Eating healthy in 2024: Detroit's best low-key salads
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Anita's chicken feta fattoush salad. Photo: Joe Guillen/Axios
There's something uniquely satisfying about ordering a filling salad from a place you were least expecting.
Why it matters: Eating out is expensive, and there's nothing worse than wasting a trip out on a subpar salad.
The intrigue: Over the last few days, we went green at our favorite restaurants with the goal of finding salads that we'd be proud to recommend to our health-conscious friends.
- In the spirit of starting off the new year healthy, here's where to find delicious salads from places not dedicated to them like 7Greens or Beyond:
Harvest salad ($14), Babo Detroit, Midtown: Babo's mixed green salad is topped with Honeycrisp apples, cranberries, candied pecans, sweet potatoes and a lemon-honey citronette. Add chicken ($4), salmon ($6) or vegan chorizo ($5).
Chicken feta fattoush ($14), Anita's Kitchen, Ferndale: Fattoush salad is a staple at Middle Eastern restaurants across our metro. Anita's version checks all the boxes of a classic fattoush — crisp fried pita chips, fresh herbs and the signature dressing — with a generous pile of warm chicken shawarma and tableside pita. Big enough for two.
Charred Caesar ($15), Barda, Core City: This melt-in-your-mouth appetizer is so good that we've already written about it — plus the anchovies mean you can join the tinned-fish craze.
Rob's Chop Chop ($10.95), The Fly Trap, Ferndale: A wonderfully consistent and meaty salad with mushrooms, ham, salami, provolone and olives. Each bite is packed with flavors reminiscent of a muffuletta Italian sandwich.
Greek salad with chicken ($15), Athens Souvlaki, downtown: Other Greek salads may be more refined, but this one is perfect for lunch on the go. Served with delicious pita bread that will dash any hopes you had of eating light.
Salmon salad ($15.95), Cadieux Cafe, Cornerstone Village: This salad stands out for the huge hunk of seared salmon on top. Add in pistachios and Holland gouda cheese and it's a hearty east-side option at a (relatively) low price.
Antipasto ($13), Michigan & Trumbull, New Center: An elevated version of this classic Italian salad goes great with the delicious Detroit-style pizza at this restaurant's new location.
Bún thịt nướng ($13.20), Pho Lucky, Midtown: We challenge you to not have to take home part of this cold vermicelli noodle bowl that Annalise adores. It comes with shredded lettuce, bean sprouts and herbs, topped with meat and spring rolls. She recommends ordering it with grilled tofu instead of meat and asking for extra dressing.
Chicken shawarma salad ($9.95), Bucharest Grill: Detroit's essential "Is this even a salad?" salad. Bucharest throws a pile of grilled chicken breast over lettuce, tomato, pita chips, onions, cucumber and peppers. Pour on the house dressing and you've got a winner.
Maurice salad ($14.50), Mudgie's Deli & Wine Shop, Corktown: Mudgie's take on the Maurice — long-remembered by Michiganders for being served in Hudson's stores — is huge, filling and stars a homey, tangy dressing. We would do anything (within reason) for its delightfully herbed house-made croutons. Also, Mudgie's made the great decision to include both pickles and banana peppers in its Maurice.