Best Salad Bar

Mrs. T's Cafe

809 Montgomery (at Jackson), 982-6663

One year we ate lunch at Mrs. T's every day and never got sick of it. The reason is its amazing salad bar. You probably think a salad bar is just lettuce and fixin's, right? Well, Mrs. T's has that. But it also has more: sushi, freshly baked turkey and cranberry sauce, veggie tempura, meatloaf, cheeses, and the tastiest prepared salads north of Whole Foods. We're talking seaweed salad, turkey salad, ambrosia, gingered green beans, sweet potatoes with walnuts, marinated tofu ... it's not even 11 yet and we're ready to hit Mrs. T's just thinking about it. Oh, and did we mention the reasonable prices ($5.25 per pound) and the supernice people who work here? The only reason the entire city isn't lining up outside Mrs. T's come noon is that the ambience is as random and unglamorous as that of a doctor's waiting room. But that's OK with us: The salad bar is already more excitement than we can take.