I love chopped salads....and I just found a great one

In the years we lived in Los Angeles, my three-or-four-times-a-week lunch was a Leon Chopped Salad from La Scala (locations in Beverly Hills and Brentwood). It defines the genre (I think Jean Leon, the owner, may be the acknowledged creator of the "chopper"). It is wonderful in its simplicity--iceburg and romaine, some provolone, genoa salami, a couple of garbazos, one kalamata olive on top, and all finely chopped to order and tossed in a perfect vinaigrette. It's available with many different customizations (turkey, tuna, anchovies, red peppers, housemade croutons, capers, and more), but I always get the original recipe. La Scala is one of my first stops whenever I go back. Finding something comparably delicious and addictive in Chicago has been unsuccessful....until my lunch today. After just a few forkfuls, I thought that this was a salad I could have almost everyday.

The place--perhaps unlikely--is Ruth's Chris. Someone told me they had a good one, but when I went today, it wasn't on the menu. The server couldn't exactly tell me why it didn't appear, but no matter, he said. They always have it. There are two versions--a lunch rendition, which has three grilled shrimp on the side to make it an entree-like salad, and a dinner version--the same but without the shrimp. Main salad ingredients are iceburg and romaine, cheese, green olives, hearts of palm, red onions and french fried onions on top. It comes in a composed mound, almost a mold, finely chopped in a lemon vinaigrette. I modified it slightly, and asked that they lose the onions (both red and fried), but add in anchovies.

It came out great--one terrific salad that instantly cured my La Scala homesickness.

I love chopped salads too, and I often have them as an entree where offered. The best one I've had is at Maggiano's. It has "Chopped iceberg lettuce, diced tomatoes, diced chicken, crumbled bleu cheese, green onion, avocado, crispy prosciutto, tossed in our signature House dressing." Their house dressing is an Italian dressing. On request, they can substitute grilled chicken for their diced chicken (and I recommend doing so). It's wonderful.

A decent version for what it is: The one at the Barnelli's locations.

These are surprisingly good. Much better than I think most suspect they will be. I'm sure it won't hold a candle to the ones offered in the higher end steakhouses (I thought a chopped salad was generally par for the course at all steakhouses - well, all of the "men's club" ones anyway) but, they are pretty good for "on the go" type food. And I'll bet, you are probably not doing much better than eating a cheeseburger (healthwise) with the Barnelli's salad. From the menu on http://www.portillos.com/barnellis/menu/

Chopped Salad*..............................................................6.99
Romaine & Iceberg mix with Tubetti Pasta, chicken, bacon, tomatoes, Gorganzola cheese, green onion, red cabbage and tossed with House dressing.

seebee wrote:A decent version for what it is: The one at the Barnelli's locations.

I do find this surprising, and hard to believe. But I said that a number of years ago when someone told me Portillo's has an excellent Italian Beef. I've been eating that sandwich--and my words--ever since.

On your say so, I have added it to my must-try list.

Thanks.

Incidentally, in its favor, the Barnelli's price point is exactly a third of Ruth's Chris.

nsxtasy wrote:I love chopped salads too, and I often have them as an entree where offered. The best one I've had is at Maggiano's. It has "Chopped iceberg lettuce, diced tomatoes, diced chicken, crumbled bleu cheese, green onion, avocado, crispy prosciutto, tossed in our signature House dressing." Their house dressing is an Italian dressing. On request, they can substitute grilled chicken for their diced chicken (and I recommend doing so). It's wonderful.

This looks identical to the chopped salad at Corner Bakery (except with bacon instead of proscuitto).

Olde School - is it huge? Portions at a steakhouses (steakhomes?) are generally so inflated. I don't work that far from Ruth Chris so as long as it's not monstrous, it sounds like a decent option.

nsxtasy wrote:I love chopped salads too, and I often have them as an entree where offered. The best one I've had is at Maggiano's. It has "Chopped iceberg lettuce, diced tomatoes, diced chicken, crumbled bleu cheese, green onion, avocado, crispy prosciutto, tossed in our signature House dressing." Their house dressing is an Italian dressing. On request, they can substitute grilled chicken for their diced chicken (and I recommend doing so). It's wonderful.

Have you had it recently? The last 2 times I had it in the past 6-9 months (once downtown, once at Old Orchard) it was a pale imitation of what I remembered. Almost all white lettuce, hardly any toppings...

Olde School wrote:It came out great--one terrific salad that instantly cured my La Scala homesickness.

As an aside, have you tried the chopped salad at Grill on the Alley here in Chicago (an off-shoot of the Beverly Hills restaurant)? It sounds very similar to the La Scala version (although I've never had one). And, it's a California chain. Just a thought.

I have had the Maggianos Chopped salad recently, and for me it was the bes thing I ate, although thats not saying much, everything else was pretty bad.

Obviously I am not a big fan of Maggianos at all, and only go if its a work function, or some other function that I am invited to, not a place I spend my own money.

seebee wrote:I'm sure it won't hold a candle to the ones offered in the higher end steakhouses (I thought a chopped salad was generally par for the course at all steakhouses - well, all of the "men's club" ones anyway)

Incidentally (and coincidentally), I had the chopped salad a few days ago at Pete Miller's, which is certainly one of the classic steakhouses. I was a bit disappointed. It had a nice amount of chicken and bacon, but what was most disappointing was that they used a type of lettuce (red leaf?) that gave very little crunch. They also used some ingredients (e.g. broccoli) that I could have done without. It wasn't bad, just nowhere near as good as Maggiano's.

Olde School wrote:I do find this surprising, and hard to believe. But I said that a number of years ago when someone told me Portillo's has an excellent Italian Beef. I've been eating that sandwich--and my words--ever since.

I wouldn't have expected a chain Italian restaurant to have a great chopped salad, but Maggiano's does. Gotta try it to believe it.

aschie30 wrote:This looks identical to the chopped salad at Corner Bakery (except with bacon instead of proscuitto).

Olde School - is it huge? Portions at a steakhouses (steakhomes?) are generally so inflated. I don't work that far from Ruth Chris so as long as it's not monstrous, it sounds like a decent option.

I wonder whether Lettuce Entertain You restaurants (and former LEYE restaurants) share the same recipe. It would make sense, of course. I've never tried the chopped salad at Corner Bakery or Wildfire or L. Woods or their other restaurants, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were the same or similar.

leek wrote:Have you had it recently? The last 2 times I had it in the past 6-9 months (once downtown, once at Old Orchard) it was a pale imitation of what I remembered. Almost all white lettuce, hardly any toppings...

I've had it twice in the past two months at the Old Orchard location and it has been the same as I've always remembered it (and I've been having it there for a good ten years). Most (all?) of the lettuce is indeed iceberg - FWIW, I prefer it for the texture - and they still use plenty of bleu cheese and other toppings. Part of what I like about it also is their house dressing, which is very good (and available by the jar for home use).

Incidentally, Maggiano's has had two similar salads on their menu - the "chopped salad" and the "Maggiano's salad". I know one (the "chopped", I think) has avocado and the other doesn't, but I'm not sure of any other differences between the two.

Petterino's has a really good chopped salad. I haven't had it in about a year but I used to order it to go for lunch about once a month.

nsxtasy wrote:I wonder whether Lettuce Entertain You restaurants (and former LEYE restaurants) share the same recipe. It would make sense, of course. I've never tried the chopped salad at Corner Bakery or Wildfire or L. Woods or their other restaurants, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were the same or similar.

They are all the same. Right out of the Corporate Cookbook.

stevez wrote:They are all the same. Right out of the Corporate Cookbook.

Good! That means there are that many more places I can get it. Yum!

I'd have to say I agree with SteveZ on this one -- the one I like at Joe's Stone Crab is very similar to the one at Maggiano's. But they are all pretty darn tasty. I've never had poor lettuce or anything substandard in one.

The chopped salad is a treat. I'm also fond of Cobb but those vary WIDELY in quality, i think.... And components!

A thread after my heart. I love chopped salads. During the height of the produce season I have some version of a chopped salad at least once a week for dinner (I especially like versions with bread).

Oddly enough, one of my benchmark chop salad experiences was at the Brown Debry restaurant in Epcot Center (!). The ingredients were very fresh, but what made the salad was its ultra-chopped-ness.

As discussed on this and other places, I love the exeucutive salad at Club Lago; it' main fault being about 2/3rds the size it should be.

I guess my favorite that I know of around town is the garbage salad at Gene and Georgetti.

Chopped salad athon?

earthlydesire wrote:The chopped salad is a treat. I'm also fond of Cobb but those vary WIDELY in quality, i think.... And components!

Isn't a Cobb salad very similar to a chopped salad, with the exception of the inclusion of hard-boiled eggs in the former but not the latter? The ones I've had have always been quite similar in ingredients, if not always in quality (if it's not always freshly made). The ingredients are usually those quoted here as the original recipe from the Brown Derby: Lettuce (they mention head lettuce, watercress, chicory, and romaine), Tomatoes, Crisp bacon, Chicken breast, Hard-cooked eggs, Avocado, Roquefort cheese (or bleu cheese), Chives (or another member of the onion family), and a vinaigrette dressing.

Vital Information wrote:Oddly enough, one of my benchmark chop salad experiences was at the Brown Debry restaurant in Epcot Center (!). The ingredients were very fresh, but what made the salad was its ultra-chopped-ness.

As discussed on this and other places, I love the exeucutive salad at Club Lago; it' main fault being about 2/3rds the size it should be.

I guess my favorite that I know of around town is the garbage salad at Gene and Georgetti.

Chopped salad athon?

"Garbage salad" usually has a lot more ingredients than chopped salad. And I don't think there is any kind of standard recipe for it.

Does anyone know if the chopped salad has a specific origin? You know, like the Cobb salad did at the Brown Derby in Hollywood?

My friend can make the Portillo's chopped salad and it tastes amazing!

aschie30 wrote: Olde School - is it huge? Portions at a steakhouses (steakhomes?) are generally so inflated. I don't work that far from Ruth Chris so as long as it's not monstrous, it sounds like a decent option.

This is the funny thing. The Ruth's Chris version is actually a little on the smallish side. I think this is why they add the shrimp at lunch, to entree-ize it. I'm not a huge portion person, but without a couple of pieces of bread along with the shrimp on the salad at lunch today, I would have left a little hungry. Interestingly, without the shrimp, this would be the right-size salad to order with your steak.

Conversely, the Leon Chopped at La Scala is entree-only. While it's not Maggiano's-monstrous, you would never think of ordering it in addition to an entree (unless you split it, which they do all the time. Exactly half of this salad, then, would constitute a side-salad type portion. The only exception to all this at La Scala is seeing certain patrons splitting the chopper--with turkey, no salami, dressing on the side, thank you--and having the half as their lunch entree. Just to give you the full visual, these are Beverly Hills ladies of a certain age--late 60s/early 70s--bangled and bejewled, wearing tight black jeans over skinny bodies with pneumatic boob jobs and sporting more than one face lift. My wife and I call them "dead teenagers." But that's a story for another time).

Olde School wrote:It is wonderful in its simplicity--iceberg and romaine, some provolone, genoa salami, a couple of garbanzos, one kalamata olive on top, and all finely chopped to order and tossed in a perfect vinaigrette.

This kind of sounds like the Garbage Salad at the Erie Cafe. (Which has a couple of nice shrimp on it like the version at Ruth's Chris.) The difference might be in the words "finely chopped"--the GS at EC is chopped, but not necessarily "finely." I always enjoy it--as recently as four hours ago.

I know you are no stranger to Erie Cafe, but don't know if you've had their Garbage Salad. If you have, you must have found it wanting, since not until Ruth's Chris did you find a Chicago chopped salad you liked, but there are no flies on it as far as I'm concerned.

riddlemay wrote:I know you are no stranger to Erie Cafe...

You are correct, RMay. But as you might not know, I have my issues with them ($20 for a bad plate of spaghetti is just plain goofy). I have indeed had their Garbage Salad via Mrs. Olde School, who is a frequent orderer of said compilation. Good, perhaps even great in the world of GS's, but not in my salad strike zone.

Incidentally, despite my understanding of the post-modern irony, I find the Garbage Salad name to be slightly vomitocious.

Speaking of LEYE chopped salads, the Chopped Seafood Salad at Shaw's is fantastic.
Shaw’s Signature Chopped Seafood Salad
Louis Dressing & Vinaigrette, King Crab, Shrimp, Dungeness Crab, Lobster, Hearts of Palm, Avocado, Cucumber, Egg, Olives

They put the Louis dressing in a line under the seafood. The lettuce and other non-seafood ingredients are tossed in the vinaigrette. It is super yummy, but is $18.95! eek!!

Vital Information wrote:
Oddly enough, one of my benchmark chop salad experiences was at the Brown Debry restaurant in Epcot Center (!). The ingredients were very fresh, but what made the salad was its ultra-chopped-ness.

Hey VI,

The Brown Derby is in Disney-MGM Studios, because it fits with the hollywood theme.

Continuing the LEYE trend, L.Woods has a great chopped salad. It's made up of tomato, bacon, blue cheese, scallions and tube pasta. Very similar to the ones posted here so far under the LEYE banner.

Kim
Former EPCOT cast member (that's Disney speak for "employee") and lover of chopped salads

The best chopped salad I ever had was at Gino's restaurant on the upper East side in NYC. It was chopped to order, and it actually took some time for the server (!) to chop it all so finely. Lettuce, cheese, salami, peppers, tomatoes. mmmmmmm.....

Olde School,

I'm a fan of chopped salads, come by it naturally as my mom is a fan, her mom is a fan and my great grandmother was a fan as well, though her version of chopped salad was herring and onion.

Interesting about Ruth's Chris, in general I'm not a fan, copious amounts of butter does not a substitute for prime beef make, but we receive a gift certificate for Ruth's each year. Now, thanks to you, I will be enjoying chopped salad.

Far as other places for chopped salad, I'm on the same page as you and VI re Club Lago, with bonus points for the old school convivial bar, and, in an out of the box suggestion, Jack's on Touhy in Skokie.

Jack's, like Ruth's Chris, does not have chopped salad on the menu, but will happily 'chop' any of their salads, my favorite being Jack's Chef Salad Bowl with the heart healthy addition of slab bacon. I've waxed poetic about Jack's slab bacon in the past and it really does take the salad over the top, bonus points for fresh bialys from New York Bagel and Bialy. Jack's BLT with slab bacon is no shrinking violet either.

Enjoy,
Gary

Club Lago
331 W. Superior St.
Chicago, IL 60610
312-337-9444

Jack's Restaurant
5201 W Touhy Ave
Skokie, IL
847-674-5532
2 Blocks West of the Edens

New York Bagel and Bialy
4714 W Touhy Ave
Lincolnwood, IL 60646
847- 677-9388

Yum, the chopped salad at Jack's sounds delicious. I must try.

I am not a big fan of salad, so I love chopped salads b/c of the smaller pieces of lettuce and all the toppings - as long as they aren't piling on the calories and fat. One of my favorites is definitely Portillos/Barnellis. However, I must add that only certain locations (so far I have found those to be Arl Hts and Glendale Hts) give you a warm lemon poppy seed muffin while others give you a roll.

G Wiv wrote:Olde School,
Interesting about Ruth's Chris, in general I'm not a fan, copious amounts of butter does not a substitute for prime beef make, but we receive a gift certificate for Ruth's each year. Now, thanks to you, I will be enjoying chopped salad.

GWiv,

When you go, let me know if you get it:

1) as described on the menu
2) with the shrimp option
3) my way (subtract red and fried onions, add anchovy)
4) "Skip's way" (my friend who first alerted me to the pleasures of the Ruth's Chris chopped, who is so frequent an orderer of it that they have his version taped up on the kitchen wall--no egg, no cheese, no onion, add avocado and extra anchovies, no oil, but light drizzle of balsamic).
5) your own creation

lloyd's, the Loop place affiliated with Catch 35, is no great shakes in most ways. However, they have a terrific seafood cobb chock full of shrimp, crab meat (much of it often leg meat from snow or king), scallops, er, here's the list from the menu:

BABY SHRIMP, SCALLLOPS, CRABMEAT, TOMATO, CORN, AVOCADO, HARD BOILED EGG & CRUMBLED BLEU CHEESE

Get it tossed with the house 1000 island (tell them to go light), and you have something not unlike a great "louis" from Sawnn. Trust me, I introduced many of you to the Executive at Lago...

Caveat emptor, otherwise.

JeffB wrote:lloyd's, the Loop place affiliated with Catch 35, is no great shakes in most ways. However, they have a terrific seafood cobb chock full of shrimp, crab meat (much of it often leg meat from snow or king), scallops, er, here's the list from the menu:

BABY SHRIMP, SCALLLOPS, CRABMEAT, TOMATO, CORN, AVOCADO, HARD BOILED EGG & CRUMBLED BLEU CHEESE

Get it tossed with the house 1000 island (tell them to go light), and you have something not unlike a great "louis" from Sawnn. Trust me, I introduced many of you to the Executive at Lago...

Caveat emptor, otherwise.

Couldn't agree more about the seafood cobb at Lloyd's. IMO, everything else there is pretty much a disaster, but that salad is fantastic. It's the only thing I order if I find myself there for a business lunch.

Wildfire and Scoozi have really good chopped salads too. Wildfire's dressing is citrusy and Scoozi has roasted corn. The last Maggiano's one I had was mostly white lettuce.