B.good, a fast-food joint catering to our better angels, has descended upon the Main Line. Not only is its first restaurant now open in Wynnewood Square, it’s also dispatching this little puppy to serve up free smoothies to Main Line businesses this month. (Pitch a visit to your workplace via [email protected])
B.good likes to brag A LOT about how its entire menu – house-ground burgers, oven-finished fries, kale and grain bowls, salads, sides, smoothies and shakes – comes from “local farms that support humane, natural and responsible growing.” Wall murals introduce you to virtuous guys like Farmer Rich from South Jersey.
And Farmer Eric, also from Jersey.
A chalkboard shows how everything comes from near and nearer. (Whoops! Whoever wrote this couldn’t have been local. See why?)
B.good’s only Main Line supplier is New Hope Premium Fountain soda out of Bryn Mawr. Brought to you by the do-gooders behind Peace a Pizza, New Hope dispenses all-natural fizzies like Sunny Root Beer, Cucumber Melon Splash and Skinny Cane Cola.
B.good owner Deb Lutz is also native to Bryn Mawr, making her at least as local as her food. But the local shtick extends only so far. The b.good company, a 22-restaurant chain, is based in Boston.
This is Lutz’ second franchise. Her first is in Marlton, NJ and there may be more to come. Lutz tells SAVVY she’s already scouting sites in King of Prussia, Plymouth Meeting and Conshohocken.
I visited Wynnewood twice. My first lunch, a turkey burger, was pretty good and would have been better if it hadn’t been overcooked – an opening day goof-up, no doubt.
On Saturday I wanted to be good – or a wee bit better, at least. I chose the Harvest Kale Salad ($7.99): tangy, tasty and just 309 calories, not counting the cage-free egg ($1.49) sitting trendily on top. My husband flipped for his West Side burger ($7.49) topped with avocado, cilantro, chipotle purée and lime.
Lutz says the biggest seller by far is the Spicy Avocado & Lime Bowl ($9.59/521 calories). Maybe next time.
95 percent of the menu can be made gluten free, according to Lutz. (Vegans get much slimmer pickins.)
But don’t let the angelic name fool you. It’s easy to be bad here. Beckoning from the counter are “jars full of cupcakes” and colossal cookies from the gluten-free Grain Exchange. Tempting “carrot cake” smoothies slide down with 18 grams of saturated fat. And though they hail from Trickling Springs Creamery, the chocolate shakes are positively gushing with calories – 745!
B.good is in the Wynnewood Square Shopping Center near Superfresh at 280 E. Lancaster Ave. Order at the counter, online or by phone, 484-417-6345. Open daily 11 to 9; Sundays until 8.
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To the staff, it’s “Little Wayne.”
To the rest of us, it’s MOD Pizza’s second Wayne store in as many months, open since Sunday at the old Melt Down on Lancaster Ave.
Little Wayne should not to be confused with “Big Wayne,” the new MOD Pizza in the Gateway Shopping Center. Same design-your-own-pie concept; a lot fewer seats (32 on Lancaster Ave., nearly 100 in Gateway).
The manager pointed out that MOD squaders start at $10/hour. Take that, Chipotle in Haverford(!) where an employee was fired after tweeting about his $8.50/hour pay rate and skipped rest breaks.
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And now, SAVVY Shoutouts (a new regular feature)
Congrats to Teresa Wolfgang, new Exec. Director of the Women’s Resource Center. A Villanova alum and former U.S. Army officer serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, Teresa brings years of service – mentoring Afghani businesswomen and assisting women veterans, for starters – to the Wayne-based nonprofit. Michele Daly’s pumps are big, but we’re sure Teresa will fill them with distinction.
Hats off to Whoever Donated $400,000 Anonymously to Emily’s Entourage, the Lower Merion-based charity started by Emily Kramer-Golinkoff and her fab family to find a cure for rare mutations of cystic fibrosis. I, for one, am looking forward to EE’s December gala. Nobody gives a speech – or champions her cause more effectively – than the inspiring Emily K-G.
Kudos to Penn Valley’s Mary Pennington, recently named 2015 Woman of the Year for raising $81,000 for the the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Eastern PA chapter. Mary and 14 others (including salon owner Jay Michael of Bala Cynwyd, PR maven Kristy Sevag of Devon and mighty writer Dawn Elyse Warden of Bryn Mawr) raised nearly $350,000 total. This year’s 10-week campaign honored patient heroes Cullen Jones of Devon and Alana Gracia of Malvern (LLS 2015 Boy and Girl of the Year).
A shoutout to Mary Nixon, founder of Bryn Mawr’s New Leaf Club and recent recipient of the Caron Foundation’s Brian H. Early Community Leadership Award. A non-profit community center focused on healthy living through education and entertainment, New Leaf has been game changer for local families.
And finally, SAVVY sure was psyched to spot society reporter Maggie Henry Corcoran in 6abc footage of the Philly’s delegation meeting with Pope Francis. (How did you swing that sweet gig, Mags?) My longtime sidekick at Main Line Media News, Maggie recently moved on to the Inquirer where her Cause & Celebration page is published each Sunday. Congrats on both coups, Maggie!
[…] We reviewed Deb’s other Main Line location when it opened in Wynnewood last summer. […]