Best Spring Salads In Baltimore
Sabatino's Italian Restaurant
901 Fawn St.
Baltimore, Md. 21202
(410) 727-9414
www.sabatinos.com
Located in Baltimore's Little Italy, Sabatino's follows the Italian model of service, treating customers like family. This extends to its ambiance which is homey and relaxing. It also follows the Italian model for food, meaning plenty of flavor and generous portions. So, as you might imagine, when you order one of its salads, you will get a bountiful heap. When you order from the salad menu, head straight to the bookmaker salad. A flavorful treat by any standard, this large helping of garden salad is accented with shrimp and Genoa salami, and comes with a plentiful amount of provolone cheese with a hard-boiled egg topping it off. Best of all, it is flavored by Sabatino's incredible house dressing. At $0.50 extra on the regular garden salad, this dressing is still worth the cost, but it comes as part of the price of the bookmaker salad, and you will be very glad it does.
Peter's Inn
504 S. Ann St.
Baltimore, Md. 21231
(410) 675-7313
www.petersinn.com
Peter's Inn is a unique idea if ever there was one. Rather than creating a core menu of old favorites that people can enjoy and return to, this spot changes its menu weekly. This means that the food choices will always be a surprise when you enter Peter's. But you won't complain when you taste what it has to offer. The atmosphere Peter's creates fits its whimsical attitude on menu choices, coming off as both quirky and hip. But just because the menu is always in flux, doesn't mean you can't enjoy the staples. And the best of those staples is the "salad and bread" starter. The imagination poured into every menu item is clearly reflected in the craftsmanship with the salad of the week. Recently, Peter's Inn's salad was roasted beets with fried Danish bleu cheese and pistachio pesto. If this kind of culinary genius doesn't impress you, then nothing will.
By Degrees Cafe
415 S. Central Ave.
Baltimore, Md. 21202
(410) 522-0478
www.bydegreescafe.com
By Degrees Cafe has a philosophy when it comes to its salads: salads should be meals. And this is not just any kind of meal but a meaty meal that you can sink your teeth into. All of its salads are full, rich meals in and of themselves. Try the shaved Brussels sprout salad, made with golden raisins, toasted almonds, granny smith apples and buttermilk dressing. Or enjoy the fried goat cheese salad, full of tea-soaked dates, bacon, radishes and topped with a bacon-sherry vinaigrette. With all of these flavorful ingredients, every bite you take is a different flavor combination.
Related: Best Salads In Baltimore
The Flying Avocado Cafe
10210 S. Dolfield Road
Owings Mills, Md. 21117
(443) 471-2600
www.flyingavocado.com
The Flying Avocado tends to cater to more of a vegetarian crowd, and uses nothing but organic ingredients. Surprisingly, though, most of its salads come with meats like tuna, grilled chicken or roast beef, and the portions are large enough to feed two. With such a delectable range of salads to choose from, it is hard to select a standout, but for your first time, you might try the grilled chicken berry salad. This pile of organic field greens hides an amazing blend of seasonal berries, mandarin oranges, honey-coated walnuts, red onions, goat cheese and, of course, savory grilled chicken. Top this all off with a blueberry vinaigrette, and it's hard to find a flaw with this filling meal.
Alexander's Tavern
710 S. Broadway
Baltimore, Md. 21231
(410) 522-0000
www.alexanderstavern.com
Entering Alexander's Tavern, your initial response will be to relax and take in the cozy, quaint and rustic atmosphere. The servers are professionals and are not simply attentive and prompt, but also relaxed and personable with a great sense of humor. At a tavern like Alexander's, you wouldn't expect the salads to be one of the best items on the menu, but you're wrong. Alexander's has somehow managed to capture the flavor of Baltimore in salad form. Order its Chesa Peake Bay and see if you don't agree. This ingenious treat mixes the baby spinach greens with jumbo lump crab and then adds bacon, cherry tomatoes and red onions to finish. As if this wasn't enough to make a Baltimorean's mouth water, Alexander's tops it off with Old Bay vinaigrette. Try turning that down, if you can.
Related: Best Summer Salad Recipes
Joel Furches is a freelance writer and researcher for The Examiner and Logos Software, and also manages his own catalog of writing on Hub Pages. Joel is on the board of directors for Ratio Christi. He has a bachelors in Psychology and a Masters in Education.
