Located in the middle of downtown Columbia, Ingredient Restaurant is a Columbian icon. With their fresh salads, tasty chicken nachos or quesadillas, savory sandwiches and a wonderful atmosphere, Ingredient was the place to go for great food with good company.
But many were shocked to find, when they returned from winter break, it was a whole new restaurant. Yes, it was still called Ingredient; but a lot had changed. With the walls repainted and menu altered, Ingredient just did not feel the same anymore. But this did not just happen because they thought it needed a change. There was a new ownership. Kansas City-based restaurant group Bread & Butter Concepts purchased three Ingredient restaurants, which included the one in Columbia, and they also renamed them Ingredient True Eatery.
When the décor changes it is not that big of a deal, but when the menu we once loved changes -- this displeases people. With favorites, including the Salmon Flatts salad, chicken nachos, quesadillas, sandwiches, salsa and queso dip and many more removed, and items like chicken stir fry, hummus of the day and meatball appetizers added, people were saddened. Especailly the queso -- with Chipotle not having queso -- many were excited to have a restaurant that served it, but now we have the new Moe’s that has it.
Local Mizzou sophomore, Sarah Gibbs, was a regular, often visiting more than once a week. “This was my favorite restaurant,” said Gibbs. “It just doesn’t feel fresh anymore, and they tend to mess up my orders every time I go.”
Sophomore, Abby Guccione, went to Ingredient just for their salmon flatts salad. “It was so fresh and had the best ingredients, it was just delicious. I was upset to go back and see that it is no longer an option” said Guccione. She even said she complained to the cashier.
But not everyone dislikes the new changes. Sophomores Taylor Brooks, Sloan Isaccson and Meredith Miller say they love it! “It was time for a change, we felt like we were just eating the same thing everytime we went, now we are excited to try all the new items.”
I have visited Ingredient since the change and I am not a fan, either. I know that with the new ownership, it would be hard to satisfy everyone’s needs while trying to be different. However, I hope that with a lot of people upset, they listen and bring back some of the items everyone loved.
Ingredient is just a restaurant and it does not mean it is the end of the world. But when something you have grown accustomed to changes, it can be kind of a shock. Nonetheless, life goes on and people will forget about what it use to be and embrace what it has become.
