Salads were always something I shoveled in my mouth as a preamble to the real food. Then a few months ago — probably out of food-writer obligation — I started paying more attention, ordering salads that looked interesting on menus, carving out space for them in this column.
Yet I never got to the point where I featured two salads in an actual Friday Food Fight. So I went with something better — I think — by putting together a list of the best ones I’ve eaten in ’25.
Nine of them made the grade. I’ll reveal my favorite at the end.
Cognac
Cognac Romaine Salade à la Lyonnaise
This French restaurant that opened in downtown St. Pete in February offers a salad with a fancy French name. Its X factor is a poached egg that runs throughout the romaine lettuce and thick pieces of bacon. Hmm, a salad with bacon-and-eggs (dressed in a tangy vinaigrette). Count me in.
Tryst
Watermelon Burrata
Although this place on Beach Drive is more known as a night spot, its food menu includes an impressive grouping of four salads. We chose the Watermelon Burrata and were glad we did. A big bulb of the smooth cheese mixed with golf-ball-sized pieces of watermelon to evoke a sublime fruit-to-salt/crispy-to-creamy blend. It all sat on a bed of arugula, and was finished with salted, roasted pistachios.
Fresco’s Waterfront Bistro
Fresco’s House Salad
Sometimes it’s the little things. The tomatoes in this salad were sliced lengthwise, making them less seedy and amplifying their flavor. Same with the red onion. The carrots were julienned. Pepita seeds provided little morsels of delight. A sesame ginger dressing tied it all together.
Rumba Island Grill
Rumba
Bacon, bacon, candied bacon. You can never have too much bacon — candied or otherwise — although this salad pushed that envelope. The cured meat was joined by thick rounds of red onion, tomato slices that were far better than we tend to get around here, greens and other good stuff (blistered street corn!), coated in a sweetish dressing. In all, a winning combo.
Beacon
Sample Salad at Tampa Bay Food Fight
We ate this wonderful assemblage at the annual food event in Amalie Arena. The small portion served in a paper bowl blended assorted greens, cranberries, grapefruit, a slice of prosciutto and small bulb of burrata. A sweetish dressing topped it off. So good we went back for another round. Unfortunately, the salad does not appear on the regular menu of this rooftop lounge in downtown Tampa. Even so, I had to include it.
Teak
House Salad
I’ve eaten this one twice — and dug it both times. This imaginative array accents its greens with hefty helpings of strawberries and mandarin oranges, which render it altogether refreshing. A “roasted sesame pineapple ginger dressing” adds to the delight.
BellaBrava
Misticanza
A superior house salad of romaine lettuce, radicchio, red onion, little tomatoes and other goodies, liberally topped with grated grana padano cheese. We were all in on the honey basil dressing.
Bascom’s Chop House
Bascom’s House Salad
Iceberg lettuce, yes! Julienned ham and Swiss cheese, nice! Green olives, uh huh. Topped with a tangy parmesan vinaigrette dressing, liberally sprinkled with grated parmesan. A classic steakhouse salad.
Sunshine City Tavern
The Belle Salad
And lastly, a salad with a side of heavy sadness. Sunshine City, the dream concept of celebrated local chef Ted Dorsey, opened in late March on 4th Street in St. Pete. A month later, Dorsey received a diagnosis of Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Due to his health issues, the restaurant closed in early August.
We ate there in April and mightily enjoyed the Belle Salad, which had a cornucopia of flavors: apricots and candied pecans for sweetness, red onions for a touch of bitterness, smoked gouda for sharpness. A lovely Honeycomb Vinaigrette with a subtle flavor of horseradish. We ordered it with chicken tenders, which were moist and flavorful and had a perfect crust.
I got to know Ted while he was working on opening The Mill in downtown St. Pete and I was reporting on restaurants for the Tampa Bay Business Journal. We struck up an easy rapport and stayed in touch. He’s a great guy and a fabulous cook. We wish him nothing but love during his cancer battle.
My Fave
Watermelon Burrata at Tryst.
Runner up: The Belle Salad at Sunshine City Tavern.
