Yeah, although really my point was that certain foods that are tied to a particular culture might still be easier to find in regions with strong ties to that culture. I.E. it’s probably easier to find Swedish meatballs in Wisconsin and Minnesota since that region has a strong Scandinavian heritage (I had them in Wisconsin).
Exactly what I said. Walt Disney World has their Brown Derby and their Cobb is wonderful.
Us Californios sometimes call places like Dennys “coffee shops” which confuses easterners. I’d say Denny’s and etc fit the bill of a diner. In SJ these is “The City Diner” .
I’ve noticed in Seinfeld the characters frequently call Monk’s Cafe a “coffee shop”. This may have been a case of Hollywood writers inserting their own regional lingo into shows set elsewhere.
Nope - there’s a specific type of restaurant that at least used to be called a coffee shop in NYC. I’m not sure if many still exist or if younger people call them something different but they aren’t diners or cafes or coffeehouses. They usually are not open past 2 or 3 pm, and serve breakfast items, sandwiches, salads but not larger meals. They usually have counter service and maybe a couple of tables.
Do you have Wawas in your area? I haven’t had one from them in several months, but they are usually good, and you can customize it.
Same loss with the club sandwich.
Used to love those.
At least 2 meals for me. Or a good sharing sandwich.
We do homemade chef salad during the gardening/hot days. Do a bunch of prep and every one makes their own preferences.
Don’t forget the club crackers.
If memory serves, the OP lives in Arkansas, and Wawa is, at this point, exclusively an East Coast chain.
A bit out of the way for me – I’m on the north side of SJ. And it does have a Chef salad on the menu, along with a Cobb salad.
I see Cobb salads in every restaurant. The Wegmans here sells a dozen varieties with different toppings. Some places sell an antipasto salad that is so big my friend and I split one and still couldn’t finish it! A pound of cold cuts and cheese, olives, croutons, mushrooms, tomatoes, hard boiled egg, pepperocini on a bed of spring mix…I miss salad bars. Used to be you could buy a scoop of spinach, some strawberries, a hard boiled egg and vinaigrette dressing in a little container for lunch, about $5. Those days are surely gone!..If you’re in a restaurant, I’m sure if you explained what toppings you want on a salad, they would make you one, if the place wasn’t jam-packed and busy.
As does City Diner in Bailey’s Crossroads – via GrubHub, Door Dash, etc.
Crisp mixed garden-style greens, topped with turkey breast, roast beef, ham, Swiss cheese, hard-boiled egg and garnish.
City Diner also offers a Monte Cristo and it’s huge!
Google trends shows a significant increase in “cobb salad” over the last 20 years, while searches for “chef salad” have increased only slightly.
That aligns with my personal observation that cobb salads (or things that have been given the name cobb salad) are much more common than they were a decade+ ago.
The only places I can think of nearby where I know I could get a chef salad are:
Grocery store pre-made
Gas station pre-made
A local pizza/pasta place that also does subs
Cobb salads are available at many mid-range American/pub restaurants. I think part of the reason of the ascendancy of the cobb salad is that more restaurants are likely to use bacon for a number of dishes (add on to burgers or sandwiches being the obvious use). Unless you’re serving cold cut sandwiches, the meat and cheese for the chef salad is likely only being provisioned for that one menu item.
FWIW, I just checked the menus of the two restaurants closest to my home……a Greek diner and a family restaurant, both independently owned…and they both have a Chef’s Salad on the menu. 
However, since the closure of two of my other favorite restaurants, I can’t find Pasta Primevera anywhere.
Now you made me curious, so I went and did the same thing and checked the menus of places that maybe aren’t exactly close to home, but places I would categorize as diners/cafes/coffee shops/family restaurants.
- Pancake Circus, a classic mid-century greasy spoon has both a chef’s salad and a cobb salad on the menu.
- The Gold Miner Cafe, a popular breakfast and lunch place around here, also had a chef’s salad and a cobb salad. And they have a Monte Cristo as well.
- Charlie’s Cafe up in Grass Valley doesn’t seem to have a website, but the pictures of the menu people have posted in Google reviews show both a chef’s salad and cobb salad as well.
- Lumberjack’s, a place I’ve never been to but pass on my commute and looks to be a sort of Denny’s style chain, has no chef’s salad, only a cobb salad.
- Down in Burbank, the Tallyrand, an amazing family restaurant I discovered while down there on vacation, once again has a chef’s salad and a cobb salad.
I’m sure that’s too small a sample size to draw any conclusions from, but I find it interesting that the one chain restaurant I looked at does not have a chef’s salad, while all the independent / family run places do.
I was eating a Cobb salad for lunch once a week when I went into the office. (Now I’m only going in once a month, so my Cobb salads are not as frequent.) I get them at Trader Joe’s Romaine lettuce, uncured bacon, an egg sliced in half, cherry tomatoes, crumbled gorgonzola, shredded carrots, and ranch dressing. It’s enough for a meal. When I bring some home, my wife sometimes can’t finish hers. They’re only like five dollars, have 8 g carbohydrates (2 g fibre), and 400 kilocalories with the dressing. And they’re good.
I think you’re onto something. I just checked the menus for three casual dining non-specialized restaurants (Chilis, Applebees and BJ’s Brewhouse) and none of them offer a Chef’s salad, while it seems to be a staple at the independently owned restaurants.
I’m thinking that the chains run a lot of purchase analysis and update their menus regularly, going with whatever seems to be popular in the moment - and classics like the Chef’s salad just don’t make the cut.
And I just checked the three chains I would consider the closest competitors to those family resturants – Denny’s, Black Bear Diner, and IHOP. None have a Chef’s salad. The first two have a Cobb salad, while IHOP only has one salad on the menu, a “chopped chicken salad”.
Looking at some of the other major “casual dining” restaurants (I used to have Applebee’s as a client):
- TGI Fridays: Cobb salad, no Chef’s salad
- Ruby Tuesday: No Cobb nor Chef’s, but they do apparently still have salad bars
- Red Robin: Cobb (with avocado), no Chef’s
- Buffalo Wild Wings: no Cobb nor Chef’s
- Outback: Cobb, no Chef’s
- First Watch (only does breakfast and lunch): Cobb, no Chef’s
Absolutely so. And, as noted upthread, if a menu item requires ingredients that aren’t used in any other items on their menu, it probably makes it even more likely to get discontinued.
I just looked at a few local independent places , and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the only one with a chef’s salad on the menu also has a variety of sandwiches on the menu including ham , roast beef, turkey and American and Swiss cheeses ( all of which are in their chef’s salad) and egg salad. They also have a variety of “salad platters” all of which are served with a sliced boiled egg. There aren’t any ingredients in the chef’s salad that are only used in a chef’s salad. I don’t recall any of the chains having coldcut sandwiches on the menu
It also just hit me that all the independent places I looked at are also big breakfast places. So they’re making Denver omelettes, ham & eggs, and similar in the morning. So they might as well use the ham and eggs they already have on hand in a Chef’s salad at lunch time. Of course the same is true of Denny’s and IHOP, who don’t offer one.
There is a bar/restaurant a half hour away that makes an excellent Cobb salad. You can get at least 2 meals out of it. Lots of chicken and bacon. Not a chain. We don’t have any chain restaurants within a 45min drive (that would get you either Wendy’s or Taco Bell).
A good Cobb salad is better than a chefs salad IMHO.
I think that House salads are getting better, and often have the option of including chicken or salmon. Just bought one for my wife yesterday (I was in town).