The friend I went to Bread Zeppelin with kept comparing the experience to her recent favorite salad bar, Salata. And funnily enough, my grandmother had just been talking about wanting to check it out because there was a fairly new location in her area.
My first impression upon walking in the door was that the colors, branding, and dining room were really beautiful. I felt like if I was to walk in to the same dining room to lunch with some ladies at a Neiman Marcus it wouldn't be out of place at all.
The salad bar itself was impressive. It was extremely expansive. If you look at the photo above, that's not even the whole length of it!
Like most salad bars, you start by selecting your lettuce. The pricing and menu are super simple and clear at the beginning of the line- you pick a salad or a wrap, one price, as many toppings as you want.
While this isn't intended to be a full side-by-side comparison to Bread Zeppelin, I did eat at Salata just a day or two after at the recommendation of the friend I took to Bread Zeppelin, so comparisons are unavoidable.
A few differences in particular struck me most. First, the number of options at Salata is unbelievable. The thing is, the prices at Salata and Bread Zeppelin are comparable. So it makes me wonder how it's possible for Salata to be able to afford to have such a variety of ultra fresh ingredients available, and have no limits on how many you can put in your salad for the same price, and not have at least unlimited toppings at Bread Zeppelin since they have significantly fewer toppings to keep stocked.
The other big difference between Salata and Bread Zeppelin is the amount of protein added to your salad or wrap. Like Bread Zeppelin, Salata does charge extra for meat, but the price is lower and the amount of meat is much greater.
Additionally, the meats are seasoned so that you can create a flavor profile and really feel like you're eating an assembled meal, not just a salad or wrap.
They also allowed me to taste as many proteins as I wanted before I selected the Thai flavored chicken. I tasted several and they were all really good- they are served cold, though, so expect that. There are also several more options as far as salmon and crab, which makes it kind of special and makes me feel like I could eat there really frequently and still enjoy a genuinely varied diet.
At Salata, you actually select your dressing before you select your protein, so it may take a few trips to learn the proteins to expect before you know the best dressings to pick.
However, the variety is noteworthy and the flavors are outstanding. After tasting several impressive and unique salad dressings, I eventually landed on the ginger lime vinaigrette, which inspired me to trend my wrap towards an Asian flavor theme. I am not exaggerating when I say I have plans to go back soon and find out if I can purchase the Ginger Lime Vinaigrette in bulk to keep at home.
After selecting the proteins, there are still nuts, seeds, and dried fruits, again at no additional charge.
Salata offers 3 soup options. I tasted a sample of the broccoli soup and found it tasty but more healthy tasting than say a super creamy or cheesy broccoli soup. This is nice because it would still be good to eat but wouldn't make you feel like you just un-did the virtue of your salad.
The final choice you have to make if you get a wrap is which kind of tortilla you'll get. I was sincerely impressed with the options available, as I have never seen 4 of the 5 options before. I selected the Thai Ginger Tortilla to go with my Asian themed wrap, and I'll jump ahead a little to say that it was AMAZING. The tortilla had such a subtle almost fragrance of spices and ginger, the flavor enveloped the acid and brightness of the fillings both literally and as I chewed.
You also get to select a roll as a side. I opted for the cheesy bread.
In lieu of a soda fountain, Salata features a "Tea Tap" with several original lemonades and iced teas. I took the opportunity to sample every one of them, and found that all of the limeades and lemonades were really excellent, and all but one of the teas were great. The one tea that wasn't my favorite tasted like it might've been in the tap too long, & I told an employee who immediately changed it out.
All in all, the Tea Tap is a beautiful fixture, a clever idea, and worth tasting all of them to find your personal favorite.
I know you're dying to see the final product of my wrap, so here it is:
I got the following fillings on mine: spring mix, pickled beets, jicama, green apple, avocado, sunflower seeds, asian chicken, ginger lime vinaigrette, almonds, and shredded cheese on a thai ginger tortilla. It was outstanding. I can not sing this wrap's praises enough. It was hearty, satiating, satisfying, delicious, and full to the brim with well cooked, seasoned chicken.
My grandmother tried the salad, and she put together a salad full of mostly fruit, with a lemon dressing:
She ate every bite! I'll also mention that while the dining room was pretty full, the ambient noise was at a pleasant, unimposing level. This always gets an extra plus from me, because I do eat out so often with people who have hearing aids, and I've become rather sensitive to whether a restaurant seems to have accounted for acoustics.
I 100% recommend that you go try Salata! It will inspire you to eat well, be healthy, and you will feel FULL. If you are like me and you struggle sometimes to start a healthier eating routine because every time you start you just find yourself feeling so crazy hungry, I suggest you try starting your new diet at Salata. You could eat there 20 days in a row and never eat the same thing twice, and you will feel truly satiated without being naughty.
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