It was a hard decision at Joeseppi’s Italian Ristorante this past week as I scanned their salad options that lay before me on the menu. After immediately omitting the standard house, spinach and Caesar salad options, I was left with two very good and very different salad paths. One was a salad, which included pineapple, gorgonzola cheese, and no meat with a price tag of $11.99. My other option was the typical chop chop salad most Italian restaurants are known for carrying on their menu. With two different meats and a cost of $12.99, it sounded as though I was getting more bang for the buck, so chop chop salad it was.



Description: Containing mainly greens from the Romaine lettuce family, each leaf was crisp and fresh leaving me with no complaints on the salad bed. Tossed evenly and thoroughly, strips of salami and pepperoni were plentiful and consistent in each and every bite. Mixed into this Italian array of preserved meat were tomatoes, garbanzo beans, bacon, eggs, and not just one but two (Yes, two!) kinds of cheese. Joeseppi’s chop chop salad carried both mozzarella and gorgonzola.



Taste: All of the aforementioned ingredients were delicately tossed in Joeseppi’s special house dressing made from a marriage between an Italian dressing and a cream gorgonzola dressing.



Conclusion: The salad is pretty big, but of course I had no problem finishing it. It was delicious. My remarkably congenial server, Mr. J. Michael (son of Tacoma art gallery Seven Muses owner, Tom Michael) offered repeatedly to take the partially unfinished salad out of my way, but I refused. I think he underestimated my big-salad eating abilities, especially one this tastefully comforting. Joeseppi’s chop chop salad is undeniably an Italian meal within itself.



[Joeseppi’s Italian Ristorante, 2207 N. Pearl St., Tacoma, 253.761 .5555]