The Day I Was Pleasantly Surprised at a Chain Restaurant

On my latest trip to the beach, at the height of my sugar-binge, I ate the following within a 36-hour period:

• 4 slices Mack and Manko's pizza
• 1 sfogliatelle
• 15 Twizzlers
• 10 Starburst candies
• 5 Fig Newtons
• 2 chicken fingers
• 5 million french fries (with 1 gallon of ketchup) <----- this one might be a bit exaggerated
• 1 Kohr Brothers custard (chocolate peanut butter swirl)
• 3/4 of a bag of Doritos
• 2 packages of those Lance cracker sandwiches
• 1 frittata with mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and basil
• 2 slices white toast with butter and grape jelly
• my last shred of self-respect <----- this is also an exaggeration, but you get the point

Needless to say, I overdid it a bit.  And of course, as a result, I came home feeling bloated, lethargic, and like I had molasses clogging up my joints and three sand-laden pillows strapped to various regions of my body.

"Joe!"  I cried.  "I need a SALAD!"

We had nothing but eggs and hemp milk in the refrigerator, and an ice cream maker and frozen corn in the freezer, so off we went to the only place we could think of that had a large variety of salad possibilities - Ruby Tuesday.

I usually shy away from chain restaurants, the main reason being that because they are a chain, they have to get their ingredients from corporately-approved mass distributors (hence the mealy tomatoes even in the middle of August), which I think cuts down considerably on the quality of the end product.

So when I ordered the Grilled Salmon Salad with a side of lite balsamic vinaigrette, I expected some generic mixed greens and a couple of stale croutons.  However, this is what I received:

Do you see this?  It's beautiful, for one thing.  Check out the peas - they were sweet and juicy, not those shriveled freezer-burned pellets you often get in salads.  The carrots were sweet, the cucumbers were crunchy.  The cherry tomatoes weren't off-the-vine fresh, but they were far from mealy.  But the best part is what you can't see - the lettuce.  I will admit that I did see plenty of generic mixed greens, but do you know what else there was?  Butter lettuce.  That's right, lettuce that is reminiscent of butter thanks to its velvety leaves and succulent texture.  I stopped my husband mid-story, interrupting him like a rude, crazed foodie.  I don't remember the exact conversation we were having, but it went something like this:

Joe: "So really, if you think about all the evidence presented, the solution to world hunger, crime, poverty, and AIDS is ----"

Elizabeth: (head down, poking about my salad) "Uh-huh, uh-huh.  OH MY GOD JOE, THIS IS BUTTER LETTUCE!!"

Joe: (long pause) "Really?!"

Who knew such miraculous things could occur at Ruby Tuesday's?!

Have you been pleasantly surprised by a chain restaurant lately?