And The Winner Is??

The salad battle is over.

The other night I went to Applebee's and ordered soup and salad to go. Service was great, the environment pleasing (no blabbering drunks to hear) and the food was relatively well prepared.

I had the California Shrimp Salad, which contained shrimp, grape tomatoes, black olives, hard boiled eggs, bacon and I suppose there was a little California in there somewhere but I just didn't see it.


What? Ooooohhh, the avocado! Clearly that makes it "Californian."

The accompanying dressing was a garlicky avocado creation, fairly normal and uninspiring. Nothing like my cucumber, avocado, cilantro and yogurt dressing, but I digress. . .this isn't about me, is it?

The photo of the salad in the menu did indicate chunks of avocado, yet in mine there were none. The shrimp were overcooked (not unexpected), but certainly edible with a nice spicy bite. The greens were fresh, only slight bruising here and there and the rest of the ingredients were tasty.

Now to the judging.

There was no clear winner. The T.G.I.Friday's salad, although ruined by the overcooked, sliced sirloin was far more creative than Applebee's overused Californian theme. The sirloin salad greens win the freshness battle and the corn salsa was a nice touch, but there was truly NO EXCUSE for the dog shit jerky included with the beautiful lettuces. The shrimp salad, although uninspiring and lacking a certain key ingredient, left nothing to be desired. Well prepared and satisfying.

So in the end, I think I have to vote on who I think it the least gooberish of the two menu consultants for these mega-chain operations. Tyler Florence or Guy Fieri.

And the winner is. . .(drumroll please)


ME!

Why?

Well, this really IS about me.