With the New England-based b.good chain of homemade fast-food eateries destined to expand further south and make its debut in Philly in the near future, we ventured out to the suburban splendor of Marlon, N.J., to see what the fuss is about.
It made us happy and sad. Happy because b.good really stands out amongst its fresh fast-food competitors (looking at you, Panera Bread!). Sad because we are 100-percent certain a place like this will opt to plant itself somewhere in University City or any number of Philly ’burbs instead of rescuing our South Street-adjacent neighborhoods from the greasy cheesesteak purgatory that we spend the lion’s share of our time in. Yeah, that’s right, college kids. We’re sick of you getting all the reasonably priced cool food trucks and hip food joints, damnit. We can’t keep a falafel joint open over here. Help us! We are in culinary hell!
Were we lamenting our slim pickings of healthy fare in our daily stomping grounds again? Sorry.
Anyway, b.good walks and talks the locally sourced, fast, fresh fare game better than most. Its menu has seasonal salads and sandwiches and a chalkboard listing of the numerous local farms from which its meat and produce are sourced. So the offerings in Maine or Rhode Island aren’t necessarily what you will find in New Jersey.
The menu in Marlton had a nice selection of burgers, salads and bowls. Right off the bat, you notice the soft-drink selection is every bit as locally sourced as the food. No Coke or Pepsi products here, as this location features house-made lemonades (that’s plural) in flavors like strawberry and beet-ginger. Milkshakes and smoothies are whipped up to order. They also have fountain sodas out of New Hope in adventurous flavors like watermelon cream and mango. They also make their own ketchup in-house. Like we said, they are really walking the walk.
Back to the food. On the healthier side of things, the spicy avocado and lime quinoa bowl ($8.99) lives up to its name, with a bright and flavorful and seemingly endless list of veggies lurking underneath like kale, black beans, shiitakes and more. And it doesn’t slouch on the spices either.
If you are looking for something more conventional, b.good offers a decent range of burgers (beef, veggie, chicken breast and turkey), which you can get plain or with toppings that rival the complexity of their bowls. Most of the specialty burgers have a California flair, but we gravitated towards the adapted Luke burger with caramelized onion, gouda and barbeque sauce ($6.99) on a whole-wheat roll. The beef was top-notch, juicy but not greasy in the slightest. The burger as a whole sang to our inner carnivore, putting its passionate affair with Five Guys in some considerable jeopardy.
The fries at b.good — regular or sweet potato ($2.99 or $3.29) — are great, but you also have the option of pairing your burger with a side order of crisp veggies ($3.99) or, our favorite, grilled local corn on the cob ($3.99) topped with queso fresco, lime and jalapeño.
Like we said. We love, love, love the idea of b.good and the execution of their vision is pretty much perfect. It just makes our pitiful lunchtime treks to Whiz-soaked mediocrity all the more drab.
Onward to Philly b.good. We need you.