Promenade Restaurant “B.good” delivers real homemade food
More stories from Kaitlyn Boyle
B.good offers customers healthy meal options that they can enjoy.
Many hungry customers feel guilty after indulging in a juicy burger from one of the many popular fast food lines. One growing business, however, is working to destroy this feeling of regret, one burger at a time. B.good, located at the Promenade at Sagemore, represents just one of the seventeen restaurants owned by co-founders Anthony Ackil and Jon Olinto. Bonded by the dream of starting their own business, the pair instantly became best friends in sixth grade. Ackil’s uncle Faris supported them throughout the struggle to develop an innovative new idea. Inspired by the many burger dinners held at the Ackil household, along with the lack of healthy fast food restaurants in their hometown, Anthony and Jon set out to design their own unique, nutritiously tasty menu.
Ackil and Olinto opened the first b.good in Boston, MA in 2004. They now dish out their meals from Maine to North Carolina. But they are not done yet.
The friends dream of turning their business into a national chain, thereby reinventing the meaning of fast food.
Their slogan, “real.food.fast” perfectly describes b.good. The menu, although not extensive, offers delicious options made from locally grown and homemade ingredients. At the Marlton location, a large chalkboard map depicts where each of the main food items are bought. For example, the chalkboard describes that the beef found in the burgers is freshly delivered from Roseda farm in Monkton, MD. Additionally, the restaurant’s specially crafted milkshakes are made out of milk and ice cream delivered from Trickling Springs Creamery in Chambersburg, PA. B.good demonstrates its love for its main suppliers by hanging posters bearing their names and pictures, centered beneath the saying “food made by people not factories.”
Burger fans will fully enjoy the healthier take on this typically unhealthy meal. Customers described it as juicy and delicious.
Another sandwich option, the chicken sandwich, was “good and simple,” according to Brooke Treiman (‘17). She enjoyed the sandwich more than those from Chic-Fil-A due to the lack of grease.
Moreover, B.good offers vegetarian options as well. Besides the typical salad, it offers a meal called a kale and quinoa bowl. This bowl consists of a wide array of vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds and cheeses mixed together, depending on which type of bowl is chosen. The white bean and rosemary bowl both looked and tasted fresh. The light, fluffy quinoa hidden beneath the crunchy vegetables makes for an enjoyable dinner or lunch option.
The perfect portion size of each meal satisfies all traces of hunger in itself; nonetheless, the restaurant’s hand-cut, oven-finished fries are an irresistible option as a side. Each generous order comes with a label explaining the calorie content as compared to other fast food chains. The b.good fries contain 305 calories, compared to 414 at McDonald’s, 422 at Burger King and 372 at Wendy’s. Although this may not seem significantly healthier, the true surprise lies within the grams of fat. While fast food chain french fries can contain as many as 22 grams of fat, b.good’s fries only have nine grams.
“You can eat [them] without feeling guilty,” said Treiman.
Along with smoothies and seasonal breads, b.good features only one main dessert— chocolate and vanilla milkshakes. This creamy, thick milkshake definitely beats out all contenders. For customers looking for a sweet treat, b.good milkshakes are the perfect option.
As customers dig into their meals, they enjoy a farm-like atmosphere with bright red walls and large images of local farmers. The friendly staff delivers all meals to the tables on plain metal trays, unless guests would prefer to watch their food prepared behind an open bar displaying the local produce. Each detail, down to the soft drinks and the ketchup, incorporates “real” food without artificial colors or flavors.
Although patrons may be reluctant to stray from other big-name chain restaurants in The Promenade such as Chioptle and Panera, one trip to b.good will make them aware of the “real” food hidden within this growing business.
