After all the liquor and pizza we feed ourselves over the weekend, it’s only natural that every now and then we seek a hefty salad to curb our food guilt. Thankfully, Gainesville is home to a variety of fantastic salads that will have you rethinking why you ever ate like shit in the first place.
Morgan’s pick – Thai Peanut Tempeh Salad
Daily Green
Some half-witty asshole once said, “Alcohol: Because no great story ever started with someone eating a salad.” Clearly, he has never achieved saladic euphoria, and I truly do feel for his ignorant perception. I firmly believe I was put on this Earth to tell the story that he said couldn’t be told, which starts and ends with the Daily Green Thai Peanut Tempeh Salad. Spoiler alert: It’s the best fucking thing that’s ever happened to me. Piled high with perfectly seasoned tempeh, a bountiful bed of dark greens and palette of seasonal vegetables, this is salad is the furthest thing from self-imposed, caloric restriction. It’s a sinfully good, anything but ordinary, and most likely laced with an addictive drug. And the dressing. Oh, the thick and creamy peanut dressing. If I die young, forget satin and bury me in that glorious dressing. Don’t judge a book by its cover, and don’t judge a salad dressing by its bizarrely solidified consistency. It was love at first, second, third (and so on) bite. Even if only a detail in the story of my life, this salad has vastly impacted my ongoing mission to indulge in simple pleasures. So yes, you “Some eCards” bastard, The Ballad of the Thai Peanut Tempeh is certainly a tale worth telling.
Emma‘s Pick–The Cobble
Tempo Bistro To Go
I, like the great Ron Swanson, believe that “If it doesn’t have meat, it is a snack.” When it comes to a truly powerful salad, my feelings are no different.
Introducing the Cobble from Tempo Bistro To Go. I’ve expressed my feelings about this establishment in the past in regard to their incredible sammies, but I’m here to shed some love and light on the ugly stepchild of lunches.
The Cobble salad is so fulfilling and explosive with flavor that you almost forget the main ingredient is, well, leaves. This seasonal blend of lettuce is topped with some of the juiciest herb grilled chicken I have ever tasted. I end up cutting it into the tiniest bites imaginable so that every single bite of salad can have its own piece of magical grilled goodness to accompany it.
The bacon and blue cheese crumbles add a hint of smokiness while the microgreens, red bell peppers, avocado and tomatoes fill your belly with colorful heaps of hearty veggies. To top it all off you get the option of drizzling your saladic masterpiece with a dressing of your choice, all of which are made in-house with fresh ingredients.
If you’re more interested in the aesthetics of a salad, have no fear. The Cobble is topped with bright edible flowers so it will undoubtedly be a huge hit on Instagram. (Trust me, I’ve tried it.)
Molly‘s Pick–The Great Green
Gelato Company
It was only in my wildest, Food Network inspired dreams where gelato and salads could coexist in perfect harmony. Thankfully, dreams do come true. My first visit to the Gelato Company may have been for the peanut butter and jelly gelato, but it was the Great Green salad that made me stay.
This downtown restaurant is one of Gainesville’s most unassuming gems. Along with its quaint front porch and laid back bistro vibe, the Gelato Company delivers the same casual perfection with the Great Green. Mixed greens, avocado, almonds and mozzarella cheese are the standard players in what I consider to be Gainesville’s most delicious salad, but adding grilled chicken is an absolute must. It’s marinated and shredded before being grilled fresh to order, then generously spread across a fresh bed of Great Green goodness. And that, my fellow salad enthusiasts, is where the magic happens. The mozzarella cheese melts to a gooey, salty perfection while almonds and romaine lettuce provide a tantalizing crunch. A healthy pour of homemade herb vinaigrette and creamy avocado slices create a savory dressing that’ll justify any clean plate award.
Consider the Great Green an answer to your salad paradise prayers, because the greens in Gainesville don’t get much more delicious than this.
Sofia‘s Pick–The Satch Salad
Satchel’s
Everyone knows that Satchel’s pizza is the shit, but some might be oblivious to the tantalizing glory that is the Satch Salad.
On the surface, it seems like an ordinary salad. It has a bed of red and green leaves, topped with carrots, apples, red onion and diced tomatoes. They then garnish it with romano cheese, almonds, sunflower seeds and walnuts.
What makes it utterly orgasmic is the magical vinaigrette they toss it in. It is thick and tangy with just a touch of sweetness. It’s probably made with the tears of a unicorn, but we’ll never know because it’s a secret recipe. The only thing that’s certain is that it’s fantastic.
Each bite of the Satch Salad has the perfect combination of tang, crunch, and smoothness. If you’re with a group, I definitely recommend spending the extra few bucks for the large size. It’s a salad not just limited to health freaks—it’s one that anyone would enjoy, even Fat Bastard.
Courtney‘s Pick–The Palm Heart Salad
Reggae Shack
Wait, they have salads at Reggae Shack? I was just as shocked as you are. Although a crisp green salad at a restaurant known for its munchie-satisfying burgers and sandwiches doesn’t sound ideal, you may want to rethink that jerk chicken sandwich.
The Palm Heart Salad combines basic, fresh salad ingredients with crispy, fried palm hearts of palm that are sprinkled with the same flavors of Reggae Shack’s ridiculously addicting fries.
Whenever I eat this salad, I suprise myself by eating every bite and not regretting the choice to abstain from ordering a burger. Although it’s simple, this salad is garnished with a flavorful dressing, and the crunch from fresh vegetables makes each bite utterly satisfying. Another plus: It saves you from feeling as if you’re about to explode, like you usually do when you eat Reggae Shack’s burgers.
Reggae Shack uses their culinary skills and fresh ingredients to create what is, I imagine, the only munchie-satisfying salad.
Via: Baltimore Sun
Debora’s Pick–The Waldorf Salad
Designer Greens
Stop feeling so outraged — Designer Greens is a fine establishment and deserves a spot on this list just as much any other Gainesville restaurant. Sure, it wouldn’t hurt for their stubborn employees to chop the salads seeing as they’re already sitting inside a bowl. Why won’t they just chop that shit? What, do they expect people to just chew palm frawn-sized spring mix into edible bits? It’s like ingesting a tree. A little bit of chopping would take no more than 20 seconds, and it would go a long way, for fuck’s sake. But I digress.
I’m not here to write a complaint, Designer Greens has a hidden gem that deserves to be revealed: the Waldorf salad.
A foundation of spring mix with a handful of grapes, slices of Granny Smith and gala apples, candied pecans, goat cheese, chicken and dijon vinaigratte all over make up what has become one of my favorite salads ever.
I used to passionately speak out against fruits’ presence in salads, but those days are long gone. Fruits and vegetables go together like chicken and waffles (except less delicious, but summer is basically here so…).
The Waldorf salad has a special place in my heart that will soon be clogged as soon as bikini season is over.
Via: Blogspot
Gytis‘ Pick–Raspberry Walnut Salad
Big Lou’s
Comedian Mike Birbiglia once referred to salad as “pizza’s annoying best friend.” Up until recently I’ve generally agreed with him, since I’m usually just trying to spend some alone time with pizza.
But Big Lou’s Raspberry Walnut salad completely made me rethink my entire life. While dining at my favorite downtown pizza joint, I decided to order said salad to justify my decision to get pizza after not working out in the past year. Since making that decision, I haven’t gone to Big Lou’s without ordering the salad as a necessary preface to pizza glory.
Spring greens, green apples, dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, sunflower seeds and feta cheese make up what has become my favorite salad in Gainesville. If something in there doesn’t quite suit your fancy, more for me. Topped with a subtly sweet raspberry vinaigrette dressing, it’s a refreshing and rejuvenating start to any meal. I highly recommend it.
Even if you’re not interested in pizza (not sure why that would be) and are just looking to have a salad for a meal, the raspberry walnut salad from Big Lou’s is the type of salad that could satisfy Mick Jagger (lead singer of the Rolling Stones who famously sang “I can’t get no satisfaction.” I doubt he was talking about salads, but what the hell, right?).
