Hail Caesar

Salad is sort of like fashion: One minute a certain trend—kale, anyone?—is all the rage, with chefs from coast to coast proudly slapping it on to menus, and diners clamoring for it nightly. The next, it’s gone the way of the pashmina.

A decade or so ago, one would be hard-pressed to locate a menu without an arugula salad flecked with goat cheese. And who could forget the once-edgy Chinese Chopped Chicken salad Wolfgang Puck made famous in the ’80s? But through it all, one leafy stalwart has never gone out of style.

Hail, Caesar.

That perfect mix of crunchy Romaine, crisp croutons, and briny anchovies tossed with a garlic-lemon dressing has become an icon in the salad world. The problem is, it can be easy to order a bad one (super-salty dressing, chewy croutons, and soggy lettuce are just a few trouble spots) since many kitchens don’t always make proper preparation of the noble Caesar salad a top priority. But when it’s good, it’s really good. Like, won’t-soon-forget-it good, I-want-to-go-back-tomorrow-and-have-another-one good.