On 42nd St next to Bryant Park, you can find the “slop bowl corridor”, a row of fast casual restaurants serving bowls you can customize with base, protein, toppings, and sauce. Often you rush your “slop bowl” back to your office desk to scarf down before your next meeting.

Starting from Chipotle, you now have Cava (Mediterranean-inspired Chipotle), Naya (Middle Eastern-inspired Chipotle), and Sweetgreen (salad-centered Chipotle). In the DC area, as I discovered after a day exploring the Smithsonian museums, you also have Rice Bar, Korean-inspired Chipotle.

Obviously, “slop bowl” has a negative connotation. As I learned in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, which has an exhibit on how Americans have eaten, Americans have long worried about how we eat, as it deviates from the perceived natural or ethical state. We of course still do.

Sure, most people would prefer to sit down for a bit and savor their meal, maybe eat with friends or family, maybe happen upon $100 taped to the bottom of their bowl. Most people have to work, and most people find it more feasible to scarf down their slop bowl than to set boundaries around their lunch time.

Compared to alternatives of similar convenience and cost, slop bowls provide relatively tasty, filling options suitable for many diets - one less matter to worry about in the fast-changing world of work.