By Nevin Martell

Photo courtesy of Dan Swartz/Revamp

When you dine out, you might think about the ingredients that go into your food, but you probably don’t think about all the numbers that make your meal happen. Restaurants are filled with interesting figures that might not be apparent when you bite into an enticing entrée or take a sip of a signature cocktail, but they’re all around you.

This week, we energetically sprint down to the just-opened Protein Bar in Penn Quarter. The healthful fast casual eatery specializes in low carb, high protein bar-ritos, bowls, salads, and shakes. In between doing one-armed pushups, we find out how many pounds of quinoa founder Matt Matros chows down on every week and the number of bar-ritos the store sold on its first day of business.

 

Protein Bar

Seats: 35

Tickets rung up on its first full day of business: 800

Bar-ritos sold on the first day: 350

Repeat visits by a single customer that day: Four

Menu items with DC-referencing names: All nine signature protein shakes, including the Monumental Perk, the Red Line, and the Politics Acai’d

Gluten-free items: 29

Grams of protein in the most protein-packed item: 43 in the Capone bar-rito filled with all-natural chicken, organic quinoa, house-made marinara, spinach, and parmesan

Calories in the slimmest signature shake: 243 in the Blue Line

Most number of pounds that a Protein Bar employee has lost from changing their diet to be protein-centric: 42

Pounds founder Matt Matros lost when he switched to a high protein diet and exercise regimen: 60

Pounds of quinoa Matros eats a week: At least 20

Ranking Matros holds in the Chicago’s Top 10 Most Eligible Bachelors list: Four