Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
The Best of the Best: Top Salads in Portland
16
items I love salad. Not only is it delicious, it's truly a vehicle for creativity. Whether it's just a plate of greens or meat-oriented, salad is your friend. Here are some of the salads we consider “salad royalty” or “destination salads.” They really are the best of the best.
Map
Sections
4
Caesar-Oriented Salads
Other Salad Greens
Salads With Fish and Meat
Tea Leaf Salads
Caesar-Oriented Salads
Caesar Salad is an American institution, but there are plenty of variants on this classic. Here are some delicious versions out there.
A classic version of the Caesar salad, Apizza Scholls' Caesar starts with whole-leaf Romaine lettuce, large shavings of Parmesan cheese, and housemade Caesar dressing. If you like anchovies, you can get them, but I prefer not to.
Apizza Scholls: Caesar Salad
Whenever I've been to Life of Pie, I get their kale Caesar salad. It's always a huge hit - and a great accompaniment to their excellent happy hour Margherita pies. It's pretty simple: kale and arugula with Parmesan, toasted breadcrumbs, and a honey/l...
Life of Pie Pizza: Kale Caesar Salad
This is a celebrity salad at its finest. It's a radicchio Caesar, essentially: Radicchio is the base, with Parmigiano-Reggiano, Caesar style dressing, and rosemary-sage croutons. Simple and elegant, it is crazy delicious. Want to make it at home? Give it a try!
Nostrana: Insalata Nostrana
When I first ate this salad, I was blown away. It's another Caesar variant, but focuses on Little Gem lettuces, to start. I love the smoky Fiore Sardo cheese, too. Then there's lemon, anchovy, and a Worcestershire-cured egg yolk. It also has these th...
Parallel PDX: Parallel Salad
Other Salad Greens
These salads embrace greens of all kinds: Romaine, Little Gems, iceberg, baby lettuces, butter lettuce, and more.
The wedge salad at Clyde's is a work of art. Part of the appeal has to do with the spicy (via horseradish) blue cheese dressing. It starts with a wedge of iceberg lettuce, and then there's bacon, bleu cheese crumbles, boiled egg, fried onions, and sc...
Clyde's Prime Rib: Wedge Salad
This is one of the most beloved salads in Portland, and last time I had it, it was as good as the first time I had it. This salad is full of flavor - plus is has a fab name. It starts with baby lettuces, then adds avocado, apple relish, and aged Goud...
G-Love: Ensalada Bomba
This protein-packed salad is the kind of meal I love. It starts with a base of Romaine lettuce, and adds Roma tomatoes, black olives, chopped egg, bleu cheese crumbles, and croutons. They serve it with their housemade avocado ranch dressing. Finding ...
Garden Monsters: Colossal Cobb
This is one of Portland's classic salads. The ingredients are high-quality and everything tastes very fresh. Plus, it's gorgeous. It starts with butter lettuce, they add avocado, radish, croutons, and herbs, with a Dijon vinaigrette.
St. Jack: Butter Lettuce Salad
Salads With Fish and Meat
Here are salads that prominently feature shrimp, chicken, tuna, and chopped meats.
Such a fresh and simple salad! On a base of crisp romaine there's piles of bay shrimp, diced tomato, cucumbers, and scallions. It's served with a choice of dressing on the side. For this shrimp critic, this really satisfies.
The Deck: Bay Shrimp Salad
The Arrosto Salad is truly one of my favorite salads in Portland. The main character is their shredded rotisserie chicken atop baby arugula, escarole, and radicchio. They add pickled red onion, shaved Pecorino Romano cheese, and herbed breadcrumbs, a...
Arrosto: Arrosto Salad
These salad rolls are some of the city's best. The chicken and nem (sausage) ones are my favorite, and the crunchy things inside add great textural contrast. It's a little hole-in-the-wall, and I Iove it for that.
Wok Shop Kitchen: Salad Rolls
This protein-rich salad is good and filling. They start with poached Oregon albacore tuna, and that's mixed with marinated corona beans, mizuna, agrumato, giardiniera, quinoa, lemon aioli, and apricot puree. They serve it with crackers. Tasty and sop...
Gumba: Tuna & White Bean Salad
No lettuce here, and that's no problem. They take a Southern Thai rice salad and add shrimp powder, mango, green beans, and Thai herbs. Get it with their famous fried chicken for the best meal.
Hat Yai: Khao Yum
Think deli sandwich in salad form. The base is arugula and iceberg, with deli-sliced smoked turkey, salami, red onions, giardiniera, provolone, and toasted sunflower seeds. Their housemade creamy vinaigrette is the perfect way blend together this cho...
Laurelhurst Market: Butcher Chop Salad
Tea Leaf Salads
Tea salads are a thing! Here are two that use tea leaves in the mix.
Described as made of “hard-to-find tea leaves, vegetables, and crunchy fried things.” This is a slightly mysterious explanation of this salad. The tea leaves are fermented, and provide the special ingredient, which you can only find on a few select m...
Expatriate: Burmese Tea Leaf, Green Cabbage & Cherry Tomato Salad
Another favorite salad among Portlanders, the base is Minto Island green tea leaves. They add peanuts, fried fava beans, chana dal, tomato, garlic oil, fish sauce, and shredded cabbage to make an incredible combination of flavors and textures. Goes g...
Rangoon Bistro: Lahpet Thoke