Month of Salads: The Salad Shop

by Sydney "Brown Nose" Blanchard 

The Salad Shop has endless salad options

Ah, August. It's the month I look forward to the most. Not only because it's my birth month (and Jay's), but because it's the much-anticipated MONTH OF SALADS at Bite and Booze.

What is the month of salads, you ask? It's a time when Team Bite and Booze reflects on all the unhealthy food we constantly shove into our faces for the sake of food blogging and tries to correct that with nothing but GRASS for an entire month.

I'm generally of the opinion that salad isn't real food. Carrots? Spinach? Heck, that's rabbit food!

Jay's salad

But this month may change that opinion. Especially after we dropped in for lunch at The Salad Shop on Perkins. Oh boy, have I ever been missing out.

Jay and Blair went with custom salads.

Jay went with a spinach and arugula mix topped with beets, carrots, craisins, walnuts, and Hanley's avocado dressing.

Blair opted for romaine and arugula mix topped with red onion, edamame, sun dried tomatoes, bacon, sunflower seeds, feta, avocado, and Hanley's Sensation dressing.

I hate building my own anything: salads, sandwiches, wraps, you name it. It stresses me out to have too many options!

That's why I went with the Fiery Fiesta, one of The Salad Shop's creations. I swapped out the spinach for romaine, but I kept all the other toppings the same: avocado, pico de gallo, red bell pepper, black beans, corn, and tortilla strips topped with jalapeño ranch dressing.

My take on the Fiery Fiesta

I actually finished the whole thing.

The Salad Shop is great because you can build your own salad if that's your thing or you can pick a deliciously crafted salad of their menu.

Month of Salads #5: The Salad Shop

My Creation at The Salad Shop

After listening to one too many sad attempts made by Blair to change the lyrics to 50 Cent's "Candy Shop" to something about salad, I finally made it in to The Salad Shop for lunch. They have eight signature salads for the indecisive, but the coolest thing about The Salad Shop is their "build your own salad feature." While you can find this model at a few other places in town, The Salad Shop has four different types of lettuce, 52 toppings, and 16 dressings to choose from (you can even turn your salad into a wrap). It's like the mad scientist lab of salads! I mixed some romaine and arugula together and added in edamame, sliced almonds, feta cheese, red onions, sun-dried tomatoes, bacon, and avocado and had it tossed in Hanley's Sensation Salad Dressing! They throw it all in a bowl, chop it to bits, and boom! Whether you're on the go or have a minute to sit down and relax, The Salad Shop is a great place to veg out.