Great Salads of Boise

Over the past 7 years, I’ve eaten at a lot of restaurants in Boise (and beyond). I love a good salad for lunch; they are filling and give me energy to make it through the afternoon. Boise has a lot of great options for salads. Many restaurants of course have good side salad options, but here I’m focusing mostly on entree salads (with some exceptions). I’m always looking for more good salads, so please let me know if I missed something.

Flatbread Salads (all of them!)

Flatbread has a great lunch deal: salad + pizza (or soup or sandwich). I love their pizza and their salads are really really good. They have a good wedge salad, Tuscan steak salad, apple walnut salad, and my favorite: chicken arugula basil salad. It is leafy greens (mostly arugula), cheese, pine nuts, chopped celery, dried tomatoes, and a tasty honey balsamic dressing. The chicken is usually cold, but usually tender. I would just eat the full size salad, but their pizzas are so good it’s not to go there and not get at least a small pizza. Flatbread isn’t downtown anymore, but they have two other locations in Boise and Eagle. Pick two lunch + drink = about $17.

Goodwood Sliced Brisket

Chopped romaine lettuce, tortilla strips, pico de gallo, grilled corn, and sliced brisket. I get it regularly at Goodwood and I’m rarely disappointed (the brisket was pretty dry once or twice, but that’s rare). Pick your dressing, but I really like their custom BBQ sauces on it. Salad + drink runs about $17.

Goodwood Strawberry and Apple Salad (with Chicken)

Also a great salad is their Strawberry and Apple salad which has candied almonds, spinach, and bleu cheese crumbles. I add grilled chicken, and the dressing is a nice vinaigrette. Salad + drink is about $17.

Il Sugo Turkey Cheese Steak Salad

Il Sugo has some really good sandwiches with a generous side salad. I asked one day if they couldn’t make one of their sandwiches into a salad, and they apparently do that all the time. It was really good and filling. It didn’t really need dressing because it was already full of flavor, but take your pick. Salad + drink run about $14. Unfortunately, Il Sugo is no longer downtown.

Boise Fry Company Quinoa Salad

I know most people think of fries when they think of BFC, but I really like their burgers and I usually opt for a side salad. They have a unique quinoa salad with pickled onions and a creamy vinaigrette. It goes nicely with any of their burgers. Burger + salad + drink runs about $13.

You can also get one of their burgers as a salad bowl, which is also tasty and filling (I really like the funguy burger):

R&R BBQ Pulled Pork Salad

A simple salad with romaine lettuce, diced tomatoes and cucumbers, cheddar cheese, and purple onions. There is a good amount of pulled pork that makes for a filling and satisfying salad. You can pick your dressing, but there are several BBQ sauce options at the tables that go well with it. Salad + drink runs about $16.

R&R also has a nice Cobb salad with really tasty turkey for a couple more dollars:

Neighborhood Tim’s Brisket and Cheddar Salad

Since Neighborhood Tim’s opened a space in the Warehouse, I decided to give one of their salads a try, and now it’s a regular in my lunch rotation: a bed of spring mix + arugula, sliced peppers, purple onions, cheddar cheese, tortilla chips (optional sunflower seeds), and of course the delicious brisket. It’s bigger than I can really handle. Salad + drink runs about $15.

Costa Vida Small Salad

I have eaten this salad more than probably all of the other salads combined. I work near a Costa Vida, so it’s quick and convenient, but it is also fresh and delicious. It has a fresh made tortilla, your choice of beans (I prefer refried or pinto), rice, romaine lettuce, pico de gallo, tortilla strips, and cotija cheese. There are some good choices for meat (I prefer chicken or sweet pork, but the steak and shredded beef are also good) and dressings. The price is probably the best value for a salad that you can find. You can get a small salad and a medium drink for about $10–$11 (depending on if the salad is that day’s special or not). If a small salad isn’t big enough for you, their large salad is huge.

Cafe Rio Salad or Tostada

The cuisine at Cafe Rio is very similar to Costa Vida (the two restaurants have very similar origins that I won’t go into). I like both. Cafe Rio doesn’t have the small salad option that Costa Vida has, but the tostada is smaller and really good with all of the same ingredients (except for some reason they don’t offer refried beans). Tostadas have corn tortiallas (though I usually swap that out for a flour tortilla on the side) and sour cream, whereas the bigger salad has guac and a very big flour tortilla. The tostada’s lettuce is more finely chopped than the salad’s. The picture below is of a salad (it doesn’t actually look that appetising, but I assure you it’s good and it’s bigger than it looks). Tostada + drink = $11, salad + drink = $13.

El Gallo Giro Olivia Salad

I LOVE this salad. I think the chicken has some special healing properties because every time I eat it after a tough morning and growing headache, I feel 100% better. It’s not complicated: chopped romaine lettuce, olives (unusual for Mexican, but they work), white onions, tomatoes, tortillla strips, and a nice cheese blend. You can pick chicken or steak for the meat. The tomatillo ranch dressing goes nicely. I sometimes get a few carnita tacos to go with it, but the salad on its own is a perfect lunch meal. Salad + drink = $15.

Honorable mentions

• Qdoba Chicken Salad (no shell, no tortilla, no dressing). The chicken + guac is enough to flavor the salad. I don’t eat there much, but it’s my go-to place at the Seattle airport when I need a quick, reasonably priced, salad.

• Zupas. Any salad at Zupas is good, and they have a lot to choose from. I prefer the nuts about berries salad which has a nice bed of lettuce with candied almonds, berries, and a sweet poppy seed dressing.
• Chic-fil-a Cobb. I don’t eat at Chic-fil-a much, but when we have coupons or my kids beg for it, I always get the Cobb salad. It’s simple, reasonably priced, and I enjoy it more than some fancier salads at other restaurants. Unfortunately, they don’t offer it anymore at the location in the Boise State Student Union Building.
• Zeppole Four Seasons Salad. I get this at JD’s Bodega. It’s a quick grab-and-go salad with spring mix, walnuts, seasoned chicken, and dried cranberries with a honey balsamic dressing. I really like this salad for its price ($7) and the fact that I can grab it anytime.
• Gyro Shack has a salad that is basically romaine lettuce with their pita meat in it.
• Mazzah has a tasty Greek salad. It comes with a bit of pita bread.
• Clucks Nashville Hot Chicken. I ordered a salad with fried chicken on it. It was a nice spring mix with sliced cucumbers and grilled corn. It was a good sized salad and the chicken was reasonable for the amount of food.

• Texas Roadhouse Chicken Critters salad. I know one doesn’t go to Texas Roadhouse for salad, but if you need one this one passes and is filling.
• Matador Taco Salad. It’s a decent salad with a shell (optional), romaine lettuce, black beans, meat (chicken or carnita), and a good dressing with guac. I would eat this salad more often if it wasn’t 50% black beans. It needs more lettuce (and I’ve even asked for a bean/lettuce swap, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference). I’ve gone back because the meat on it is really really good.

Salads I’ve tried once:

• Chipotle salads are okay, but they don’t compete with Costa Vida or Cafe Rio when it comes to salads.
• Madre Boutique has a good, high quality chicken salad, but the price was a bit too high for me for lunch.
• Tupelo Honey chicken salad. It was kind of small and overpriced for a lunch menu.