salad bar

noun

1. an assortment of salad ingredients, condiments, and dressings displayed on a serving table or counter, as at a restaurant, so that one can choose and combine ingredients freely.

salad bar

noun

1. a counter in a restaurant or other place where food is sold at which a range of salads is displayed, often for self-service

Word History and Origins

Origin of salad bar¹

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

One tip that I use a lot when cooking at home, is if a recipe calls for a small amount of produce you can check the grocery store’s salad bar for the item and buy exactly as much as you need.

From Salon

They rebuilt the entire place to look like an old Pizza Hut, with a salad bar and sneeze guard.

From Los Angeles Times

“We’re dealing with a more aggressive far-right, left-wing and what we call ‘salad bar people,’ who take a little bit of each ideology and thread them together.

From Los Angeles Times

Every shift, I saw all kinds of small horrors — mountains made of salad bar ingredients, peanut butter smeared along the edges of trays, piles of mashed potatoes dotted with pieces of fruit and, of course, the detritus of eaten meals.

From New York Times

I mean, 10 grand or so in first-class air travel and luxury accommodations and bottomless trips to the luxo-resort’s “local produce” salad bar and steak pit might start to look like a bribe when you pay attention to what was actually being discussed between float trips down the Yellowstone and hikes through the mountains, don’t you think?

From Salon

Related Words

• cafeteria
• smorgasbord