# Can you get a Caesar salad in a restaurant? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 3, 2008, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-caesar-salad-in-a-restaurant/455215 "2008-07-03T18:32:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-caesar-salad-in-a-restaurant/455215/1 "2008-07-03T18:32:20Z")
With questions of legal liability and health codes, can a person get a real Caesar salad in an American restaurant? Does this vary by jurisdiction? ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-caesar-salad-in-a-restaurant/455215/2 "2008-07-03T18:34:42Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] With questions of legal liability and health codes, can a person get a real Caesar salad in an American restaurant? Does this vary by jurisdiction? [/QUOTE] The [Hyatt](http://austin.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp) here in Austin will make one right at your table. Damn good too. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-caesar-salad-in-a-restaurant/455215/3 "2008-07-03T18:35:19Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] With questions of legal liability and health codes, can a person get a real Caesar salad in an American restaurant? Does this vary by jurisdiction? [/QUOTE] Given that he’s been dead for two millenia, I’d have to think it would violate a number of health regulations. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-caesar-salad-in-a-restaurant/455215/4 "2008-07-03T18:35:46Z")
I have had Caesar salads made table side, and I’ve had faux-Caesars as well. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-caesar-salad-in-a-restaurant/455215/5 "2008-07-03T18:36:27Z")
I have had real Caesar salad in California in the past few years. The water comes out and does the whole bit show with eggs etc. making the dressing and tossing the salad. I don’t know if they are using pasteurized eggs or something. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-caesar-salad-in-a-restaurant/455215/6 "2008-07-03T18:38:19Z")
[QUOTE=Gorsnak] Given that he’s been dead for two millenia, I’d have to think it would violate a number of health regulations. [/QUOTE] Wrong [Caesar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesar_Cardini). But if you make it with pasteurized eggs, there shouldn’t be a health issue. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-caesar-salad-in-a-restaurant/455215/7 "2008-07-03T18:44:26Z")
[QUOTE=gazpacho] I have had real Caesar salad in California in the past few years. The water comes out and does the whole bit show with eggs etc. making the dressing and tossing the salad. I don’t know if they are using pasteurized eggs or something. [/QUOTE] I would not consider it a real Caesar salad if they used pasteurized eggs. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-caesar-salad-in-a-restaurant/455215/8 "2008-07-03T18:49:28Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] I would not consider it a real Caesar salad if they used pasteurized eggs. [/QUOTE] Why not? Is there a historical reason or this some idea of imagined purity? If you’re going to disallow pasteurized foods you’ll have problems with milk and cream, too. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-caesar-salad-in-a-restaurant/455215/9 "2008-07-03T18:54:52Z")
[QUOTE=Dr. Drake] Why not? Is there a historical reason or this some idea of imagined purity? If you’re going to disallow pasteurized foods you’ll have problems with milk and cream, too. [/QUOTE] Pasteurized foods taste different. Cheese being especially bad. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-caesar-salad-in-a-restaurant/455215/10 "2008-07-03T19:01:30Z")
Hmm. Would the first Caesar Salad made have used pasteurized eggs, or was that too early? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-caesar-salad-in-a-restaurant/455215/11 "2008-07-03T19:07:30Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] With questions of legal liability and health codes, can a person get a real Caesar salad in an American restaurant? Does this vary by jurisdiction? [/QUOTE] [This salad bar restaurant chain](http://www.souplantation.com/) of 109 locations across 15 states has been doing it for 30 years. We go there quite often and I always make my own Caesar salad all the time. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-caesar-salad-in-a-restaurant/455215/12 "2008-07-03T19:08:30Z")
[QUOTE=Dr. Drake] Hmm. Would the first Caesar Salad made have used pasteurized eggs, or was that too early? [/QUOTE] It seems to date from the mid 1920s probably long before pasteurized eggs. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-caesar-salad-in-a-restaurant/455215/13 "2008-07-03T19:16:18Z")
Heck, there’s a restaurant in town that’ll serve you a rare hamburger. They make you sign a paper, though, so I don’t know if that counts. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-caesar-salad-in-a-restaurant/455215/14 "2008-07-03T19:22:43Z")
I see that according to Wiki that the traditional method uses something called Coddled Eggs, but don’t most cesar salads just use hard boiled and be done with it? I really don’t see how a bit firmer of an egg is going to ruin the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-caesar-salad-in-a-restaurant/455215/15 "2008-07-03T19:29:18Z")
How can you use a hard boiled egg in Caesar dressing? That would be a pretty big change from the traditional dressing. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Gui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@El\_Gui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Gui)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-caesar-salad-in-a-restaurant/455215/16 "2008-07-03T19:33:21Z")
In California, it appears that as long as the patron is informed that raw eggs are used, its ok. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi\_m3190/is\_n35\_v32/ai\_21107124](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_n35_v32/ai_21107124) ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-caesar-salad-in-a-restaurant/455215/17 "2008-07-03T19:35:38Z")
[QUOTE=gazpacho] How can you use a hard boiled egg in Caesar dressing? That would be a pretty big change from the traditional dressing. [/QUOTE] Ah, I was thinking that it was diced into the salad like with a Cobb salad or something. I don’t much care for cesar salads much beyond the stuff that comes in the salad dressing bottle and maybe some “cesar” flavored croutons, so therein lay my ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-caesar-salad-in-a-restaurant/455215/18 "2008-07-03T19:41:25Z")
[QUOTE=Santo Rugger] Heck, there’s a restaurant in town that’ll serve you a rare hamburger. They make you sign a paper, though, so I don’t know if that counts. [/QUOTE] Sign a paper? Seriously? In me experience, most non-chain places will happoily make a rare burger. I work at two restaurants, one is a large0ish chain and only does medium and above. The other is a small franchise (less than a dozen locations,) and will do rare burgers, no waiver required. We also use raw eggs (not even coddled) in our Caesar dressing, though it’s a creamy-style, and not made table-side. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-caesar-salad-in-a-restaurant/455215/19 "2008-07-03T19:46:48Z")
[QUOTE=Two and a Half Inches of Fun] Pasteurized foods taste different. Cheese being especially bad. [/QUOTE] Do you mean pasteurised cheese, or cheese made from pasteurised milk? ---
**Author:** ![Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Two\_and\_a\_Half\_Inches\_of\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_and_a_Half_Inches_of_Fun)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-caesar-salad-in-a-restaurant/455215/20 "2008-07-03T19:54:02Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Do you mean pasteurised cheese, or cheese made from pasteurised milk? [/QUOTE] Cheese made from pasteurized milk. Can you pasteurize cheese that has been made from unpasteurized milk? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-a-caesar-salad-in-a-restaurant/455215.md?page=2)