Phantom Gourmet: Great 8 Salads

It's easy to make a salad that's nutritious. The challenge is making them delicious and even exciting. These are the 8 Greatest salads Phantom has ever found.

sweetgreen
Boston

Kicking off the Great 8 is sweetgreen, a fun, fast-growing chain with stores in the Back Bay, Fort Point, and Chestnut Hill Square. Salads are their specialty, with a long line of smiling servers tossing customizable combinations of veggies, dressings and a bunch of other goodies.

"Every color of the rainbow…. Most of it's local. Most of it's organic, when possible. So you'll have the experience to try something new and you can come in every single day and never have the same thing twice."

The Feisty Greek
Norwood

Another Great 8 winner is The Feisty Greek in Norwood. This casual family restaurant serves souvlaki, gyros, moussaka, and pastichio fast and affordably. And of course, they carry Greek salads - available in two different styles. There's the traditional "American style" Greek salad full of mixed greens and crumbled feta, but for a truly authentic salad, order the Horatiki.

"When you go to Greece, you're not going to get a salad with lettuce. It's just tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, the feta cheese and nice olive oil, the oregano. And that's your authentic Greek salad; that's our Horiatiki."

Plan B Burger Bar
Springfield

For a salad that eats more like a meal, head to Plan B Burger Bar in Springfield. This sassy spot specializes in hand packed, creative, gourmet burgers. But it's their unconventional Burger Salad that makes Phantom's jaw drop. It's a huge mound of iceberg and Romaine lettuce topped with a premium patty along with bacon, cheddar cheese, and pickles. And just for good measure, they throw in some French fries and crispy frizzled onions as well.

Bailey and Sage
Boston

Bailey and Sage in Boston's Financial District and Kendall Square Cambridge is a popular lunch spot known for serving big sandwiches and fantastic salads. From grilled chicken and goat cheese, to filet mignon and blue cheese, these salads are stacked with so many flavors, even people who don't eat salads will like them. Each one is chopped and sauced to order and served in a unique take out box that makes it easy to enjoy on the go.

Watch: Great Salads, Part 2

Cygnet
Beverly

Cygnet in Beverly Farms is a warm, comfortable eatery where you can take your date for a high-end dinner or a casual meal at the bar. Their most popular dish by far is the Fabulous Chopped Salad made with Bibb lettuce, bacon, green beans, corn and tomato. But what makes it really stand out is the generous cuts of chopped avocado which get extra creamy mixed with some herbal vinaigrette dressing. In fact, this salad has such a following, owner Jim Glesener estimates they've sold about 50,000.

Tek Nique
Bedford, N.H.

Another Great 8 winner is Tek Nique in Bedford, N.H. This upscale spot serves sophisticated dishes, like a Free Form Seafood Lasagna made with sheets of house made pasta. But it's the Caesar salad that is sensational - given an extra boost with the addition of crispy beef cracklins.

"It's like a little beef crouton. So we've got just small pieces of beef that we cut up, throw in the oven, roast them off, get them nice and crispy. They're absolutely fantastic. They're addictive."

Red's Kitchen and Tavern
Peabody

Red's Kitchen and Tavern on Route 1 in Peabody serves breakfast, lunch and dinner in a massive complex that's part diner, part bistro and part bar. Everything is oversized here, from the fluffy pancakes to fire grilled sirloin. Even the salads are huge, especially the towering Greek Stack.

"It's high. It's about 8 to 10 inches high. It's a good size. It's the big beefsteak tomatoes with onions, peppers, feta, Kalamata olives, Greek dressing on it."

Amrheins
South Boston

Rounding off the Great 8 is Amrheins in South Boston. This charming, old school restaurant and bar has been serving Southie since 1890. Comfort food dominates the menu, with popular dishes like roasted chicken, Boston baked scrod, and lobster pie with buttery crab stuffing. There are several salads on the menu as well, but Phantom's favorite is the classic Wedge boasting a big slice of iceberg, lots of bacon, slices of red onion and tomatoes with some chunky bleu cheese dressing over the top.

Watch Phantom Gourmet on Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 and 11 a.m. on myTV38.