The Most Overpriced Restaurant Chain Salads, According To Customers

Salads as a meal go as far back as the ancient Mesopotamians. The first chain restaurants appeared around the early 20th century. In other words, the pairing — salads and chains — was a long time in the making.

Starting from the first chain restaurant salad bar – believed to be Steak & Ale back in 1960 — to entree salads becoming a menu staple for the likes of TGI Friday's and Applebee's, to the current crowded landscape of fast-casual salad-centric franchises, chain salad offerings have evolved in both expectation and price. Much of these rising retail costs have been tolerated by the lettuce-forward public, even affirmed. But, inevitably, there are those who feel they are getting, well, swindled. Several of the worst offenders, in the eyes of paying customers, include the most popular and pervasive restaurants in the country.

Sure, ordering a salad out is almost like getting a buzzcut at a barber shop. What goes into your purchase isn't much, but you're getting what you want and it'll be done right. When it's not done right, however, when holes are being burned in pockets for meager returns ... oof. That's when the internet's anger-sphere goes out of its way to put you on blast. Apparently overpriced can't be overexposed, and expensive salad can be done plenty wrong.

Taco Bell opened its first Taco Bell Cantina in Chicago in 2015. It's fair to assume the company noticed how often people combined their food with the activity of drinking (okay, after drinking and before passing out on the couch). Taco Bell eliminated the middle (bar)man by serving alcohol in its own lounge-like settings. Although there are urbanites and pedestrians who seem to enjoy this upscale Taco Bell experience – or at least prefer it to the grubby state of some downtown Taco Bells — the uptick in menu prices in this refined Tex-Mex milieu have disappointed many. At the head of that disgruntled army are the world's paying salad eaters.

They especially have a problem with the Cantina Chicken Bowl. Customers felt this salad was overpriced since you're basically paying the same amount as a Chipotle bowl for half the food. The most positive reviews contain glowing superlatives like "mid". Numerous customers have been very meh about the $7.99 panoply of lettuce, chicken, rice, black beans, purple cabbage, avocado ranch sauce, sour cream and guacamole. That's a driver-seat demographic Taco Bell has owned in decades past, be it teenage stoners, cabbies on the clock, or folks who just don't feel like getting out of their cars to eat, bless 'em. At that cost, however, Bellheads might avoid the Cantina Chicken Bowl altogether and stick with their OG go-tos instead.

To paraphrase Shakespeare: "some chain restaurant salads are born overpriced, some achieve overpriced-ness." Chili's Santa Fe Salad had been a favorite of patrons for the last couple of decades. With the acidic richness of a pico de gallo-avocado-cilantro combo complimented by crispy romaine lettuce and tortilla strips — and let's not forget the layered flavor hits of the eponymous Santa Fe sauce — it was a refreshing yet filling mealtime option.

But it seems things have changed, and not for the better. Call it shrinkflation, call it customer conflagration, but Chili's devotees are convinced this salad is not the generous offering it used to be — with a lack of lettuce and a meager amount of chicken relegated to a tiny corner of the plate, according to some customer reviews. Some disgruntled Santa Fe Salad-buyers have gone so far to say that they've sworn off Chili's (checks notes) ... forever.

One of the main problems is that, despite having an entree salad price of $14.99 ($20.99 with a grilled chicken add-on), customers argue it's more of a side salad. An understandable gripe. Especially during an era where going out to eat is tougher on the wallet than ever. Take heed, Chili's: favorite spots don't stay favorites for long when visitors feel like they aren't getting what they pay for.

Wendy's has — in the eyes of many — done so much right as a fast food franchise: from battling the big boys with its own awesome fast food egg sandwich, to innovative Takis collaboration in 2025, to, yes, solid salad options. First with the chain's erstwhile, nostalgia-tinged salad bar (the '80s, am I right?) and then with the well regarded to-go salad menu introduced in 1992.

But (and Wendy's wouldn't be on this list without a "but") when loyal customers start dramatically headlining their subreddits "The downfall of Wendy's salads," you know something has gone wrong. In this case with the popular Apple Pecan Salad being singled out as nothing less than a "ripoff." Running a cool $8.49, it's not as if the product itself is falsely advertised. You are certainly getting apples and pecans, along with dried cranberries and (if you don't want to switch it out) a pomegranate vinaigrette, tossed with a spring mix. Really, it's the perfect light salad. That is, unless it's half the size you're used to. And people think it's so bad they're wondering why the eatery serves salads at all anymore. Maybe "downfall" wasn't too dramatic of a word, judging by customers returning to Wendy's after a long hiatus to a nine-dollar bowlful of disappointment.

Outback Steakhouse's decline in recent years has been well documented. Surging rivals such as Texas Roadhouse and Longhorn Steakhouse have made substantial inroads into the marketplace and posed serious challenges to "America's King of Steaks." According to paying customers, the deterioration of Outback seems to be best symbolized by the state of its Aussie Cobb Salad.

Okay, it's not like anybody is calling this take on a classic "the worst Cobb salad they ever had." Oh, wait, someone did. Also, someone else on Yelp likened it to a grocery store salad — which certainly doesn't justify its princely sit-down price tag.

So where is it going wrong? In fact, how can such a reliable stalwart of a chain restaurant, a once mighty paragon of the industry, get it so wrong? This is a Cobb salad we're talking about here. It's been genetically engineered to satisfy the tummy and the taste buds. That is, if you actually use the prescribed ingredients. A smattering of iceberg lettuce with a few chicken strips on top is, one could argue, not being served a Cobb salad. It's also not worth $17.99. This isn't a fast food throw-together diners are expecting. They are walking into an establishment like Outback anticipating quality, salad or otherwise — not bacon that can be described as looking "old and weird". It's bacon, not Hungarian absurdist cinema. Do better, Outback.

A theme running through this article is the fall of once-admired franchises. It's a club no one wants to be a part of yet includes some heavy hitters, such as Panera Bread. For many, Panera was like a warm hug in the form of food: satiating sandwiches, serotonin-inducing sourdough bowls, and salads you could stretch. Nowadays? Well, about that goodwill among the consumer base ...

The myriad grievances start with the Green Goddess Cobb Salad. Green may be an appropriate adjective, considering the moolah you're shelling out for the meal. But the only thing divine about this salad is the level of rage Panera customers have expressed towards it, especially when it can set you back $23 with minor add-ons. Customers online have described their shock at the chain's upsurge in price in recent years (at some locations the price starts at $15). These kinds of claims have been dogging Panera in general for years, along with atrophying customer service and a menu some customers feel is lackluster. Add all that up, and an overpriced salad feels even more overpriced.

The great thing about Chipotle is it really feels like you're in charge of your meal. You enter, you choose your vessel (already feels like a video game), you identify and select your base, and recruit your star protein for Mission Mouthfeed. You add flourish with preferred toppings, and finally, you engage with happy ingestion.

Well, when you're trying to build your own salad and wind up asking "Is it normal for a salad to have very little lettuce?" then questions need to be posed. Like: Isn't it a salad? And let's not talk about what adding meat now costs, especially since enough people are doing that on social media (here's the gist: the price has basically doubled in 10 years). This all puts Chipotle at the center of the "skimping" controversy of recent years. Remember that sentence in the first paragraph about feeling like you're in charge? That's all it may be: a feeling. And the fact that customers feel like the Cali-Mex chain is even skimping on lettuce makes them question if anything, not just the salads, are worth it at Chipotle anymore. Signs are they have been answering that question by not going anymore. 

There have been more than a few big threes in history. Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus. Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin. Snap, Crackle, and Pop. And in the current realm of made-to-order salad chains, it's Sweetgreen, Cava, and Just Salad. Founded in New York City in 2006, Just Salad made headway in 2025 by opening a number of drive-thrus, aiming for more of those suburban salad-ites. An ambitious chain jostling for its fast-casual market share, Just Salad also shares the same negative perception dogging its close rivals i.e. that it embraces being expensive.

Despite these expectations, customers won't let one of these openly exorbitant eateries off the hook. Not when they feel like Just Salad is cheating with minimal ingredients for the price paid. At least that's what it feels when paying for a Chicken Caesar Salad with a striking lack of chicken – for a nothing-to-sneeze at $13.99. Another customer expressed on Yelp that they "paid premium prices for a glorified bowl of lettuce," without even getting enough dressing for the whole salad – which was already underwhelming in the first place. Really? Et tu, Just Salad?

Customers aren't sure what's more problematic about this salad: the name or the price. An unfortunate toss-up, and a close one — what with the $25 salad offering "very little chicken" and "one little scoop" of dressing, according to a Yelp reviewer. Other customers have complained of the salad's sloppy assembly, compared to the marketing photos. "Small portion", "drenched", and the chicken amounting to "a few little fried crumples" were some more miffed descriptors — all in the same Yelp review chain, in fact.

The shame of it all — aside from, again, the dish's iffy-at-best moniker — is it's a salad that just sounds so enticing on paper: breaded chicken, romaine, cabbage, shredded carrots, toasted almonds, chow mein noodles, a tangy, sweet dressing. Not everyone who walks into an Applebee's wants a burger and fries, or ribs, as much of an old reliable as each of those are. A healthy option shouldn't be a pricey option and a pricey option shouldn't be frugally served. Fail to meet reasonable customer expectations and there's a good chance they'll stop coming. With an overpriced salad like this, who can blame them. They just want to eat good in the neighborhood.

Yes, there are humans who go to Dairy Queen and order a salad. After all — and perhaps against better judgment – the ubiquitous establishment offers it. But even a salad modestly priced can be overpriced, especially when the return is just three — yes, three — subpar ingredients (lettuce, tomato, croutons). You can cheat it up to four if your count the antimatter in the universe.

The paltry return for your $4 (up to $7 if you're getting it delivered) even prompted one commenter to declare that "Going to DQ for salad is like going to an Italian restaurant for kung pao chicken". Now, an Italian restaurant serving kung pao chicken in the first place might actually be a logical impossibility. But you get their point. In fairness, a Dairy Queen is a viable, convenient, affordable place to eat for many. There's no reason not to count on a half-decent option for healthy roughage on the menu — even if that option is the unsexy Side Salad. Almost no one is going to order a side salad anywhere and expect fireworks. Which actually gives Dairy Queen an opportunity to avoid disappointment and TikTok crickets by simply offering a fair helping of fresh lettuce and tomatoes with un-stale croutons. Can't be that hard... right?

Yes, another salad-specific chain has made this ignominious list. Being such a chain, Chopt, like all the others, should either get the benefit of the doubt or be held to a higher standard of salad. Yeah, you know what, it's the latter. As was mentioned before, even with the understanding from the customer base that, "hey, I'm going to shell out a few bucks for a healthy salad sourced with quality," patrons can feel ripped off. And with plenty of stiff competition in the fast-casual salad market, loyalty is fragile.

When it comes to one of its options, Chopt might need a wake up call, at least according to consumers. The Santa Fe Salad specifically, for its price point of $16, has sent one customer "back to Just Salad", claiming to have never dined on a salad with less flavor. Yikes. Even a former Chopt manager has conceded its overpriced and second-rate. Ingredients include romaine lettuce, avocado, grape tomatoes, corn, pepper jack cheese, crispy shallots, and chipotle vinaigrette. Along with the grilled chicken, this should be enough to put the salad over the top. However, if the execution and the delivery aren't there, customers will wince at the cost. Though in the opinion of some customers, Chopt has always had mediocre salads. 

When it comes to determining if something is overpriced or not — be it a meal, a scarf, life in New York City, etc. — two things really matter. One is subjectivity. What's extravagant for one might be ho-hum to another. The other is expectation. If you attend a theater camp performance of "Othello" you're not expecting Denzel Washington to play the lead. Everything is relative.

Same goes for salads. And in the context of fast food, Jack in the Box's Garden Salad with Chicken seems to be, at $7.69, a little too steep in price for some drive-thru denizens. Commenters run the gamut from describing it as rather forgettable to saying it should always be a hard pass, to declaring it a "prison salad."

Were one to order a similar salad at this price from, say, Sweetgreen or even The Cheesecake Factory, they'd happily shoot their eight hard-earned dollars into the register with a t-shirt cannon. But a visit to Jack in the Box often means you're trying to grab a bite while saving a few bucks. There are a number of less healthy things you can get at Jack in the Box for the same price as the Garden Salad. So, why punish someone for trying to do their body a favor at a discount. Although it's uncertain whether the Jack's Famous Buttermilk Ranch it comes with is what the doctor ordered.

Opened back in the early 1990s, in the River North neighborhood of Chicago, Maggiano's Little Italy is a family-style restaurant that has locations from coast-to-coast. The portions are large, the vibe is communal, and the sauce is a heavy red. However, it also happens to be one of those Italian restaurant chains some customers argue is overpriced and a culprit could be the omnipresent staple: the Caesar.

Unfortunately it seems that the bang is not there for the buck regarding this Maggiano's offering. One dissatisfied customer has ruefully observed that the Windy City chain's $19 Caesar Salad entree is the equivalent of a supermarket bag of romaine, while another was underwhelmed by the wanting amounts of cheese and dressing. The same grousing Yelper openly wondered if the owners of Maggiano's were even "losing at the track". You could almost suggest that was playing up an ugly Italian stereotype, except the giant corporation that owns Maggiano's is about as Italian as Jason Alexander.

Simple salads, so to speak, are deceptive. Calling something simple, because it only has a few ingredients, both belies and emphasizes the fact that it has to be done right. Romaine, shaved parm, croutons, and the "creamy" Caesar dressing need to each hold their own on the plate, or else it'll look like none of them do. And that's when money feels stolen and boycottmaggianos hashtags get made.