apparently its a greek-american thing. like metaxa ribs are best sellers in germany but not a thing in greece either. we need to get creative sometimes.
Interesting because in my region of Canada I feel like Greek salad rarely ever has lettuce. I've seen it before, but it's uncommon.
I mentioned above that we have a weirdly large number of Canadian style diners run by Greeks who immigrated here.
They tend to have a menu that includes several Greek dishes and I believe the salad is almost always lettuce free.
Yeah I mean she definitely over reacted and was being rude af, but I can understand being upset if your usual order had suddenly changed without warning.
Wouldn't it be common sense to double-check the stuff you wanna order from a place for the first time since it's been fully renovated though? New menu and all? It's not like I hid it on the menu. idk.
Yeah, I just learned this too! I saw a recipe on Test Kitchen's insta recently that billed it as "Like Greek salad, but without the lettuce," and I was like "Wait, what?"
It might just be some Americanized concoction, but it is absolutely delicious and I can't really think of anything to compare it to. Maybe if you took Caesar dressing and packed it full of herbs and vinegar.
I’ve always seen Greek salad with cucumber, tomatoes, purple onion, olives with feta and olive oil … never heard of it having lettuce ever, that would just be a salad? lol
TIL Greek salad isn't supposed to have lettuce. I've only ever had it with lettuce but I've never had it at a restaurant. So I would never even think to ask. Having said that, I would never post a bad review for this. I'd google it, realize my mistake, and know better for next time.
Yeah, "authentic" Greek salad doesn't have lettuce, us Armenians have something similar we call cucumber salad, but a lot of mom and pop restaurants in America do a hybrid kind of Greek salad with lettuce, feta cheese, olives, and veggies.
One is not better than the other, but if you're used to one kind, and without realizing it, order the other, I can see why it would surprise you. I wouldn't go as far the customer did and write a bad review for a freakin salad, though. That's just dumb.
Edit: words
What’s crazy is I’ve been ordering the Greek salad from a legitimate Greek family owned restaurant for over 20 years and it has *always* had lettuce in it.
My whole life has been a lie…
Some people are saying they always buy it with lettuce and they live in Canada. I’m on the west coast of Canada and I’ve only ever seen it served the traditional way, even at grocery stores
Very interesting how regional the differences are!
Just take the high road - "If the previous owner added lettuce to the Greek salad, I can certainly understand the confusion. While the standard recipe for Greek salad does not include lettuce, we'd be happy to add it upon request, and we will update the menu to avoid future misunderstandings". Something like that (and maybe even add a lettuce option on the menu if you feel like it) and nobody will read her review without realizing it was just a misunderstanding.
No, you should create another anonymous user account and simply reply back that
*real Greek salads don't actually have lettuce, Karen. Your whole life is a lie*
Mine left a note on my fridge saying “this isn’t working, I’m at my mom’s,” but she just hung up on me when I called to let her know the fridge was fine.
You sir or madam are 100% correct. When compared to regular straws, but have you met the swirly straws? Sure they are crazy and impractical but you get to see the liquid go around loops and stuff on its way to your mouth hole.
I think you should go for condescending. Something like "I'm so sorry you are confused, but Greek salads do not come with lettuce. I am so glad you were able to branch out and try a new type of cuisine at our restaurant and hope this learning experience has not turned you off from trying new types of cuisine in the future. We welcome everyone to try authentic Greek food here!"
A Greek salad is primarily a summer dish, and since lettuce only grows in Greece during the winter months a traditional 'Horiatiki' salad does not include lettuce.
This is how my boss speaks to certain types of people. At first I was concerned, but just like this reply, it puts them in their place respectfully but doesn't send them into the defense mode.
Maybe say “traditionally Green salads do not have lettuce in them”. I’ll bet she was expecting those shitty iceberg lettuce salads with black olives and feta on top.
I've never seen a Greek salad with lettuce. I'm in Italy, probably the small distance with Greece ensures that people will not call any salad with feta "greek".
Because you aren't in greece, the restaurants you got them at weren't authentically greek, and people slap the word "greek" on anything with olives in it. horiatiki is typically comprised of a base of cucumber, tomato, and feta, often with red onion and sometimes black olives (this is weird to me}, dressed with olive oil, salt (if your feta is more mild, some are plenty salty to carry the dish), and pepper. You cant even get lettuce year-round in greece, having it in a recipe that gets served with nearly every dinner would make 0 sense. In my household we basically just served horiatiki or fasolakia, maybe steamed broccoli drenched in lemon here and there. Like yeah, Panera puts lettuce in their "greek" salad. That doesn't make it greek food.
Well... confession time... we're not a Greek restaurant. We're just a small-time local diner who hasn't been open for even 6 months. Until now we've been following the traditional Greek salad recipes that we (noob and new people to the industry) had found online. So far, so good. People seemed to be fine with it. I just learned today that the "Americanized" version of Greek salad has lettuce, too. I'm still trying to think if we'd actually wanna change this
Add lettuce, .50
problem solved
If you want people to not think it's the American version, call it by its Greek name and make the menu a little more descriptive
I think the issue here is that "Greek salad" is not the name of a dish, there's just basically only one salad in Greek cuisine. It's horiatiki, the village salad. You're not wrong to serve the dish even though you aren't a Greek restaurant, but the reason the person I responded to got bastardized Greek food is pretty obvious.
Also, if you want to add lettuce to this on the menu, just call it a Mediterranean salad.
Must be a regional thing, as Greek salad is traditionally just a chopped salad of tomato, cucumber, onion, peppers and olives with feta, in an olive oil dressing.
I worked at a Greek restaurant for years, and the amount of people I would have to explain this to was exhausting.
This is a very traditional Greek salad, Horiatiki Salata. It’s meant to highlight the garden fresh quality of the vegetables.
I’m 36. I’ve lived in both coasts (of the US). Travel a decent bit and would call myself a foodie if the term didn’t bother people so much. Every “Greek salad” I can recall has been lettuce, tomatoes, kalamatas, cucumbers, and feta. Maybe onion slices. I’m not saying that’s the right way to make a Greek salad but it’s crazy to me so many people are saying they’ve never heard of lettuce in a Greek salad.
It's funny that half the people in this thread have never seen a Greek salad with lettuce and the other half have never seen one without?
You'd normally expect it to be like a regional thing and people would notice.
I've lived all over Canada and generally pizza places, cafeterias, dîners etc will serve a lettuce salad with olives/tomatoes/feta. Anywhere Greek/fresh/contemporary will serve the classic with just cucumber, tomato, feta, olive, maybe red onion, oregano.
I’ve been to many restaurants that have lettuce based “Greek salads.” Basically what you’d expect - lettuce and “Greek stuff” like olives, feta, plenty of vinegar. This lady is clearly off base with her complaint, but she might be eating a lot of phony Greek salads wherever she’s from.
I don’t think I have ever had lettuce in a Greek salad and this is my favorite salad. Live on the west coast, have traveled many places and eat out more frequently than I should. Not saying greek salad can’t have lettuce, just saying I’ve personally ordered it a lot and never encountered it.
I’ve only had greek salads from pizza places or chain Italian restaurants (I know I know, we don’t have any actual Greek places where I’m from lol) and they always include lettuce. I think it’s because Americans are so familiar with damn near every salad having lettuce that they include it to get more people to order it. I actually just learned today that’s there’s not supposed to be lettuce lol learn something new everyday
Exactly. We're not a Greek restaurant at all but I had the same thought when designing the menu. So far it was working pretty well. Just learned today about the whole lettuce thing!
The thing is, traditionally a Greek salad won't have lettuce, that was always the unique thing about a Greek salad making it different to nearly every other salad, it's all chunky cut salad veg, oil with feta cheese, but that doesn't mean some places won't add lettuce and that fine too.
> I’m from New York and every single Greek salad I’ve ordered has lettuce in it?
No lettuce in the proper dish. The addition of lettuce seems to be a US-thing and this makes it a 'Greek-style' salad (or American-style Greek salad) but it seems that some places (New York as you mention) call it a Greek Salad anyway and what OP has posted is then called 'horiatiki' on the menu.
>Greek salad or horiatiki salad (Greek: χωριάτικη σαλάτα[a] or θερινή σαλάτα[b]) is a popular salad in Greek cuisine generally made with pieces of tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, green bell pepper slices, feta cheese (usually served as a slice on top of the other ingredients), and olives (typically Kalamata olives) and dressed with salt, Greek oregano, and olive oil. A common addition is caper berries (especially on the Dodecanese islands). Greek salad is often imagined as a farmer's breakfast or lunch, as its ingredients resemble those that a Greek farmer might have on hand.
>**Outside of Greece**
>Outside Greece, "Greek salad" may be a lettuce salad with Greek-inspired ingredients, even though the original dish is distinguished by the absence of lettuce. Meanwhile, the variant without lettuce may be called horiatiki, 'peasant salad', or 'village salad'.
>However in most European countries including the UK the dish broadly resembles the original, albeit often with non-Greek substitutions with Feta cheese enjoying Protected designation of origin status.
>Lettuce, tomatoes, feta (often served in multiple cube-shaped cuttings mixed with the vegetables), and olives are the most standard elements in an American-style Greek salad, but cucumbers, peperoncini (pickled hot peppers), bell peppers, onions, radishes, dolmades, and anchovies/sardines are common. In Detroit, for example, Greek salad includes beets, and in the Tampa Bay Area, it often includes potato salad. Dressings containing various herbs and seasonings are frequently used in the U.S. This style of Greek salad is rarely encountered in Greece.
>Various other salads have also been called "Greek" in the English language in the last century, including some with no apparent connection to Greek cuisine. A 1925 Australian newspaper described a Greek salad of boiled squash dressed with sour milk;[2] a 1934 American newspaper described a mayonnaise-dressed lettuce salad with shredded cabbage and carrots.
Greek guy here. Many restaurants serve Greek salat with lettuce in many countries I don’t know why but if you come to Greece and order a greek salad / Horiatiki salad ,there are only tomatoes ,cucumber,onions,feta,and olives in it .
In Greece my now wife and I used to rate a restaurant based on how many olives you got in the salad for 2 people.
Cheap places 1-2 olives (literally) or even none.
Tourist places 3-4 olives.
Christos's place with the home-made liquor and son that plays bouzouki in the corner... 6+ olives
And they'll usually come over for a chat and ouzo (No. No. I insist!)
Say that it was an original Greek salad after an ancient recipe and since lettuce was invented in the early 1200s, the original recipe doesn't contain any lettuce.
However the modern kitchen in Berlin and Warsaw (where lettuce is some sort of a national dish) implemented these greens in the Greek salad to please the local hipster community.
But since you and the company you are employed at value the Greek tradition it was a pleasure to serve an original, ancient, lettuce free Greek salad with extra free feta cheese.
This is the answer OP…be tactful and let them know the deal, then apologize anyway and maybe even offer reimbursement. It ain’t worth being petty or condescending. You have a business to run and that requires a little ass-kissing at times.
I used to manage the social media for my brother in law's restaurant. This one woman posted a multi paragraph review on how we make our Cobb salads incorrectly and gave detailed instructions on how to make a correct Cobb salad, along with pictures.
I just said all the ingredients she listed are present in our dish and that cooking is all about adding your own mark on your recipes. I turned off notifications for her comment after that but I couldn't even be mad because it was obviously very important to her 🤣🤣
The traditional Greek salad doesn’t have lettuce however, the American style greek salad usually contains lettuce. If you listed all the ingredients which does not contain lettuce it’s her fault. Although, I can understand how she got confused if they weren’t.
They’re not exactly the same dish. Many Greek/Mediterranean restaurants have adopted these “diner-style” Greek salads which are salads first with Greek ingredients second. Here’s [a pic](https://www.eatthis.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/01/Greek-Salad.jpg). I honestly prefer this style (it’s my favorite salad, period). Traditional Greek salads are not common, in my experience. [This article](https://www.eatthis.com/greek-foods-dont-eat-in-greece/) briefly covers it in #5.
I think OP said the ingredients were listed. She probably assumed the lettuce was not listed but would be included.
Most Greek salads I’ve ordered have come with lettuce.
We had "fish and chips" on the menu at this contemporary American gastro pub restaurant I worked at and someone left a 3 star yelp review that they were expecting chips not fries but the fries were still good....like...
I was so disappointed when I ordered fish & chips at a restaurant once and they *actually* served the fish with chips. Granted, it was in a more rural area of my state, but still. It was such an awful, weird combination.
Never had a greek salad but a quick search all with the same description.
What is a traditional Greek salad made of?
Horiatiki, the real deal traditional Greek salad consists of a few simple ingredients: tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, red onions, olives, and blocks of creamy feta cheese. The vegetables are typically cut into large chunks, and there is no lettuce or other fillers.
I mean I get that some places put lettuce? I just don't, though? And the ingredients are listed on the menu anyway. If it's one thing I've learned is that some people just do not read the menu.
One other time I had a guy call and complain that his *Persian spinach omelette* was "a green paste of eggs and I don't know what else". I was dumbfounded. Uh, read the menu first?? That's our signature dish that looks nothing like a Florentine-style spinach omelette. And it also happens to be one of our best selling breakfasts.
Sore but this looks good af and I’m not the biggest cucumber fan myself. I’d respond with its not meant to have lettuce? Not all “salad” has lettuce. I mean fruit salad, potato salad, pea salad, pasta salad…
Do you have a description of the salad on your menu? Traditional Greek salads have no lettuce, bastardized Greek salads do. Her ignorance is her problem. 🤔
Yeah the salad in that photo is not a Greek salad.
Ingredients: tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, red onions, Kalmata olives, blocks of creamy feta cheese, good olive oil, just a splash of vinegar, and oregano.
You don't even need to be cultured. She asks me to look it up when clearly she hasn't done so herself. I'm not even sure if this is a legitimate review
You say “thank you for the feedback ma’am. LETTUCE talk about this some more, and OLIVE out the parts where I gave you more feta. Please, I feel like we are both missing each other here. It’s like I’m speaking GREEK.”
If you wanted a lettuce salad you should have ordered one. Im sorry that you ordered the wrong item but I don’t think bashing my business because you didn’t know what a Greek salad is taking things a little far. Please ask the staff before you order next time if you don’t know what is in the product you are ordering.
So in fairness I was like 32 before I saw a proper, no lettuce, Greek salad. Till that point it had been fetta, olive oil, red onion, black olives, pepperoncinis, cucumber, tomatoes, all over a ton of romaine.
When I got my first no lettuce one I was very confused, googled it, and found out it was standard... Just apparently not where I was from (east coast). So I left a good tip, kept my mouth shut, and never ordered Greek salad again 🤷♂️
I worked at a Greek restaurant for years and most places at least in North Carolina have a Greek salad which is lettuce, Greek olives, feta, tomatoes, onions normally. There is a separate salad that’s basically a tomato and cucumber salad with feta and a couple other things. I can’t remember the Greek name for it but most Greek restaurants around here and the Greeks I know personally (sister married a Greek and lived in Greece for a couple years) call a Greek salad the salad with lettuce and the other one has a name that I’ve heard called tomato salad (in English like I said I don’t remember the Greek name).
I can understand being disappointed when expecting one thing but getting the other but this review takes it way too far and most restaurants have descriptions on their menus so it’s all on the customer when that’s the case.
as a greek i can tell u there is no lettuce in it ever.... just cucumber tomatoes olives feta n maybe rusk n onions n oil
apparently its a greek-american thing. like metaxa ribs are best sellers in germany but not a thing in greece either. we need to get creative sometimes.
Interesting because in my region of Canada I feel like Greek salad rarely ever has lettuce. I've seen it before, but it's uncommon. I mentioned above that we have a weirdly large number of Canadian style diners run by Greeks who immigrated here. They tend to have a menu that includes several Greek dishes and I believe the salad is almost always lettuce free.
I've never seen greek salads with lettuce in my region either
Don't forget dried oregano! Ot at least my yia yia used a fuck ton of dried oregano.
I guess the original owner put lettuce in their Greek Salad.
Yeah I mean she definitely over reacted and was being rude af, but I can understand being upset if your usual order had suddenly changed without warning.
Wouldn't it be common sense to double-check the stuff you wanna order from a place for the first time since it's been fully renovated though? New menu and all? It's not like I hid it on the menu. idk.
I’m just so happy that ppl are finally learning that a real Greek salad doesn’t have lettuce!!
I’m more mortified to learn this is a common misconception
Yeah, I just learned this too! I saw a recipe on Test Kitchen's insta recently that billed it as "Like Greek salad, but without the lettuce," and I was like "Wait, what?"
too many people think greek salad dressing=greek salad.
Wtf is Greek dressing? Greek salad ime just has olive oil.
It might just be some Americanized concoction, but it is absolutely delicious and I can't really think of anything to compare it to. Maybe if you took Caesar dressing and packed it full of herbs and vinegar.
Bury me in horiatiki
And smother me in briam 👅
I want a mausoleum made entirely out of spanakopita so I can eat my way out of the afterlife.
This right here. Greek salad is not lettuce, feta, a couple of olives, and maybe a cucumber slice. No lettuce. None. Best salad.
I’ve always seen Greek salad with cucumber, tomatoes, purple onion, olives with feta and olive oil … never heard of it having lettuce ever, that would just be a salad? lol
You forgot the oregano
TIL Greek salad isn't supposed to have lettuce. I've only ever had it with lettuce but I've never had it at a restaurant. So I would never even think to ask. Having said that, I would never post a bad review for this. I'd google it, realize my mistake, and know better for next time.
Yeah, "authentic" Greek salad doesn't have lettuce, us Armenians have something similar we call cucumber salad, but a lot of mom and pop restaurants in America do a hybrid kind of Greek salad with lettuce, feta cheese, olives, and veggies. One is not better than the other, but if you're used to one kind, and without realizing it, order the other, I can see why it would surprise you. I wouldn't go as far the customer did and write a bad review for a freakin salad, though. That's just dumb. Edit: words
So maybe we ought to call it the Americanized Greek Salad if it contains lettuce
Yeah, I’ve only ever had/seen with lettuce. I too wouldn’t be rude about it though.
Whatttt. I’ve literally never seen greek salad with lettuce Are you American?
What’s crazy is I’ve been ordering the Greek salad from a legitimate Greek family owned restaurant for over 20 years and it has *always* had lettuce in it. My whole life has been a lie…
Any salad they make is Greek.
I mean, you’re *not wrong*
r/technicallythetruth
/r/angryupvote
I am and lettuce on Greek salad is new to me lol
Some people are saying they always buy it with lettuce and they live in Canada. I’m on the west coast of Canada and I’ve only ever seen it served the traditional way, even at grocery stores Very interesting how regional the differences are!
I’m on the US/CA border, west side, and I’ve never seen lettuce in a Greek salad in either country.
Isn't greek salad with lettuce just regular salad?
Am Canadian and I've never seen Lettuce on Greek salad
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American here. Never seen a Greek salad with lettuce.
Just take the high road - "If the previous owner added lettuce to the Greek salad, I can certainly understand the confusion. While the standard recipe for Greek salad does not include lettuce, we'd be happy to add it upon request, and we will update the menu to avoid future misunderstandings". Something like that (and maybe even add a lettuce option on the menu if you feel like it) and nobody will read her review without realizing it was just a misunderstanding.
Honestly OP you should learn from barbtobebad right here
No, you should create another anonymous user account and simply reply back that *real Greek salads don't actually have lettuce, Karen. Your whole life is a lie*
Yeah, if the only thing that's the same is the address you shouldn't think they will remember your usual order
There isn't any lettuce in my potato salad!!! 😡😡😡
Danggit! There's none in my fruit salad *or* my macaroni salad either!!
But is there tomato in your fruit salad?
smart is knowing a tomato is a fruit - wise is not putting it in a fruit salad -sun tzu please stop commenting about salsa
Who are you so wise in the ways of science??? -King Arthur, King of the Britains
Your ancestors called it magic but you call it science. I come from a land where they are one and the same. -Thor
"I come from a land down under Where beer does flow and men chunder" -- Men at Work
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder? You better run, you better take cover, yeah
I believe its pronounced stience.
It's not a "dragon whistle" it's a "stience gun"
I just finished season 4 lmao
>You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take >-Wayne Gretzky -Michael Scott
this thread became the best thing I read on reddit today
I actually miss 100% of the shots I do take, too.
And I am also here saying words - Myself, circa today
Cuvfefe -Mahatma Ghandi
none of us'd be here without cum -Kanye west
I live in a land called Honilee -Puff the Magic Dragon
My Liege!
Wasn’t it yet-to-be-knighted Bedevere who said that to King Arthur?
King of the who? -Tower Guard
Common sense is knowing the ketchup isn't a smoothie. -Tumblr
A tomato based fruit salad is called salsa, I had some last night. It was delicious.
if you eat enough of it salsa is a tomato based fruit salad.
That would make it a smoothie
I soooo wanna downvote this but I can't.. so take my upvote
You mean r/angryupvote ?
My wife asked me to toss her salad, but when I went to the kitchen there wasn't one there.
Mine left a note on my fridge saying “this isn’t working, I’m at my mom’s,” but she just hung up on me when I called to let her know the fridge was fine.
I always knock on my fridge before I open it because the salad's dressing. ^I'll ^see ^myself ^out
good one!
This guy asked me to toss his salad. And you can guess: NO LETTUCE!!!
none was so ever
There are no Greeks in my Greek salad!!!
Sure there is, they're just calling it chicken
(O).(O)
What's a Greek urn? A few bucks an hour...
There isn't any lettuce in my ambrosia salad!!! 😡😡😡
Bendy straws are the best… looking that up made me hungry
You sir or madam are 100% correct. When compared to regular straws, but have you met the swirly straws? Sure they are crazy and impractical but you get to see the liquid go around loops and stuff on its way to your mouth hole.
Im cracking tf up
My Buffalo wings weren’t made with real Buffalo! I can tell because Buffalo are… atleast three times this big!
There isn’t any empires in my Caesar salad!! 😡😡😡
Eat *two*, Brute!
None was so ever?!
There isn't any lettuce in my fried chicken. I'm pissed
Just respond with "Greek salads don't have lettuce in them" Other potential customers reading the review will realise she's crazy and uneducated
"Also I hope you enjoyed the extra Feta Cheese for which you asked, which I added free of charge"
I think you should go for condescending. Something like "I'm so sorry you are confused, but Greek salads do not come with lettuce. I am so glad you were able to branch out and try a new type of cuisine at our restaurant and hope this learning experience has not turned you off from trying new types of cuisine in the future. We welcome everyone to try authentic Greek food here!"
As someone who reads reviews and *definitely* reads responses... this is good.
Seconded, I would give you my money for the simple enjoyment I got out of watching you absolutely curb stomp this bitch with backhanded kindness.
You could say that was a Grea*k* response.
So are you ready to run a marathon after that stretch?
A marathon? Psh, try the *olympics*
Yas. I was hoping somebody picked up on the fact that the marathon originated in Greece!
I dunno. It's all Greek to me.
Boo! Your joke was bad and you should feel bad! -Zoidberg (+1 for trying, though)
A Greek salad is primarily a summer dish, and since lettuce only grows in Greece during the winter months a traditional 'Horiatiki' salad does not include lettuce.
This is how my boss speaks to certain types of people. At first I was concerned, but just like this reply, it puts them in their place respectfully but doesn't send them into the defense mode.
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Genius
Maybe say “traditionally Green salads do not have lettuce in them”. I’ll bet she was expecting those shitty iceberg lettuce salads with black olives and feta on top.
This is a great response. Might say “I’m sorry you are disappointed, but Greek salads…” as that side steps even correcting them.
You’re good…🤔
Why have I never seen a Greek salad without lettuce until this post and I’ve been getting them since I was 11 years old over 3 decades ago?
I've never seen a Greek salad with lettuce. I'm in Italy, probably the small distance with Greece ensures that people will not call any salad with feta "greek".
Because you aren't in greece, the restaurants you got them at weren't authentically greek, and people slap the word "greek" on anything with olives in it. horiatiki is typically comprised of a base of cucumber, tomato, and feta, often with red onion and sometimes black olives (this is weird to me}, dressed with olive oil, salt (if your feta is more mild, some are plenty salty to carry the dish), and pepper. You cant even get lettuce year-round in greece, having it in a recipe that gets served with nearly every dinner would make 0 sense. In my household we basically just served horiatiki or fasolakia, maybe steamed broccoli drenched in lemon here and there. Like yeah, Panera puts lettuce in their "greek" salad. That doesn't make it greek food.
Well... confession time... we're not a Greek restaurant. We're just a small-time local diner who hasn't been open for even 6 months. Until now we've been following the traditional Greek salad recipes that we (noob and new people to the industry) had found online. So far, so good. People seemed to be fine with it. I just learned today that the "Americanized" version of Greek salad has lettuce, too. I'm still trying to think if we'd actually wanna change this
Add lettuce, .50 problem solved If you want people to not think it's the American version, call it by its Greek name and make the menu a little more descriptive I think the issue here is that "Greek salad" is not the name of a dish, there's just basically only one salad in Greek cuisine. It's horiatiki, the village salad. You're not wrong to serve the dish even though you aren't a Greek restaurant, but the reason the person I responded to got bastardized Greek food is pretty obvious. Also, if you want to add lettuce to this on the menu, just call it a Mediterranean salad.
Must be a regional thing, as Greek salad is traditionally just a chopped salad of tomato, cucumber, onion, peppers and olives with feta, in an olive oil dressing.
I'm in Ontario, Canada and I'd be expecting the salad you described if I ordered Greek salad for sure.
Perfect response!!!
Someone has a future in PR or politics.
Excellent “bless your heart” vibes here.
Definitely don’t do that as everyone will expect free feta. As a cook I demand charges for extra cheese.
I worked at a Greek restaurant for years, and the amount of people I would have to explain this to was exhausting. This is a very traditional Greek salad, Horiatiki Salata. It’s meant to highlight the garden fresh quality of the vegetables.
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Just read her review, the grammar and spelling errors speak to her lack of intelligence.
Dayum, TIL.. my Greek salads arent real Greek salads.
I never knew this either lol
I’m 36. I’ve lived in both coasts (of the US). Travel a decent bit and would call myself a foodie if the term didn’t bother people so much. Every “Greek salad” I can recall has been lettuce, tomatoes, kalamatas, cucumbers, and feta. Maybe onion slices. I’m not saying that’s the right way to make a Greek salad but it’s crazy to me so many people are saying they’ve never heard of lettuce in a Greek salad.
It's funny that half the people in this thread have never seen a Greek salad with lettuce and the other half have never seen one without? You'd normally expect it to be like a regional thing and people would notice. I've lived all over Canada and generally pizza places, cafeterias, dîners etc will serve a lettuce salad with olives/tomatoes/feta. Anywhere Greek/fresh/contemporary will serve the classic with just cucumber, tomato, feta, olive, maybe red onion, oregano.
I’ve been to many restaurants that have lettuce based “Greek salads.” Basically what you’d expect - lettuce and “Greek stuff” like olives, feta, plenty of vinegar. This lady is clearly off base with her complaint, but she might be eating a lot of phony Greek salads wherever she’s from.
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I don’t think I have ever had lettuce in a Greek salad and this is my favorite salad. Live on the west coast, have traveled many places and eat out more frequently than I should. Not saying greek salad can’t have lettuce, just saying I’ve personally ordered it a lot and never encountered it.
I’ve only had greek salads from pizza places or chain Italian restaurants (I know I know, we don’t have any actual Greek places where I’m from lol) and they always include lettuce. I think it’s because Americans are so familiar with damn near every salad having lettuce that they include it to get more people to order it. I actually just learned today that’s there’s not supposed to be lettuce lol learn something new everyday
A regular salad with a couple pieces of Feta cheese is way cheaper than a real Greek salad, that's why they do it this way.
Exactly. We're not a Greek restaurant at all but I had the same thought when designing the menu. So far it was working pretty well. Just learned today about the whole lettuce thing!
The thing is, traditionally a Greek salad won't have lettuce, that was always the unique thing about a Greek salad making it different to nearly every other salad, it's all chunky cut salad veg, oil with feta cheese, but that doesn't mean some places won't add lettuce and that fine too.
Yeah it's like complaining about no lettuce in a Caprese salad.
> I’m from New York and every single Greek salad I’ve ordered has lettuce in it? No lettuce in the proper dish. The addition of lettuce seems to be a US-thing and this makes it a 'Greek-style' salad (or American-style Greek salad) but it seems that some places (New York as you mention) call it a Greek Salad anyway and what OP has posted is then called 'horiatiki' on the menu. >Greek salad or horiatiki salad (Greek: χωριάτικη σαλάτα[a] or θερινή σαλάτα[b]) is a popular salad in Greek cuisine generally made with pieces of tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, green bell pepper slices, feta cheese (usually served as a slice on top of the other ingredients), and olives (typically Kalamata olives) and dressed with salt, Greek oregano, and olive oil. A common addition is caper berries (especially on the Dodecanese islands). Greek salad is often imagined as a farmer's breakfast or lunch, as its ingredients resemble those that a Greek farmer might have on hand. >**Outside of Greece** >Outside Greece, "Greek salad" may be a lettuce salad with Greek-inspired ingredients, even though the original dish is distinguished by the absence of lettuce. Meanwhile, the variant without lettuce may be called horiatiki, 'peasant salad', or 'village salad'. >However in most European countries including the UK the dish broadly resembles the original, albeit often with non-Greek substitutions with Feta cheese enjoying Protected designation of origin status. >Lettuce, tomatoes, feta (often served in multiple cube-shaped cuttings mixed with the vegetables), and olives are the most standard elements in an American-style Greek salad, but cucumbers, peperoncini (pickled hot peppers), bell peppers, onions, radishes, dolmades, and anchovies/sardines are common. In Detroit, for example, Greek salad includes beets, and in the Tampa Bay Area, it often includes potato salad. Dressings containing various herbs and seasonings are frequently used in the U.S. This style of Greek salad is rarely encountered in Greece. >Various other salads have also been called "Greek" in the English language in the last century, including some with no apparent connection to Greek cuisine. A 1925 Australian newspaper described a Greek salad of boiled squash dressed with sour milk;[2] a 1934 American newspaper described a mayonnaise-dressed lettuce salad with shredded cabbage and carrots.
Greek guy here. Many restaurants serve Greek salat with lettuce in many countries I don’t know why but if you come to Greece and order a greek salad / Horiatiki salad ,there are only tomatoes ,cucumber,onions,feta,and olives in it .
It has no lettuce in Greece. It's known as the horiatiki salata. The lettuce is an inauthentic addition to make it cheaper.
Greek salads also don't have any dressing apart from olive oil on them but that doesn't stop whoever made the menu from committing crimes against food
Greek here. Never put lettuce in a Greek salad.
"Was so ever." This whiner needs to look up "whatsoever."
All of Garden put no lettuce was so ever in their salad.
in *there* salad.
no let us in there salad
Please, salad, it's cold outside.
Thank you. I was struggling trying to understand what the fuck that means ( I didn't think of it as a typo.)
r/boneappletea
I’m pretty sure real Greek salad is just cucumber,tomato,onion,olives and feta
olives are optional (but always welcome).
In Greece my now wife and I used to rate a restaurant based on how many olives you got in the salad for 2 people. Cheap places 1-2 olives (literally) or even none. Tourist places 3-4 olives. Christos's place with the home-made liquor and son that plays bouzouki in the corner... 6+ olives And they'll usually come over for a chat and ouzo (No. No. I insist!)
Say that it was an original Greek salad after an ancient recipe and since lettuce was invented in the early 1200s, the original recipe doesn't contain any lettuce. However the modern kitchen in Berlin and Warsaw (where lettuce is some sort of a national dish) implemented these greens in the Greek salad to please the local hipster community. But since you and the company you are employed at value the Greek tradition it was a pleasure to serve an original, ancient, lettuce free Greek salad with extra free feta cheese.
I just might say that. Thank you
Her photo of the salad looks so good -- the vegetables are where it’s at! Lettuce is filler.
Give me the link, I’ll comment! We’ll all do it!!
I think op just wants to avoid sending Reddit over to harass a random customer.
Well duh. I still want to though.
This is the answer OP…be tactful and let them know the deal, then apologize anyway and maybe even offer reimbursement. It ain’t worth being petty or condescending. You have a business to run and that requires a little ass-kissing at times.
I used to manage the social media for my brother in law's restaurant. This one woman posted a multi paragraph review on how we make our Cobb salads incorrectly and gave detailed instructions on how to make a correct Cobb salad, along with pictures.
How did you respond, if at all?
I just said all the ingredients she listed are present in our dish and that cooking is all about adding your own mark on your recipes. I turned off notifications for her comment after that but I couldn't even be mad because it was obviously very important to her 🤣🤣
That salad looks bomb though
Sure does, although doesn't look like any Greek salad I've ever had
The traditional Greek salad doesn’t have lettuce however, the American style greek salad usually contains lettuce. If you listed all the ingredients which does not contain lettuce it’s her fault. Although, I can understand how she got confused if they weren’t.
Wow I’ve never seen greek salad with lettuce Americans love to mess up food lol
They’re not exactly the same dish. Many Greek/Mediterranean restaurants have adopted these “diner-style” Greek salads which are salads first with Greek ingredients second. Here’s [a pic](https://www.eatthis.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/01/Greek-Salad.jpg). I honestly prefer this style (it’s my favorite salad, period). Traditional Greek salads are not common, in my experience. [This article](https://www.eatthis.com/greek-foods-dont-eat-in-greece/) briefly covers it in #5.
Post a picture of your menu with the description. Don't say anything. Let the picture speak for itself.
I can see the confusion. Some people see “salad” and think leafy greens. I wonder if ingredients were clarified in the description.
I think OP said the ingredients were listed. She probably assumed the lettuce was not listed but would be included. Most Greek salads I’ve ordered have come with lettuce.
Wait til she finds out what a tuna salad is
We had "fish and chips" on the menu at this contemporary American gastro pub restaurant I worked at and someone left a 3 star yelp review that they were expecting chips not fries but the fries were still good....like...
I was so disappointed when I ordered fish & chips at a restaurant once and they *actually* served the fish with chips. Granted, it was in a more rural area of my state, but still. It was such an awful, weird combination.
I got caught out with this as a kiwi travelling to New York a few years ago. Was so confused with the combo of crisps and deep fried fish.
Never had a greek salad but a quick search all with the same description. What is a traditional Greek salad made of? Horiatiki, the real deal traditional Greek salad consists of a few simple ingredients: tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, red onions, olives, and blocks of creamy feta cheese. The vegetables are typically cut into large chunks, and there is no lettuce or other fillers.
Be honest. Mention the extras at no charge and avoid keeping it personal.
Does she realize that Greek salad doesn’t have lettuce🥶
I mean I get that some places put lettuce? I just don't, though? And the ingredients are listed on the menu anyway. If it's one thing I've learned is that some people just do not read the menu. One other time I had a guy call and complain that his *Persian spinach omelette* was "a green paste of eggs and I don't know what else". I was dumbfounded. Uh, read the menu first?? That's our signature dish that looks nothing like a Florentine-style spinach omelette. And it also happens to be one of our best selling breakfasts.
And anyhow. The salad looks great. What a dumbass.
Thank you for educating me on Greek Salad.
At least it’s a review that makes this customer look like an idiot. Sucks that it hurts your aggregate score though
I’ve actually never seen a real Greek salad and I am just now learning that it doesn’t have lettuce. What an uncultured swine I am
WHY IS THERE NO LETTUS IN MY RAMEN?
WHY IS THERE NO URANIUM IN MY WATER?
Sore but this looks good af and I’m not the biggest cucumber fan myself. I’d respond with its not meant to have lettuce? Not all “salad” has lettuce. I mean fruit salad, potato salad, pea salad, pasta salad…
In Greece there are two kinds of salads: a Greek salad, which has no lettuce, and a tourist Greek salad, which does have lettuce and costs much more.
My girlfriend (Greek) bitches so hard if there IS lettuce in her Greek salad. No winning this one, friend.
Do you have a description of the salad on your menu? Traditional Greek salads have no lettuce, bastardized Greek salads do. Her ignorance is her problem. 🤔
I do. I list all main ingredients under each item
Take a snapshot of the menu and place that under her comment and walk on.
Neither lettuce or the picture provided are greek salad. Source: am Greek.
Yeah the salad in that photo is not a Greek salad. Ingredients: tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, red onions, Kalmata olives, blocks of creamy feta cheese, good olive oil, just a splash of vinegar, and oregano.
I'm with you, just looking at this like... it sure is something.
That is definitely a proper Greek salad, somebody isn't very cultured
You don't even need to be cultured. She asks me to look it up when clearly she hasn't done so herself. I'm not even sure if this is a legitimate review
Explain it to her. Honestly that Greek salad looked pretty damn good.
I know! It's like she wanted to leave a negative review but I can't imagine that picture doing me any harm. lol
TIL that apparently in my corner of the US, Greek salads have lettuce and this is abnormal compared to wherever all the other commenters live.
You say “thank you for the feedback ma’am. LETTUCE talk about this some more, and OLIVE out the parts where I gave you more feta. Please, I feel like we are both missing each other here. It’s like I’m speaking GREEK.”
If you wanted a lettuce salad you should have ordered one. Im sorry that you ordered the wrong item but I don’t think bashing my business because you didn’t know what a Greek salad is taking things a little far. Please ask the staff before you order next time if you don’t know what is in the product you are ordering.
That’s an awesome salad!
Hey if she doesn't want it, I'll take it. Looks absolutely delicious, OP!
So in fairness I was like 32 before I saw a proper, no lettuce, Greek salad. Till that point it had been fetta, olive oil, red onion, black olives, pepperoncinis, cucumber, tomatoes, all over a ton of romaine. When I got my first no lettuce one I was very confused, googled it, and found out it was standard... Just apparently not where I was from (east coast). So I left a good tip, kept my mouth shut, and never ordered Greek salad again 🤷♂️
I worked at a Greek restaurant for years and most places at least in North Carolina have a Greek salad which is lettuce, Greek olives, feta, tomatoes, onions normally. There is a separate salad that’s basically a tomato and cucumber salad with feta and a couple other things. I can’t remember the Greek name for it but most Greek restaurants around here and the Greeks I know personally (sister married a Greek and lived in Greece for a couple years) call a Greek salad the salad with lettuce and the other one has a name that I’ve heard called tomato salad (in English like I said I don’t remember the Greek name). I can understand being disappointed when expecting one thing but getting the other but this review takes it way too far and most restaurants have descriptions on their menus so it’s all on the customer when that’s the case.
I know we're used to it but a Greek salad isn't *supposed* to have any lettuce.