Salads that you eat in any restaurant are rarely low-cal or all that healthy. You have to ask them to leave off all the good stuff to make it what is classified as "healthy".
What stuff on a salad would not be considered “not healthy”?
Dressing is the killer, and restaurants always use to much.
I always get dressing on the side, I swear the little cups they bring have a 1/2 cup of dressing, really all you might need is a tablespoon, or just vinegar.
Your original point I agree with.
The best salad I’ve ever had from a restaurant that’s not all gunked up with “stuff” is Olive Garden’s. I don’t get cheese grated on it, they toss it with just enough dressing so that it’s not swimming in it, I don’t eat the croutons and I get extra peppers and olives on the side. I’ve never had one that didn’t seem perfectly fresh and crispy, no brown edges on the lettuce, no soggy tomatoes.
Also, Outback’s chopped salad with blue cheese.
Both of these use simple iceberg lettuce and just a few other ingredients. With salad, it really is the quality of the ingredients, not the quantity or fanciness. Better some good fresh iceberg than fancy aragula that’s not perfectly fresh and loaded up with gunk.
....which reminds me of Roy Rogers w/the Salad Bar! Roy’s was phased out yrs ago but you could buy a salad and fix it how you liked it. I guess I’m showing my age here but it was great!
Not possible these days w/all the crazies throwing their food back at the cashier’s & ripping out cash registers in urban areas.