Quizno's Roast Chicken Salad

Margaret: This was a pretty good day for Quizno's. I was kinda hungry today so we went with the roasted chicken salad. I have a funny feeling these Quizno's salads are secretly not very good for you, but still, it was pretty good. Roasted chicken, bacon, tomatos, onions, cheese, all the classics. They have a very yellow honey mustard dressing that was pretty good, I didn't use much, it was just a little too yellow. But my favorite part of todays salad was the warm pita that they give you. It's always really soft and yummy and you can make little salad sandwiches with it, but today, the cheese from the salad melted all over the warm pita bread and it was all kinds of delicious. This wasn't so bad...I'll give it a solid B.

John: Better than the "theme" salads at Quiznos by a long shot. This one contains just what it should. I also thought the dressing was kinda odd. My only bitch is the price. Two salads and two drinks somehow costs like $20. Bee.

Chicago Pita Caesar Salad

Margaret: Sometimes I just have to wonder why its so hard for people to serve good food with a smile. When we walked up to Chicago Pita today they were full of smiles, there's some convention at the Mart today and it was packed. But the Pita people smiled and recognized us, wondered why we weren't getting our regular order and made sure to smile over someone's pretty new ring. The salad was good. It's weird to get a Cesar salad without chicken or anything, but it was still really good. Fresh lettuce and tons of cheese took the place of the chicken and its huge still, even without much on it, it was still big and delicious, much like myself. I give it a B+, perfectly good salad, but the plus is for the smiles and the freshness of their food. You know what? Add another plus, B++ for the chickenless Caesar.

John: To borrow from Full Metal Jacket, today's salad is "too bookoo". Good through and though - just a little big for me. I would rather see this reduced in size and price to a SIDE CAESAR. As always the staff at C.P. was awesome. Today there is some sort of bridal show in the mart - so its full of tourist types. While everyone else got their order called out by number, ours came out as "Margaret and John your lunch is ready!" Suck on that hot bridal models from Iowa who were crowding the straw dispenser. Not to copy my lady but B++++++++

Au Bon Pain Mediterranean Salad

John: No the photo isn't out of focus. Its swimming in dressing. Yeah. What really kills me about this salad is that I just learned to LOVE Feta. That sour rustic flavor has finally grown on me. Too bad that Au Bon Pain Feta is just "crumbled white" cheese. This salad didn't taste like anything. Granted I had them hold the olives which would have helped but still. Too much dressing - not enough taste. C-.

Margaret: Patooey. I'm done with Au Bon Pain. I used to not mind it there so much. I like their turkey sandwiches. But their salads get worse and worse. And the lines and the way its organized is designed to make you annoyed. Berlch. This salad was literally swimming in dressing, way too much, it was dripping off the fork. I don't really like feta and I still couldn't taste it, which means it had no taste. The lettuce was fresh, but it was wet with vinegar and oil. A few red peppers helped things along, but much like the feta, it was washed out by all the salad dressing. Thank goodness they have big chunks of bread and plenty of butter, otherwise, I'd be starving right now. C-. I would give it a D, but this salad was at least edible. At least.

McDonald'sGrilled Chicken Asian

Margaret: You know, it kind of gets to a point with these salads, especially Mickey D's...where there's hardly even a point to reviewing them anymore. Because listen, I know you're going to sprinkle salmon-colored grilled chicken over a pretty good salad. I know I'm going to think its disgusting and I know I'm not going to eat the whole thing. I know I thought it was pretty good with the crispy chicken on it and I know I'm going to get a cheeseburger too because your grilled chicken is disgusting. Now that we know all this, lets just go ahead and give you what you normally get for your salmon chicken Micks, and bestow you with a C-. Good salad, disgusting chicken. Figure it out McDonalds, or else you're going down in FLAMES.

John: Great tasting salad full of fresh crisp ingredients! Too bad there is a rubber chicken on top of it. Really this would have been so much better without the chicky breast. Thank God I had a BigMac chaser! The difference in calories between the grilled and the crispy is only 90. The difference in taste between the two is like 1000. Go ahead clowny - clog my arteries with flavor! C.

Pazzini Sonoma Salad

Margaret: This was good! I was in a hungry mood today (no breakfast sammy this morning, just a nice fruit cup!) so I was worried about our Pazzini's salad. I even asked John if we could get an actual pazzini to share just in case. And I needn't have worried. This is a good salad! There was lots of yummy stuff in it, all fresh and colorful and nice. Definitely get the salad dressing on the side...even the little bread was good! The salad would have been plenty, but pair the salad with half a pazzini and you get what I would call an almost perfect lunch. Only thing missing was a vodka seven. B+

John: For what is really just a garden salad this bad boy is pretty pricey. BUT its also the best salad I've had at Pazzini's. For $5.99 we got romaine, cucs, cheese, tomatoes and little flatbreads. I think the secret to this joint is DRESSING ON THE SIDE. Great salad but the $ brings it back down a bit. B+. If you had been like a buck cheaper you'd have been in the top 5. Ah well.

McDonald'sCripsy Chicken Caesar

John: Man these salads are all starting to run together. Wasn't sure until I got back to my desk if we had done this one or not. Turns out it was the GRILLED version we had. Well I'll tell ya what - although I'm sure that the chicken in both comes from the same factory, the crispy just tastes better. This salad wasn't the best or the worst I've ever had. Everything is still kinda wilty and the dressing is plastic tasting. As C as C can be.

Margaret: Yup. Okay fine, I'll admit it, I had a breakfast sandwich this morning. Not from Mickey D's, but still..it had cheese and sausage on it, and it was delicious. Some mornings, when I know we're doing salads, I'll get one, because I seem to be so picky about the salads that I'll usually end up not eating much lunch. So when I sat down to a plateful of fried chicken, I just...blech. It seemed so heavy, so gross...I bit into the damn thing and the lettuce tastes like eating a toy from a happy meal, the tomatoes are not even worth it, and the one thin slice of carrot is doing nothing to help me eat healthier. It all just seemed so gross today. So maybe not the fault of the salad, maybe the fault of the breakfast sandwich, but it all just seemed plain wrong today. C-.

Potbelly's Wreck Salad

John: Today we have a special guest eat with us. And what a day to have a guest. I thought this was a pretty good salad - but not the best that Potbelly's has to offer. It almost had TOO MANY ingredients. Maybe it was two cheeses (swiss and bleu) that threw me off. Still a damn fine value and a damn fine salad. B+

Margaret: Delicious. Delicious delicious delicious. I loved this, I think salads with egg are just a little extra delicious. I love all the separate ingredients, you put your fork down and you come up with some cuke, some egg, some lettuce, some meat and a touch of ranch. That is truly the best bite of salad. Again, I can make my little salad sammitches I love so much and best of all, John got me a little bag of cookies for after the salad. And we ALL know that Potbelly's oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are the best things on the planet. I love this salad (I will admit I got it without bleu cheese, but still)I give it an A.