Au Bon Pain Chef's Salad

Margaret: You would think I would have learned by now that I should really toss my own salad because having someone else do it just doesn't hold the same satisfaction. This salad from Au Bon Pain was at least edible, as opposed to the other 999 salads from there. Plain old Chef's Salad. Au Bon Pain might be stingy with some of their more attractive salad items, but they are NEVER stingy with the vinagrette salad dressing. It literally drips off the fork, the lettuce, and any other poop ABP puts in there. It's just too much and you can't taste anything else in there besides the dressing. There's just something about the salads over there that I cannot stand. I'm not sure if its the wilty lettuce or drenched tomatoes, but they just never sit right with me. They always taste "off" and just look kind of unattractive too, a good salad should have myriad colors, reds and oranges and greens; the ABP salads always have this army green color with a splash of sad red or olive black. This one was fine, but it wasn't delicious and they have enough ingredients (much like Potbelly's) to make something delicious. I'll give it a B-, because I ate it, but I didn't want to.

John: Weird how dressing seems to be the natural enemy of auto-focus. Anyway. I dug this one. In my digging I discovered a truth about Au Bon Pain - You have got to hit it on a good day. Just like McD, these salads live and die by how fresh the BAG of ingredients is. Its reminds me of those claw games that they have at Chuckie Cheese. The secret to those is pick the prize that CAN be won - not the prize you want to win. Get the salad whose ingredients look the freshest - (you can take a peak over the glass before you order) - not the salad you have a taste for. Is this right? NO! Is this the way of the world? YES! I'm feeling good about this one. A-.