I do like to go to Fresh Choice once in a while. I put several different types of dressing in those little cups and just dip a few bites when I want dressing on a certain bite. I usually eat the salad with no dressing. I don't eat the baked potato. I don't go for the pizza or pasta. It helps that I'm a pizza snob and can't stand pasta.

I do put several different types of soup in those mugs and try them. I don't fill the mugs, just enough to taste.

I've heard that salad bars can be detrimental to diets. Why?

Hi, It sounds like your very sensible about salad bars. But most people hear ALL YOU CAN EAT salad bar and that is what they do, eat like they will never have another meal.
Sharon

A lot of salad bars have a lot of other things than just salad including soup, breads, pasta salads, chicken wings, ribs, etc. They also have fattening dressings. I personally don't care for dressing much so I rarely eat it. I wish there was a salad bar place near me because I would mostly definitely go.

Have you ever been to a salad bar in rural minnesota. A tiny bit of anemic iceberg lettuce and some wilty cucumbers and carrots. macaroni salad, potato salad, tuna salad, cheese, croutons, bacon bits, ham, ambrosia, etc. etc.

Dressings are french, ranch, thousand and blue cheese

Some peolpe think if it comes in a salad it must be healthy.

Its amazing how many calories you can add to your salad. Salad dressing is the worst!!! I love salads, but I shy away from most dressings, I prefer lemon and garlic or little oil lots of vinegar.

Salad bars are the dieter's best friend and worst enemy. A well-stocked salad bar can be your only reasonable choice in some restaurants, but you really have to know your calorie counts and have a will of steel to avoid all of the high-cal goodies.

I love grocery store salad bars. Ideally you go when you're not hungry to pick up for a meal later in the day. Also, you're paying by the pound (which helps me, as the salad dressings often weight the most, so I'm much more careful of how much, if any I add). The health food store in our area recently added a salad and soup bar, and it's great. Even at health food store prices, I save money, because I can try things or take a little bit of things that would be a pain and a fortune to buy separately. Tabouli, hummus, edamame, tofu.... Especially if I'm trying it for the first time, I get a taste without having to commit to a whole package.

Sadly, I think it has a lot to do with $$.
Fresh Choice puts a lot of items on that are cheap for them. Which usually translates into low-quality foods.

We have Sweet Tomatoes where I live, and they have a wonderful salad-type buffet. Problem is, lots of pasta offerings. Lots. And very good tasting. Lots of oil, mayo, good spices... So it's easy to fill up a plate and think you're not eating so much. Ha! Oh, and they also have soups and pizza and pasta with sauces and dessert items and breads as a separate line. So it can be a total calorie disaster! A person must be very vigilant indeed.

Jay

I so miss salad bars in grocery stores. We don't have them anymore. Kroger took theirs out a long time ago and Big Bear, the only grocery store with a salad bar in our area, closed its doors.

I used to love hitting the salad bar and making me a nice salad while grocery shopping and having that for lunch once I got home.

Can't do that anymore

As for salad bars being bad for diets, I agree with what kaplods said, it can be your best friend or your worst enemy. It boils down to what you put on your salad and whether or not you eat all the little extras, like pasta salads made with some unknown dressing (and no doubt they use the full-fat kind) or swimming in mayonnaise. I never eat pasta salads unless I make them myself at home and I know what they contain.

Also, I've been to some salad bars that don't even offer light versions of the dressings they have available.

Then you have your toppings; croutons, nuts, bacon, cheese, etc. Those things are high in calories and can turn a perfectly healthy salad into a nutritional nightmare.

Yes, and I used to be one of those people.

I love Sweet Tomatoes! Did you know they have nutrition booklets with info on all their soups and prepared salads in the restaurant? I find it very helpful for eating making healthy choices.

Even without dressing salads can be high fat and high calorie if you aren't careful about the non-veggie foods. Adding cheese, croutons, pasta, sunflower seeds, olives, beans can add a lot of calories if you aren't careful... So, it's not just the dressing...

That being said, if you're careful, you can be really healthy. I put only vinegar on my Sweet Tomatoes salads, not oil, and a few seeds, an ounce of chick peas, maybe a little egg white and green olives, but most of the salad is raw veggies...

I would kill for a Sweet Tomatoes or a Soup Plantation (they are the same company). My work cafeteria has a salad but last time I got a reasonable salad there, it cost me $7 or something. Crazy.

AWW NELIE ~ Soup Plantation chicken noodle soup!

LOL Look to my dad as to why salad bars are so bad.

I get a plate full of lettuce with a couple cherry tomatoes, some green peppers, cukes, a couple mushrooms, a tsp. of black olives, a tbsp. of egg and a tsp. of sunflower seeds with 2 tbsp. of light dressing.

My dad gets a plate full of macaroni salad, with a little lettuce on the side, smothered with bacon bits, cheese, and eggs, and 1/2 cup of light dressing.

Gary, I'm more interested in their sourdough bread mmmm