6 St. Louis restaurants with reliably excellent salads

While researching our first Dope Salads list in 2019, we learned that restaurants’ salad selections can be unpredictable. Whether it’s because of the availability of transient produce like gorgeous tomatoes or ultra-fresh asparagus or because of the whimsicality of a chef who loves to change it up, sometimes menus change unexpectedly. Here are six places where you can reliably find an excellent salad, no matter the season.

Indo
There are a lot of reasons to go to Indo – basically every menu item is a reason. Among the best of them is the cabbage salad, which is funky, sweet and savory at the same time. With tamarind dressing and candied peanuts, it brings an encompassing flavor that will make you temporarily forget your imminent sushi feast. Indo occasionally offers seasonal salads, like a sugar snap pea salad with sweet soy vinaigrette, but the cabbage salad is immutable.
1641D Tower Grove Ave., St. Louis, 314.899.9333, indo-stl.com

Knead Bakehouse and Provisions
Knead is a perennial office favorite, and for good reason – their salad options change so frequently that we can barely keep up. One week it may be asparagus and greens, the next a Lyonnaise tribute. A recent bacon and roasted onion salad with crunchy rosemary buckwheat and tangy Bakehouse dressing blew us away. Knead may be known for its incredible bread and doughnuts and dependable cafe sandwiches, but salads are the sleeper heroes of the savory menu.
3467 Hampton Ave., St. Louis, 314.376.4361, kneadbakehouse.com

Tree House
It doesn’t matter whether you like Brussels sprouts; here, they’re the irresistibly crispy star of an exceptional starter. Mingling with red and green cabbage, shallot and herbs, the Brussels dance in a sea of crunchy bitterness that finds perfect balance with the dish’s jalapeno-sweet chile vinaigrette. Keep the spoon handy, because you’ll be scooping up every last drop from the bowl.
3177 S. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, 314.696.2100, treehousestl.com

The Lucky Accomplice
At some restaurants, you’ll find a great salad that checks all the boxes; at The Lucky Accomplice, you might sit down for a meal and end up asking, “What even is a salad, really?” An heirloom tomato with tomato dashi dish left us moderately sure we’d eaten a salad; the marinated green tomato and turnip with dill and ricotta, not so much. They’ve also featured a deconstructed version of a Caesar salad with bonito and anchovy that took us for a ride. Whatever they’re experimenting with when you visit, you’ll be glad you tried it.
2501 S. Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, 314.354.6100, theluckyaccomplice.com

Winslow’s Table
Winslow’s Table’s salad situation is very tight. As a seasonal, farm-to-table-style restaurant, their menu changes frequently, but they nearly always have a grain salad with marinated wheat berries, fresh veggies and a vegan herb pesto, as well as some kind of seasonal salad; whether it’s heirloom tomatoes or green beans, it’s always delicious. Like any good veggie-forward restaurant, Winslow’s dressings – usually vinaigrettes – are spectacular. We can’t guarantee what you’ll find there, but we can say it’ll probably be great.
7213 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314.725.7559, winslowstable.com

Noto
Noto’s staple salads are dependable – and dependably stellar. The Noto house salad features mixed greens, artichokes, peppers, olives, pecorino and creamy Italian dressing. It’s divine. You can fill up on bread before dinner, but we’ll eat a whole house salad as an appetizer and then reach for the other standards. Noto’s seasonal salads are just as great; a recent citrus salad with arugula, radicchio, blood orange, grapefruit, pistachio, ricotta salata and honey vinaigrette was the sour-bitter-bright starter of our dreams (which are in Italian, of course).
5105 Westwood Drive, St. Peters, 636.317.1143, notopizza.com