Saladworks is a new restaurant at the Suncrest Town Center specializing in - you guessed it - salads. It's a chain restaurant, but it's the only one in West Virginia. Cue West Virginia obesity puns.

Their menu has 13 featured salads: a turkey club, autumn harvest (with craisins, sunflower seeds, crispy apple chips), bently (ham, turkey, eggs), tivoli (pasta, ham, turkey), buffalo bleu, garden deluxe, chicken caesar, fire roasted cabo jack (chicken, corn, black beans, whitebeans, tortilla chips), mandarin chicken (chicken, oranges), greek, nuevo nicoise (pasta, tuna, olives), cobb, and sophie's (chicken, craisins, apple slices).

Plus a ton of dressings, including a dijon lemon capri, green goddess, oriental sesame, parmesan caesar and tangy salsa ranch.

Those salads can be turned into wraps, and there are also paninis, soups and some "carver" salads, which have fresh cut protein. Those include thai chicken, a steakhouse, napa steak, malibu chicken, taco, sushi bar and baja.

I ordered a combo of a half caprese panini, half buffalo bleu salad. Inside, it was kind of chaotic, being the first day and all. But we made our way through the counter line, where you can specify what you'd like as they make it right in front of you.

My panini had nice grill marks and a crisp bread. Inside, it had mozzarella, tomato, basil and a balsamic vinaigrette. I think it could've been cooked a bit longer (and fresh mozzarella would've been great) so that the cheese melted more. But it was fine. Nothing outstanding, but a decent sandwich.

The salad was a mixture of buffalo chicken, romaine, iceberg, tomatoes, banana peppers, bleu cheese and tortilla strips. Plus bleu cheese dressing mixed in. Overall, it was pretty good. I'm not sure if I'm on the mix-all-the-dressing-in-your-sald bandwagon or not. Usually I just pour some on top. But it was actually nice to have it coat everything. Could've used more chicken. A nice bit of bleu cheese. Plus the crisp tortilla strips were a decent touch to add something crunchy.

Overall, it's fine. It's near my apartment (closer than Panera), so there's a chance I could go if I want something quick and healthy. Though I think Panera has more options I like. I did meet the two women opening the business, who seem kind and motivated. I think there's a market for them - a sort of Panera crowd lite. Though I know some really great local businesses in town. And you generally know my feelings about chains ...