Green Growth

Consumers have appetite for innovative and familiar salads

By Laura Yee, Senior Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, 5/1/2003

When El Pollo Loco recently polled customers about possible menu additions, made-to-order salads came out on top, with a version featuring the Mexican chain’s signature grilled marinated chicken rating higher than all other options. The enthusiastic response ensured that the salad quickly was rolled out at the 300-unit, Irvine, Calif.-based chain.

Jon Miller, El Pollo Loco’s director of research and development, says the salad fills a menu void. “You see that type of item in casual or quick-casual restaurants,” he says, “but not in quick service. We’re proving that quality can be fast and convenient.”

El Pollo Loco’s success highlights the increasing appeal of salads, especially those that venture beyond traditional guises. As they become more affordable and more widely available, specialty greens and lettuces such as mizuna, red leaf, frisée and other members of mesclun mix—which often provide the base for entrée salads—have become solid sellers in operations across all segments.

MORE OPTIONS
Naysayers questioned Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy’s International last year when the chain priced its new Garden Sensations entrée salads higher than the signature burgers. But sales results back Wendy’s premise that patrons will pay a premium for quality and perceived value.

El Pollo Loco’s Miller agrees. “Our salads are priced according to product quality and what customers would pay at other concepts,” he says, comparing the chain’s $4.99 entrée salad to similar items at twice the price in casual dining. “The salads price higher than anything else we sell but they are a good value in the consumer’s mind.”

Miller describes the new Pollo Salads as bolder and larger versions of its line of salad bowls, which the chain has offered since 1998. The new salads—Chicken Fiesta and Chicken Caesar—start with chicken marinated in herbs, spices and fruit juices; the grilled-to-order meat settles atop a bed of chilled greens. The Fiesta also includes Cheddar and Jack cheeses, roasted corn, poblano, guacamole, sour cream and chipotle dressing, while the Caesar adds roasted pepitas and creamy cilantro dressing. The salads are served with one of four salsas—pico de gallo, avocado, spicy chipotle and house salsa.

Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald’s Corp.’s Premium Salads line also targets customers who demand quality and value. Salads start with a warm grilled or fried chicken breast and add ingredients new to the McDonald’s pantry—greens that made their big debut in fine dining. Iceberg and romaine make up the bulk of the lettuce but the mix is cut with six specialty baby greens, such as red oak, mizuna, red Swiss chard, arugula, tatsoi and frisée.

The three entrée salads—California Cobb, Caesar and Bacon Ranch—include grape tomatoes and paper-thin sliced carrots as well as ingredients tailored to each salad. For example, the Cobb includes chicken, crumbled blue cheese, hickory-smoked bacon and chopped egg with a dressing accented with a blend of cheese, sweet pepper and herbs.

The Premium Salads replace the three-year-old McSalad Shakers line of smaller salads served in clear-plastic cups.

RAISING THE BAR
Higher-end salads have made an impact on noncommercial sales as well. At Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J., last year’s $5.75 million dining facility renovation doubled the length of the salad bar to 24 feet. Since then, sales of greens and their accompaniments have grown 30%, says Tony Almeida, director of food and nutrition/environmental services.

Almeida found fans for what he calls upscale items, such as roasted marinated vegetables, couscous, seven-grain salad, black-bean salad and various pasta salads. Greens have grown from 100% iceberg to a mix. “We throw in fancy baby greens and romaine so that people don’t get tired of the lettuce,” he says. “It adds color and contrast and elevates the whole salad.”

The most popular dressing is low- calorie raspberry vinaigrette, but Almeida says this best seller and an increase in salad consumption don’t prove that his customers are more health-conscious. Like Miller, he attributes the spike to meeting an already existing demand. “The people eating our salads were eating salad somewhere else,” says Almeida. “We’re seeing increased sales because we offer more options now.”

LOOKING LIGHTER
Entrée salads are interchangeable from lunch to dinner, but their biggest audience may be the lunch crowd. “Customers don’t want to get bogged down with a heavy meal in the middle of the day,” says Chef Adam Gonzales of Big Island Tropical Grill & Bar in Houston.

“Many guests are more health-conscious, and salad is perceived as healthy,” he adds. “Diners seem more concerned about their health at lunch than at dinner so we offer healthful entrée salads at lunch only—but we also menu one that features fried chicken tenders.” Gonzales’ salads menu at $6 to $9.

Above all, he says, the appeal of entrée salads lies in flavor and presentation. At Big Island, Gonzales rubs Cajun spices on ahi, sears the tuna and serves it atop house greens (mesclun mix with green-leaf lettuce) dressed with strawberry vinaigrette and garnished with star fruit. “You get a little bit of sweetness, some heat and the coolness of the dressing,” he says. “The ingredients that go with the salads have so much flavor, a lot of people don’t want dressing.”

Hawaiian chicken salad, for example, begins with grilled breast marinated in soy sauce, brown sugar and red wine. Served on house greens, the salad is accompanied by fresh pineapple and mandarin oranges.

At Anaheim, Calif.-based Mimi’s Cafe, bold flavors and variety propel salad sales. Chinese chicken salad consists of sliced chicken breast tossed with romaine, green onions, cilantro, rice-stick noodles, won-ton strips and a tangy dressing of sesame oil and rice vinegar. Also popular is barbecued chicken salad made with sliced chicken, lettuce, diced tomatoes, corn, jicama, cilantro, barbecue sauce and crunchy tortilla strips. Mimi’s serves its salads with a fresh-baked muffin, such as buttermilk-spice, carrot-raisin or low-fat blueberry.

FIRST RATE
While simple salads of greens paired with tomatoes and cucumbers have a place on menus, first-course offerings are adopting more dressed-up versions. The approach can be as simple as adding crostini with warm goat cheese to sherry vinaigrette-dressed field greens, as at multi-unit Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafes, or sprinkling toasted almonds on lolla rosa lettuce and cherry tomatoes tossed with Dijon vinaigrette at Léa in New York City.

In more-complex preparations, greens are a featured component rather than a focal point. At 95 School Street in Bridgehampton, N.Y., tastes are awakened with a salad of peppery arugula, tart apples, creamy goat cheese, earthy fava beans and bold fennel, while Tocqueville in New York City offers a salad of chilled green and white asparagus drizzled with black-truffle vinaigrette.

Ken Hnilo, chef-owner of Gilbert’s in Lake Geneva, Wis., sees salad as a first course that allows him the creativity to offer an array of options. He pairs frisée with smoked duck breast, a thin Mandarin-style pancake, duck leg confit and roasted shiitake mushrooms. To reflect the restaurant’s Pacific Rim leanings and his background, a signature dish is Hawaiian bread salad with avocado, marinated onions, caramelized fennel and passion-fruit vinaigrette.

“People expect interesting options,” Hnilo says. “We present salads that will get the diner excited about what they are eating and what’s to come.”