Day Eight: Leons

If you live in the UK, I imagine you're familiar with Leon’s. It’s a fast-food chain that operates on the European side of the Atlantic (there are a few in the eastern United States but it hasn’t met with quite the same success) and sells an anglicized play on Mediterranean fast food with a huge focus on plant-based options and sustainability. I got my meal from a Too Good To Go, an app where you can buy restaurants extra food for a discount, so this was a random tasting of their menu.

Ratings:

Food: 5/10

Price: $

Accessibility: NA

Service: 8/10

Being Cool: 9/10

Food:

I really wanted to like this. I had a friend who tried the chicken wrap and really liked the flavor but I got the meatballs and did not enjoy it. Maybe I'm just not a meatball person, but there was something about the flavor of the tomato sauce that was just not pleasant for me. It was interesting how this place flipped my experience with fast food on its head. Normally I eat something delicious, bad for me, and overall insubstantial. This was hearty, packed with vegetables, and didn’t taste great.

Accessibility:

Because there are about a million Leon’s open, I can’t give a rating for this, but my location was very accessible, so God’s speed.

Service:

It was a fast-food restaurant. They were nice enough and dealt eloquently with my sleep-deprived American self. Overall good experience.

Being cool:

Now, I see you’ve noticed I’ve added a new option. From what I see online, Leon has done a lot of environmental and charity work. It was the founding member of the Sustainable Restaurant Association in 2008. According to lord Google, in “March 2020, Leon set up the "Feed NHS" initiative to deliver 5,600 free meals a day to National Health Service critical care staff at London hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Leon’s was bought by EG Group in 2021. While their sustainable approach will continue into the future is unclear. All I know is that the more we love and incentivize companies to do good in the world, the more our consumerist habits will work for us. I love when companies make a goal and stick to their values when met with success. While my experience with their food wasn't amazing, this needs to be said. :)