So I’m sitting here at work, pondering my lunch options, and I’m really craving a big fat salad with bacon bits, cheese, sunflower seeds, and croutons on top (I’m pregnant). I started trying to think of someplace I could go to get hooked up with a salad bar. You remember those? They used to have them at Wendy’s at Noble Roman’s, right?
As I ponder my dilemma, I begin to realize that I have no freakin’ idea where I would go for a salad bar, other than Ponderosa and Golden Corral, where they happen to have salad fixin’s along with all of the home-cooked, fat-laden, artery-clogging stuff that most people visit these places for.
The closest Pondergrossa is 6.5 miles away. The nearest Hog Trough is 5.9 miles away. Neither location is really close enough for me to drive to, eat, and return from within my allotted one hour lunch break. Besides, I really don’t want all of that other crap they’ve got - just a salad!
We have one here at the office. But I was under the impression they were more of a health hazard than a dining extravaganza. People weren’t covering the stuff properly, sneezing, coughing, etc. It just kinda went south. Not being much of a salad eater, I don’t care. But I know some folks live for the rabbit food.
There’s a restaurant around here (well, near to where I used to work) that’s mainly a salad bar (they have a menu with meal-type stuff, but their main niche is their kick-ass salad bar). Soup & Greens is the name. Five bucks for salad and soup, and bread; of course, all you want. It’s very tasty.
Beyond that, yeah, grocery stores and steak houses seem to be the main purveyors of the salad bar these days (there are a few steak houses that have great salad bars I know, but they’re always kind of pricy).
Ruby Tuesday’s, that Friday’s-esque chain restaurant often found in malls, has a pretty good salad bar. I love their dark bread croutons, among other things. But a recent favorite of mine is Sweet Tomatoes, the salad buffet restaurant. For something like $8, you get an expansive salad bar, wonderful fresh soups, pastas, baked goods (savory and sweet), fresh fruit, and desserts, and it’s all-you-can-eat. I like that place way more than I should.
No, it’s the Golden Corral. My FIL calls it the Hog Trough. Ever been there? It’s an apt description.
So I went to my local Marsh for lunch, and their salad bar was “out of order.” WTF??? It must be electrically refrigerated under all that food instead of just packed with ice. So I had fried chicken, mac-n-cheese, and peas-n-carrots instead. Next time, I’m going up the street to Kroger!
My family used to go to Sizzler back in the mid-to-late '80s every once in a while. They also had an expansive salad bar similar to Golden Corral, and I loved the variety when I was a kid (since they also had pizza, pasta, build-your-own-tacos, and more). I’ve been to Golden Corral twice, years apart, and while the food quality usually isn’t great, sometimes all those options are just perfectly satisfying.
One thing I’ve discovered about the nearest [del]Hog Trough[/del] Golden Corral is that they let you do takeout by the pound, much like the grocery store. When I have the funds, I will sometimes run up there & make myself the huge loaded salad, and it usually costs me less than $5.
I realize you said there isn’t one all that close, but it’s something to consider, perhaps.
I used to go to the grocery store’s salad bar for lunch, but buffets and salad bars are a weakness of mine. I’d always load up a massive salad by piling on anything that looked good until I had a pound-and-a-half salad that ended up costing me $6-7. Always ate the whole thing though.
I know it’s past your lunchtime now, but here’s an idea for the future: if you live/work near a college/university, try their dining hall. I work at a university, and it’s all-you-can-eat for one price (about $6.50, for non-staff-faculty-student people), and we have a great salad bar. I know other schools where you pay ala carte, but it’s still not a bad price. And many dining halls have changed dramatically, for the better, since you were in college, whenever that may have been.*
*Of course, many haven’t changed at all. Don’t go to those.
