300564 Sun Jul 17 01:31:11 -0700 2005 28 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1671230 So, I occasionally find myself at salad bars for lunch at work. In fact, I have a fairly decent "cafeteria" in my building which has a hearty salad bar. But, I have had something on my mind for sometime and I am just curious, for no other reason than curiosity, on this particular subject. Sometimes I see people piling everything in the salad bar into their containers. After the basic mesclun mix, cukes, tomatoes, grilled chicken, hard boiled eggs, feta cheese, etc, they'll throw everything from a seseme snow peapod/tofu salad on top of an italian dressed artichoke salad, om top of an avocado/black bean/tomato salad, on top of a mayo-y potato salad. And then top it all with a lite ranch dressing or something of that sort. It just kind of, for lack of a better phrase, grosses me out. Am I missing out on something here? What gives??? Sun Jul 17 01:31:11 -0700 2005 0 PMac 1 1671233 At least there's no iceberg lettuce in that meld. I dunno, some people, clueless about food, enjoy combinations of flavours that less primitive neanderthals would find odd. Sun Jul 17 07:08:45 -0700 2005 1671230 0 Ben 2 1671235 Other reasons could be: trying to get their money's worth or trying to sneak in a lot of calories and fat under the guise of "salad." (I had a co-worker who was always "on a diet" and had a huge concoction from the salad bar every day for lunch: definitely more fattening than a regular meal would have been.) Another thing is that some of those combinations wouldn't look that bad if they were arranged on a plate; it's just that they give you a bowl. Sun Jul 17 08:20:27 -0700 2005 1671233 0 bibi rose 3 1671239 Many years ago I was staying in Hong Kong and one of the sights to see was to go to the local Dominos where there was a salad bar which allowed once through only. Patrons in the know used to construct a web of celery sticks on their plate to extend the size of the plate so they could build up the salad like a deck. It was amazing to see how far a small salad plate could be extended and piled up with tons of different offerings from the salad bar. Sun Jul 17 16:44:33 -0700 2005 1671235 0 Zoe 4 1671241 You went all the way to Hong Kong and ate at Domino's? Sun Jul 17 17:06:21 -0700 2005 1671239 0 2chez mike 5 1671255 Didn't eat there but went to see that side show (one of the 7 wonders of the world????) Mon Jul 18 11:58:17 -0700 2005 1671241 0 Zoe 4 1671900 I saw a website once that had many different pictures of this trend. Sadly, I could only find the one picture below, but I still think it's hilarious. Link: http://boingboing.net/2004/12/10/ Wed Jul 27 15:42:07 -0700 2005 1671239 0 Pamalamb 5 1671901 Loved the link. I am inspired. Checking the links to other picters (here), I may have found the link you were referring to. pictures 3,4 and 6 are truly impressive. Amazing what you can do with cucumbers. Althoug I did like the photo useing bell pepper rings to extend the bowl. The sad thing in your link was it said that Pizza Hut is considered upscale dining in China because of the cost. Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldtasty/tags/salad/ Wed Jul 27 16:01:58 -0700 2005 1671900 0 rworange 6 1671949 There is something vaguely pornographic about those photos. Thu Jul 28 10:54:10 -0700 2005 1671901 0 Bob W. 1 1671234 I'm probably one of those offenders you are posting about and I'll give you my reasons: I am on a diet where basically my only choice at these cafeterias is the salad bar, and I generally end up eating at the work cafeteria 3-4 times a week. After weeks and months of eating the same ol' salad, almost any incongruous salad or mixture they throw out there will end up on top of my salad (as long as it meets the rules of my diet) because it breaks the monotony. I don't care how weird it tastes as long as it tastes DIFFERENT. Sun Jul 17 07:10:21 -0700 2005 1671230 0 Shawn 1 1671236 People eat what they want to eat. Sun Jul 17 14:16:27 -0700 2005 1671230 0 2chez mike 1 1671245 You may have seen me at my local Whole Foods salad bar. But I put the different items in their own zone so as not to mix them up right away. It works for me. But I will tell you this, the best part may be at the end when there are a few bites that are a mix of everything. Call me whatever you want, but it tastes great. Sun Jul 17 18:00:10 -0700 2005 1671230 0 Tugboat 1 1671246 when i create my own salad from a salad bar (as opposed to one of those 'toss' places) i usually go in three layers. desert (strawberries, banana, etc) on the bottom, followed by piece of lettuce (as a food shield), then some protien (tuna, chicken, whatever) with another lettuce shield then they typical salad things (i have a real lust for chi chi beans. that way, my salad is constructed in a logical way for me to eat it, top down. people either say it's super smart or super disgusting. i was in the navy so i'm not too sqeamish about the occassional piece of fish hitting a strawberry. and i'm an architect, so maybe the methodology has something to do w/that. Sun Jul 17 18:00:34 -0700 2005 1671230 0 bryanj 2 1671253 That sounds like my plan as well. Mon Jul 18 07:50:51 -0700 2005 1671246 0 Tugboat 2 1671266 You have found the perfect uses for iceberg lettuce--as a food shield and structural element. Mon Jul 18 14:36:59 -0700 2005 1671246 0 gina 1 1671256 Cobb salad is my favorite "dinner" salad, but it's a constant annoyance that the salad is usually served with all the individual components neatly segregated into little stacks or segments or whatever. I have to waste my time and slop salad on the table in attempting to toss it all together. Thus my pleasure when I get Cobb salad at the Railroad Cafe, and it comes already tossed. I don't know why only this place does it; I know I like it. Mon Jul 18 12:03:07 -0700 2005 1671230 0 Shep 2 1671258 I believe the original Cobb Salad was supposed to be that way until the dressing was added. Then it was mixed. Why not ask for it mixed? Mon Jul 18 12:50:25 -0700 2005 1671256 0 wally 3 1671288 Uh. Why. Sure, I could do that. I guess they present it that way because it looks cool, and maybe so people can see that they're getting everything. "OK, there's the bacon, there's the chicken." OK, next time I have one of Emil Villa's lunch time half-a-Cobb salads, I'll ask them to toss it. Mon Jul 18 20:12:05 -0700 2005 1671258 0 Shep 1 1671271 What gives? You work with a bunch of dirtly slimeballs. I'd quit today! Mon Jul 18 15:19:20 -0700 2005 1671230 0 MidtownCoog 1 1671275 Gluttony. A lot of people just can't bear the thought that they just might miss some tasty tidbit so they pile on the food. Mon Jul 18 15:54:44 -0700 2005 1671230 0 Scagnetti 2 1671279 Who cares? They have to pay for whatever they pile on. Mon Jul 18 17:01:46 -0700 2005 1671275 0 Bob W. 3 1671315 For some reason I am picturing a Venn diagram with a lot of overlap between those who look at/care about what other people put in their salad at the salad bar and those who stop traffic to look at an accident on the freeway.... I can also picture a Ven diagram with a lot of overlap between those who clap when they hear a restaurant worker drop and break something and those who park their cars on their front lawn, but I digress. Link: http://www.cs.uni.edu/~campbell/stat/venn.html Tue Jul 19 18:15:38 -0700 2005 1671279 0 Andrew 4 1671361 Excellent! Venn diagrams rock. I think someone should let the orginal poster know that while he might find some of his fellow salad bar patrons' combinations revolting, there are many, many people who would find him revolting merely because he gets food from a salad bar. Just some food for thought for those who deign to judge others. Wed Jul 20 11:58:08 -0700 2005 1671315 0 Bob W. 4 1671413 Just clapping at a dropped glass? Back when I worked at TGI Friday's, a couple of the cooks started calling out "JOB OPENING!" when something dropped. After a very short while, everyone in the restaurant was doing it. It's still a reflex for me; I'm genuinely worried that one day, I'm going to be in a really chi-chi restaurant, and somewhere in the back, someone is going to have a plate come loose... Link: http://thecosmicjester.blogspot.com Wed Jul 20 19:39:06 -0700 2005 1671315 0 JK Grence (the Cosmic Jester) 2 1671421 Kind of like those folks who put a couple of pancakes on a plate, top it with some bacon, a couple of fried eggs and then cover the whole thing with syrup. Wed Jul 20 21:13:23 -0700 2005 1671275 0 dinwiddie 3 1671428 Wow, now you're getting me hungry! I'll need some toast to soak up the yolks, too. How long is it until breakfast? Wed Jul 20 23:48:34 -0700 2005 1671421 0 SuzyInChains 3 1671469 hey, don't knock it 'til you've tried it! I used to LOVE having a couple of waffles (or pancakes) topped with a fried egg and syrup...mmmm Thu Jul 21 13:32:33 -0700 2005 1671421 0 MM 3 1672003 Bacon with syrup is delicious. Thu Jul 28 17:49:21 -0700 2005 1671421 0 Cara1 1 1671302 I have a personal quirk in the opposite extreme. I don't like any of my salad bar items touching, so I end up with several containers. One will have my traditional leafy salad and it's toppings and dressing. Another container will have fruit and the third container will have pasta or another type of salad. It weird...I get looks from people, but that's okay :-) Tue Jul 19 12:32:28 -0700 2005 1671230 0 Janet from Richmond