Well, if a restaurant has a signature item that is really good, it is a big selling point because you have to go THERE to get it.
An example: There’s a place called Horse Thief Hollow that has a signature southwest dressing that is lights out. They basically serve sports bar food that I don’t particularly care for, but I will go there just to get their southwest chicken salad with their signature dressing. I have a buddy who has gone so far as to try to reproduce their dressing at home, but he can’t get it where he wants it.
Yeah, I’m confused too, because I’ve never seen a house dressing that wasn’t ranch. I’ve even seen salad bars with both house and ranch, and the house dressing is just a different kind of ranch. Less viscous, maybe less white, but still basically ranch dressing. Or “creamy Italian”, which is another dressing that is essentially a version of ranch, in my experience.
I like ranch salad dressing, but I don’t like the goopy, thick stuff that comes out of the bottle as much. Usually, I usually prefer the house dressing, which is a more “homemade style” of ranch. Whether or not it’s actually homemade, it usually tastes better than Hidden Valley from a squeeze bottle.
I’d think that in the absence of some sort of unique, proprietary dressing recipe, one reason for having “house” dressing would be to allow more flexible sourcing.
For example, if you’re using a specific brand of Ranch dressing, and that becomes unavailable, you’ll be replacing it with an entirely different brand, and customers might notice (probably would notice).
But if your house dressing is buttermilk, mayonnaise, onion powder, fresh garlic, chives, parsley, salt and white pepper, you have more latitude if say… you can’t get your usual brand of mayonnaise, or fresh garlic, or whatever, and still have a dressing that’s substantially the same.
My guess is, if you serve a ranch-like dressing that doesn’t taste exactly like the ranch dressing from a bottle, and call it ranch dressing, some customers will complain.
I would complain (not to the waitress, just an “eww” only people sitting with me would hear, maybe) if it did taste like bottled ranch. I can’t stand any bottled ranches, but sometimes quite like ranch served at some restaurants.
I find it ironic that Hidden Valley which is supposed to be the first ranch dressing doesn’t taste anything like Marie’s. Ken’s doesn’t taste mush like ranch dressing either, but it does taste good.
I don’t know why Straight Dope seems to be in a constant battle with me to claim I’m making stuff up about House Dressing not being a thing.
Just got back from Chili’s, saw the receipt and it said I ordered a salad with “House” dressing on it that was clearly just ranch, distinct from their own blue cheese and italian dressings.
Nobody said a restaurant couldn’t have a ranch dressing as house- only that they aren’t synonyms, and that the house dressing is different at different restaurants. I looked on the Chili’s menu. There is no choice of “house dressing” - it refers to “house-made ranch” in some places and simply ranch in others. The list of dressing choices includes Caesar, Citrus-Balsamic Vinaigrette, Avocado Ranch, Acho-Chile Ranch, Honey Mustard, Honey Lime, Bleu Cheese and honey lime vinaigrette along with plain old “Ranch”. It is entirely possible that the “house” on your receipt was an abbreviation for “house-made” as simply listing "ranch " might not be clear with three different kinds of “Ranch”.
Typically a place with a house dressing will not have nine or ten dressing choices. Usually they have the house dressing, perhaps a Caesar dressing , maybe cruets of oil and vinegar and that’s it . Here’s the menu of a place I go - you will notice there are no dressing choices listed . That’s because there is no choice- all salads come with the house dressing. The “signature Italian vinaigrette” on this menu - just another way of saying “house dressing” * - the only other option is Caesar dressing for Caesar salad.
and although the house dressing at both places is a vinaigrette, at neither is it your typical bottled , vinaigrette.
As I said in my first post, you’re not alone in thinking house is synonymous with ranch. As a kid and teenager, I thought they were synonymous, probably because all the diners around here that had a house dressing had ranch or a creamy ranch-like dressing.
All “house” dressing means is whatever the regular dressing is at the eating establishment you’re visiting. It may very well be a ranch, as in the case of all the places you mentioned. In other places, it’s a vinaigrette. Or perhaps a unique house creation that doesn’t really fit under either of those labels.
As for bottled dressing, the best I could find is that Wishbone has a House Italian. I can’t find any commercial dressing labeled simply as “house” because that doesn’t really make any sense, unless it is the house dressing of a particular establishment.
It’s like asking what “house red” is or “soup du jour” (as mentioned before) is. It’s whatever that particular dining establishment says it is.
Long ago at a somewhat fancy restaurant I ordered a particular salad. The waitress said they were not serving it that day as the chef could not make the house dressing as he had run out of tarragon. I told her that was OK since I didn’t like tarragon anyway. I still didn’t get my salad.
