The Big Salad

Was looking for a Panera when I found this place. Place is clean, staff is friendly, ingredients are fresh. A salad that was more than enough to fill me up when I was hungry cost $ 12 with chicken in it.
Over all I would say the salad was comparable to Panera. Atmosphere was not quite as nice.

If you are looking to eat a dense salad, this is the place for you — be warned though, as it definitely will not be cheap. Understanding and accepting the surcharge on fresher and healthier food options in today’s society makes the Big Salad not seem as bad when it comes to the price. Yes you may spend over $ 10 on a salad or wrap that may not fill you up — it’s a salad. That’s how it is when you eat less carbohydrates in a meal.
The Big Salad is a great option for me when I’m looking for a cleaner and healthier lunch option. Granted, it all depends on the amount of dressing you get. I love the chicken Caesar, Turkey club, and cobb salads. There are not many salad restaurants in the area and this place meets the need well — just make sure you are ready to spend the money cuz there’s no such thing as a dollar menu when it comes to salads.

Knew I was in trouble when they were pulling the letuce out of the bin and we’re throwing pieces out of my bowl in the garbage. Should have known that I was going to get a bad meal right then. Rotten salad is not my idea of good food. When your a salad place you would expect better.

Food was ok. The young lady behind the counter taking orders seemed angry and unhappy to be working there. Really soured the experience.

First visit today — enjoyed it! Lots of salad options — from pre-​selected combos to build your own combo — and lots of sides like chips and soups. Not a salad lover? No problem! Go for sandwiches or wraps. The Big Salad is big for sure — it will feed two people a meal or four people as a side salad. I do think an additional $ 2.75 to add a small piece of chicken to my salad is a bit high, but I’m spoiled by a cafeteria at work that charges $ 5.00 for a salad with all the toppings and just $ 1.00 extra for any one meat. And more lettuce options would be great — mixed greens? kale? The servers are generally friendly, with one that was over the top happy, professional and respectful (that was you long haired blonde girl — nice job!) If I had the time to do the math in front of the toppings counter, I’m sure there’s enough different combinations to eat a different salad every day for the rest of your life! All in all, as a fast food joint (cause it IS fast AND built to order) this is worth it!

I always wanted to try this place, but was extremely disappointed when I actually got around to it.
Much too expensive for what you get — I paid about $ 7.50 for a small Caesar (the size is called «Big», which is not the case). The lettuce does not taste very fresh and comes out of a giant vat. It was also soggy. Salads Up on East Liberty would be a much better option, or Panera.
Overall very bad value.

Good salads and reasonable prices! I enjoyed the Cobb salad — it was more than I could eat but I had it for lunch and enjoyed the rest later. I like that they offer to chop it for you as it makes eating salad easier.
The antipasto salad was a bit too vinegary with both the pickled banana peppers and the oil and vinegar dressing — next time I’d get it with a different dressing.
all in all, a good place for a quick lunch or dinner – clean and friendly.

The big salad has a ton of healthy options and is great for lunch.
I had the asian salad which was chopped greens, chicken, almond, crunchy noodles ginger dressing & mandarin oranges. Everything was chopped very fine and well incorporated. The salads came with a roll on the side.
The salad was really tasty and very filling. The only downsides was the prices (avg $ 9) and the portion of meats. Still I was full from the meal and it was a healthy alternative.
The staff was friendly and everything was very clean. Besides the preselected options, you could also make your own salad with a huge variety of toppings. 7 toppings, meats & avocado counted as 2.
While I am not on this side of town often, Id definitely stop here again.

Big Salad has been in my lunch rotation since shortly after they opened. They have a great variety of fresh toppings for salads and a huge list of tasty dressings. I especially appreciate that they have a big sign in front of the dressings with each allergen and whether or not it’s present in a particular dressing — very helpful for those of us with allergies. It’s always nice to not have to ask to see a chart that the person at the counter never seems to be able to find. They have the same allergen chart for their soups also.
I haven’t had any soups or sandwiches there, so I can’t speak for those, but the salads are great. The only downside is that the place is a bit on the pricey side for a salad, hence 4 stars instead of 5.

Not anything special for the cost I’d rather have panera. The girl screwed up my salad forgot an ingredient and instead of using turkey she put in ham… It’s not even about the mistake it just was so medocre why would you go back?!

Having worked in food, I think their salad preparation process is extremely efficient. I also value the freshness of the items (e.g. the fact that the avocado is packaged to prevent browning). Also, the dressings are pretty delicious. I recommend the Chardonnay.

This is the worst place for a Salad. For a restaurant that calls themselves The Big Salad you obviously assume that their salads are going to be AMAZEBALLS. They are NOT!
My Mom was visiting from out-​of-​town and we went here for lunch with my 4 year old son. My mom and I got the WORST salad’s we’ve ever had! The meat was minced, disgusting and there was very little of it. The lettuce was brown and wilted and I saw them put it on our dishes from a large vat of lettuce in the back.
My son’s sandwich was awful. He didn’t even touch it as the bread was stale.
I will never go back here again. McDonald’s or Wendy’s salads — or Panera are WAAAY better and a fraction of the cost.

There is nothing wrong with the food here — it’s standard soup, salad & sandwich fare. The problem is that it was already too expensive, but after their recent price hike (and portion decrease), it has become unreasonable. There are so many other places in Ann Arbor to get better salads for similar or more reasonable prices. Seek them out and skip The «Big» Salad.

I stopped here for a quick-​to-​go lunch. The place is clean and the staff is really friendly.
There was a line so I had some time to review the menu, looking over their signature salads and other combinations. However, I decided to build my own «big baby» salad, choose your lettuce and 4 toppings. I chose spinach, granny smith apples, cranberries, walnuts, and chicken (chicken was an extra 68 cent or so because meat counts as 2 toppings), and a raspberry vinaigrette. You also get a roll with your salad. I chose to have the salad chopped, bad idea, it was chopped so much that I could barely stick my fork into anything while eating it. I got the dressing on top, this was another poor choice. The salad seemed drenched in dressing.
So my suggestions: get the salad dressing on the side, and have the salad tossed not chopped.
As far as price, my total $ 8+ for just the salad.

Overall I had a great experience at The Big Salad and I will definitely be back again, but maybe not everyday as the prices are a tiny bit steep for the amount of food.
I built my own «big» salad starting with spinach. It would be nice if there was a mixed greens option in addition to the iceberg and romaine options. The assortment of toppings was reasonable, from typical salad toppings (carrots, mushrooms, peppers, onions) to other toppings not normally found at non-​salad-​specialty shops (edamame, beets, corn kernels). The selection of meat and cheese toppings could be more extensive (I think I counted 5 types each of cheese and meat), and it was disappointing that (1) the salmon and avocado toppings were an additional charge and (2) meats counted as 2 toppings. The Chardonnay Chenin Blanc dressing I had was delicious as well.
I also had the chicken chili which was delicious, and the meal came with free oyster crackers or wheat roll.
The salad was DEFINITELY filling, although the toppings-​to-​spinach ratio could be a bit higher: I felt overall that the amount of each topping was a little less than I would have expected.
The staff were super friendly and let me taste the dressings and soups. The restaurant was clean and pretty on the inside.
I gave The Big Salad 4 stars for the atmosphere, staff, and the food being good. The only major downsides would be the limited selection of greens/​meats/​cheeses and the up-​charges for some of the toppings.

I went here expecting a hearty salad, thanks to a livingsocial deal I had recently acquired. I ordered the King Crab Salad, Turkey Cranberry Sandwich, and Tomato Bisque Soup, and left disappointed at best.
The King Crab Salad only had about 5 dinky pieces of imitation crab. The wasabi dressing was actually quite good, but the measly amount of toppings was very disappointing ($ 7.99).
The Turkey Cranberry Sandwich came on hard cold bread, and the ingredients did not taste very fresh. Perhaps it’s the lack of customer base there that leads to their ingredients being around for longer than desired.
The Tomato Bisque Soup was delicious. Hard to go wrong with soup.
Do not planning on returning to this place. Quite expensive for a less than average meal.

Tomatoes + beets + feta + onion does not equal a Greek salad. By the time I was done fixing it into the Greek salad I was craving, it ended costing over $ 10. I wasn’t a big fan of their Greek dressing in the end, so back to Coney Island I go.
The employees were nice, and the place was very clean and pretty looking. I won’t be back because of the value.

I didn’t have high expectations for this place because I had never heard of the chain, but I honestly enjoyed my lunch here. My mom and I split their turkey cranberry sandwich and their California salad. The turkey in the sandwich was surprisingly of a meat salad consistency, like tuna, with walnuts and cranberries in the mix. I liked the seeded wheat bread it came on. I thought the turkey sandwich could be saltier, but it was satisfying overall. The California salad is vegetarian and I believe even vegan, a mix of beans and pickled and non-​pickled veggies. I subbed balsamic for the raspberry vinaigrette the salad is designed to come with, and hearing others order after me it seems the staff are very amenable to customizing orders. Salads come with complimentary croutons and a bread roll. I’m glad I decided to try The Big Salad despite my initial apprehensions.

I was really looking forward to this restaurant opening. Given it offers salads I really wanted the desire to eat here at least once a week. But, no such luck. I ate here two weeks ago. I hate to say it, but the best thing at The Big Salad (other than the customer service) was the half sandwich I had.
I decided on the half sandwich/​salad combination. There were a few options to choose from. For the sandwich portion I had the Italian. It was a hot sandwich and very good! The salad portion allowed me to pick from three types of lettuce and a variety of toppings. With the half salad I got to pick three toppings. I picked cheese, broccoli and tomatoes with ranch dressing.
I have to agree with the other reviews. I didn’t care for them chopping up my salad so much. I wouldn’t be against it other than yes, it did make it very slimy. You watch them put together your salad, so you see how much they put in your bowl. They don’t skimp on the ingredients! I don’t know if they make their own ranch dressing or if they get it from a company, but I didn’t care for it at all.
No. It is not inexpensive. A half sandwich and salad cost me $ 9. That didn’t include a drink.
I’ll give it another shot as I really wanted to like this place. Again, their customer service was outstanding. Their sandwich was great and I would really like to try their soups, but I will pass on the salad…

An outpost of The Big Salad recently opened in Ann Arbor, joining locations in Royal Oak, Troy, Novi, and Grosse Pointe. Located on Plymouth Road, it’s easily accessible by car with ample parking.
The Big Salad, as the name implies, is a fast-​casual salad place that also has soups and sandwiches to round out the offerings. I went there for lunch today, and it was quite busy. The menu as set salads, such as the caesar, an asian salad, the Maurice, the wedge and so on, and there’s also an option to ‘build your own’. The large size is quite large and filling. One quibble I have is that little modification is possible with the ‘set’ salads — you can do two substitutions, but if you wanted to add something simple like chopped cabbage, there’s an upcharge. With dozens of toppings and something like 16 dressings, almost anything is possible. And best of all, they chop the salads before serving so everything is well mixed together. They have chicken, salmon and bacon available as proteins (maybe steak?). The quality is pretty good.
The only other negative was the quality of the bread roll that comes with each salad — it’s absolutely insipid: no crust, a mushy cakey crumb, horrible. My sincerest hope is that this place will choose a better local source for their bread (Zingermans, anyone?!), one that will complement the quality of the food itself.