Salad Shoppe

I have been a some what frequent customer for last four years at Salad Shoppe. Salad bar selection is ok, however the selection always looks and tastes fresh. Owner seems to be a little unfriendly, or maybe just having a bad day every time I happen to be there. Fair price for unlimited salad.

I get it. I live in the Salinas Valley I’m supposed to like or maybe even love it… well not so much. If I need a salad, I should make one. To go out to a all you can eat salad «bar» is wierd. But is it a good deal? $ 8.50 for a dine in all you can eat. That’s the salad and the other salad that go’s on to of that. Oh and soft serve and bread. Soda, soup and chili beans are extra.
So it’s 3:00pm and it looks like it’s a one man show. He’s taken money, cleaning tables, filling the bar. Doing it all! Great job. So we overlooked that they ran out of cones and bowls for the soft serve. But man! they ran out of soft serve to. Bummer.
Anyway for the dough you plop down for the greens I could of had a pulled pork sandwich at my favorite BBQ joint. That’s my bummer.
Alright, so I had two plates of lettuce and other stuff like it on to of that to fill me up and then a couple of cups of soft serve to make me smile.
Last words… no leftovers, that’s cool.

I have eaten here for years and love love love their salads. First let’s discuss the pre-​made salads. You can’t go wrong with the small Greek salad, how they stuff so much in that little clam shell always amazes me. I go put it on a plate and it turns into a huge serving. Their tuna salad is like a deconstructed French Nicoise Salad. It has a large serving of tuna mixed with mayo, generous celery and carrot sticks, a hard boiled egg and a good sized fresh torpedo roll. It’s packed like a little picnic and I have often taken it to the park spread out a cloth napkin and a half bottle of wine and made it into a romantic lunch for two. The shrimp salad is always a sure bet too but they run out early. Their salami sandwich is another favorite and comes in half sizes so it’s just the right size with a salad or bowl of soup. They have a great Chinese chicken pasta salad as well as other daily specials that are premade. All are excellent and very fresh, I have never seen brown lettuce or stale tomatoes here. Next the soups and chili are great. If you get the chili leave room at the top and stop at the salad bar and add cheese and raw onions to make it real home style! The chili is always pipping hot and full of flavor. Next check out the bread offerings. The slices of bread are yeasty fresh and the muffins light and if you get their early still warm. Also available are crackers if that’s your thing. Drinks are either fountain pours with free refills or bottled drinks in the front case. The salad bar is what you come for here though. It has an incredible diverse selection of lettuces and veggies as well as pasta salads and potato salad. I always start with a layer of arugula, spring mix, spinach and then build my salad with small mountains of my favorite ingredients including the amazing fresh beet salad that has a wonderful glossy ruby color and is to die for. They also have canned beets take a pass on those and have the real thing. I love the option of peas, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, cucumbers, shredded carrots and cheddar cheese. Topped with a couple of peppecini peppers –yum! I always take a scoop of their delicious potato salad as my desert! There is a great variety of dressings, as well a plain balsamic, olive oil and red wine vinegar and fresh ground pepper. Their vinigrette is amazing. Why did I only give it four stars? As stated in other reviews, there are limited protein choices and the little containers that cost extra taste bland and the shrimp is rubbery. While the vinigrette is wonderful, it is always separated and no matter how much I mix it I get way more oil then I want. I usually get a small container from the pre-​made case as I can shake this up to be well mixed. The ice cream is really not needed and is a flavorless extra adding cost to the salad bar price. This place is very popular and busy during lunch time and the bar gets super dirty and they are sometimes slow at wiping off the tables and trays and the rags they use look pretty gnarly at times but mostly they are on top of it. The serving spoons get handled over and over and I have never seen them changed out or wiped off, as a health care professional that grosses me out, just a personal thing, not sure what the rules are. This place is super small so turnover is essential and it would be nice if both registers were open all the time as the line gets backed up. It is way noisy in here with everyone talking at once and they play heavy metal and hard rock music fairly loud, not my thing when I want to wind down at lunch, when it’s nice outside I prefer to grab a table out there for a little quieter experience. All that said I love this place and it is a frequent go to for me when I want the freshest salad in town made my way! All you can eat salad with bread and a drink about $ 13.00. Okay I admit my other favorite part is the people watching. Some people build huge Fred Flintstone sized salads and can barely get them to their table and it is hilarious to watch. Thank god they don’t charge by the pound here!

Love this place!!! Always clean. Food is fresh. Soup, ice cream, desert and different breads are available as well.

After moving here from north Dallas we often wondered if there was a good soup and salad place like Jason’s Deli. The salad shoppe here in Salinas has just found two regulars from here on out.
No more hunting for a great place to eat delicious home made style soups and garden fresh vegetables in their well stocked salad bar. All for a reasonable price! Bring more places like this to the salinas valley.

Amazing salad bar! Wish they had a more variety of wraps though. Great customer service, always well maintained. Salad bar is always looking freash and clean. The freshly baked bread is delicious!

Outstanding well run establishment! Clean & friendly. Enjoyed the couscous salad. Love their beets & especially love the fact that it’s all you can eat!

Terrific salad bar with soup and ice cream included. Spotlessly clean and appears sanitary. Lost one star for a weird ordering set up that you have to stumble through a few times to figure out and and because the soft serve is not very good.

Great salad bar and if your looking to eat healthy this is my go to place. Im so happy that the Salad Shoppe now stays open in the evening. Best value in town even if i have to get the grab and go salads.

I stopped into the shop during the last hour they were open for the day– it was late and hot and I wanted something for dinner that wasn’t a greasy hamburger or pizza because I sure wasn’t cooking anything.
I got my order to go and just built my own salad instead of taking the premade ones in the case. The salad bar is very clean and has a lot of options for veggies in your salad. There were also a couple of pasta salads and what I believe was a potato salad! There are also lots of dressing options and topping as well. Everything looked extremely fresh so I wasn’t worried.
My three major issues that have me left with giving it only three stars are:
1. There isn’t really a way to get a bigger sized salad to go. You are stuck with the one size to go container and it’s not that big.
2. I saw this in a previous review– there isn’t a huge selection of proteins to add to the salad. I would have liked to see some grilled chicken or something (I opted for ham– because it was that or tofu or the small containers of chicken/​shrimp that you pay extra for and to be honest they didn’t look all that appealing so i passed on those)
3. For the size salad I left with, the price was a bit much.
They are convenient and maybe I would have gotten a better deal if I had dined in (I wasn’t in the mood for that) but next time I feel like a quick salad for dinner I will go to the grocery store and get a premade one in the produce section.

Awesome salad bar! All the ingredients are fresh! Lettuce/​greens are always crispy and green! I have never had an ingredient that wasn’t fresh. The chili is great! My wife loves the wraps in the pre-​made fridge section.
Will definitely go back!!! They need one in Marina/​Seaside/​Monterey area!!! ;-)

This is a great place to go for a fast healthier alternative lunch. No greasy fries here. Large selection of veggies and lettuce types. The salad bar is always clean. The employees are always cleaning drops and spills.

I love this place! Best salad ever!
Clean, fresh and so many options. I would recommend the salad shoppe to all my friends!

Love this place! Fresh greens and lots of choices for toppings in my opinion. The dressings are great, and it’s not to have the option of the soup bar also. I love that’s it’s a locally owned business and not a chain.

What is there not to love about the salad shoppe? Fresh, healthy, fast, and delicious! Definitely my type of restaurant. Friendly staff and a great value. You can grab a convenient pre-​made salad to go or customize a salad to your hearts desire. It’s one of my favorite places to go during lunch. Good job guys! :-)

Always fresh food and they are constantly keeping everything neat and tidy. If I could I would come eat lunch here everyday. If only they had more seating available because it is always packed, but that’s because they are good!

I love the concept of this place and think it’s great for a quick lunch however, have you ever heard or been to Souplantation? That place is better and so are the prices. I came here with the BF for a quick bite and the lettuce and fixings were great, fresh and there were a lot of options but the protein options… little to none! $ 1.69 additional for a tiny thing of baby shrimp or chicken? No thanks! I’m from socal so maybe I’m spoiled by all our salad options but this place is overpriced for what it is. I didn’t see the all you can eat option/​price, but maybe that’s your better bet.

The best salads in town! Everything is super fresh, and the staff is always very friendly. A must-​see in Salinas for a quick, easy lunch! They should bring back «Nanas Famous Pasta Salad»… That’s the best pasta salad I have ever had.
Thanks for all you do, Salad Shoppe!

Didn’t want to cook around the holidays but looking for a healthier choice we decided to try this place before going to Streets of Bethlehem.
It’s nice and quaint salad bar. They have some pre made salads in the fridge if you don’t want to make your own salad.
We both got the unlimited salad and soup. There is no meat or tuna, if you want you can purchase them separately and they come in a small container slightly larger where you put condiments in.
The soups I tried were the chili bean and clam chowder. Both were good but nothing to rave about.
They have a lot of options some looked fresh, others not so fresh…
Since it is a local diner and not a chain they do not have people cleaning after your dishes every time you finish with a plate. You’re requested to put your dirty dishes in a container near the beginning of the salad bar line.

You walk inside, go all the way back. They have pre-​made salad options refrigerated. Otherwise, you choose a box or a plate to make your custom salad. You select the lettuce and toppings such as beans, cheese, olives, tomatoes, the usual.
They also have soup and ice cream.
It’s ok, but I never go out of my way to come here.
* «Not everyone has an appeal for fresh produce and vegetables-​but for those who do, it’s a candy store»
Sort of funny since I practically live off a raw diet and Berkeley has a plethora of standard and exotic fruits and veggies Salinas could only dream of. But I’ll revisit and update the review.