to how these are pricy fast food quickly thrown together by harried restaurant workers and wolfed down by office workers, and often not part of any particular culinary tradition. These restaurants are like cafeterias where everything is tossed together in a single bowl.

Your meals made from ingredients you know and enjoy are not slop bowls. The bibimbap you get at a sit down Korean restaurant is not a slop bowl.
posted by smelendez at 1:27 PM on October 2

Nobody wants their sushi in a bowl

The entire Kingdom of Hawai¡®i would (perhaps) respectfully disagree. Also I will never not be infuriated by seeing it written as "pok¨¦."

Chirashizushi is totally a thing in Japan. As are donburi with raw fish (I'm thinking of Hokkaido's version of oyakodon here specifically).
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:35 PM on October 2 [1 favorite]

I think the slop thing is a reference to how these are pricy fast food quickly thrown together by harried restaurant workers and wolfed down by office workers, and often not part of any particular culinary tradition

That's a weird response when Chipotle, Quodba, Cava, and pokebowls are all part of relatively specific cuisines (ok some fusion, but certainly not without tradition), and they are all try to be very obvious in their ingredients. (ie: less processing than your average fast food). And most of the rest are salad.

I'll say I think it's fake self-depreciating/ fake modesty for the office class people who eat pricey restaurant food for lunch close to daily, because the others bring leftovers from home and the upper management class doesn't schedule meetings during their own lunch.

The entire Kingdom of Hawai¡®i would (perhaps) respectfully disagree. Also I will never not be infuriated by seeing it written as "pok¨¦."

No doubt, but there used to be a pokebowl restaurant on every corner, and they are almost all gone now. That's the reference.
posted by The_Vegetables at 1:45 PM on October 2

The whole idea of slop bowls is a sandwich / wrap / burrito without the Bad Carbs, but half of the ones I see people in my office eating manage to make it Worse Carbs -- huge quantity of mega-glycemic index white rice, boiled potatoes and/or noodles, compared to which a nice tortilla or two slices of sourdough are positively nutritious.
posted by MattD at 1:54 PM on October 2

I think, actually, that these are a great improvement over traditional fast food in the ability to get something less processed without having to cook the whole damn meal yourself.

And really importantly, the idea that the only way to get healthy food is to cook it at home is a bad idea. It is unrealistic and ahistorical. Communal cooking and commercial cookshops have been a part of life for a really long time.

For example - see this cookshop in Pompeii - that sign on the wall probably says "guacamole extra."
posted by mercredi at 1:59 PM on October 2 [1 favorite]

The whole idea of slop bowls is a sandwich / wrap / burrito without the Bad Carbs

As an eater of slop bowls the whole idea is to be able to put a buncha food in my mouth with a shovel.
posted by phunniemee at 2:01 PM on October 2 [4 favorites]

And this is a total derail...

You all are eating raw fish and sea creatures?
I just can't. But you are not dying, so seems OK. Squicks me out, but OK I guess.

I started to have a desire for prawns. But most o them seem to maybe be toxic these days?
They are kind of gross as well....
posted by Windopaene at 2:25 PM on October 2

Windopaene: "You all are eating raw fish and sea creatures?"

aayyyy who gave my dead grandma a Metafilter account
posted by phunniemee at 2:33 PM on October 2 [4 favorites]

I will be happy to take any and all raw fish and tasty tasty shrimps off yr hands!
posted by supermedusa at 2:36 PM on October 2

one day I'll believe people when they say media doesn't have a racism/cultural appropriation problem, but boy howdy reading through half these replies that definitely isn't going to be today
posted by i used to be someone else at 2:49 PM on October 2 [4 favorites]

*media should be mefi, obvi

just wild to see the weird dismissive judginess of cultural foods and the derogatory references to them
posted by i used to be someone else at 3:05 PM on October 2 [2 favorites]

OK, going to derail again.

As mentioned above. eating raw things grosses me out. I have eaten many types of fish, mostly freshwater. But what makes sushi better?
posted by Windopaene at 3:21 PM on October 2

Jesus, what I¡¯d give for a Metafilter thread on food that didn¡¯t devolve into old whites making uncomfortable comments about how gross Asian food is while everyone tries awkwardly to talk around them.
posted by lorddogbotherer at 3:25 PM on October 2 [3 favorites]

Not my intention at all. Having never eating sushi. or any raw meats, just wondering what makes it better than cooked fish? Or maybe not better, but what is the flavor change?
posted by Windopaene at 3:30 PM on October 2

But what makes sushi better?

Realizing that your personal preferences are irrelevant when it comes to the culinary history and preferences of literally billions of people?

I mean. People eat haggis. Do they need to explain to you why? It's food. People eat it and enjoy it. You don't have to. Explanation not required. Surprise that something eaten by billions of people that you don't personally care for isn't killing them isn't required.
posted by phunniemee at 3:32 PM on October 2 [2 favorites]

I have only ever had roasted vegetables. You people will eat raw salads. Strange? Can you explain this. How is it better?
posted by phunniemee at 3:34 PM on October 2

TFA weirdly oblivious to Japanese cuisine. I'd call poke don-adjacent since it came from Hawai'i (and thanks for the mention of chirashizushi, any portmanteau) but what about a nice tekka-don or my favorite, una-don, with eel? Maybe single-topping bowls don't qualify as 'slop' (a word now more relegated to AI).

I have a ton of GI issues, which maybe means I should have opted out of doing this ranking?

Yeah, maybe. But for some reason Slate's publishing you.

PS Windowpaene, why not give it a try? It's not all raw, since that's what seems to be the hangup. The eel's cooked, you can get a totally vegan cucumber roll, and the tomago nigiri is made from delicious eggs. It's also all about the presentation: food made beautiful.
posted by Rash at 3:48 PM on October 2

Having never eating sushi. or any raw meats, just wondering what makes it better than cooked fish?

The raw and cooked fish will taste similar to each other but the raw fish will have a stronger taste and a different texture. Also the fact that it is cool and juicier makes it more refreshing to me as well, think of eating a roast carrot as opposed to a raw one. The roast carrot is comforting and will put you to sleep while the raw one will wake you up. It took me a bit of time to get used to eating raw fish but I definitely enjoy it now. If you want to work your way to trying some you could get some tataki at a Japanese restaurant - thinly sliced meat or fish that has been cooked on the outside/edges but is raw on the inside/middle. Katsuo (a kind of tuna) tataki is pretty much my favourite thing to eat when I visit Japan.

I've had other raw meats as well, beef, horse, chicken, and ostrich. Cooked chicken is definitely better than raw, I just tried it because I was surprised to see it on the menu. Beef carpaccio is good but properly cooked beef is better to me. I haven't had cooked horse or ostrich so don't have a point of comparison for those.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 3:49 PM on October 2

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