Feb. 17, 2021

This paid piece is sponsored by Minervas.

The wait is over, the freshest ingredients are here, and the next time you visit Minervas downtown, the salad bar will be ready for you.

Want to see what led up to this moment? Click here for the full story. 

“We couldn’t be happier that we now can tell guests the answer they want to hear to the question we are asked daily: You can order the salad bar again,” said Tim Meagher, chief operating officer of Vanguard Hospitality.

“There’s such a story behind what we’ve created that we’ll be continuing to tell it in the weeks and months ahead.”

But the bottom line is this: Minervas reimagined many elements of the salad bar experience while keeping your favorite things about it.

What that means

You’ll still be able to enjoy your tomato zucchini soup every day, plus others featured daily, but it will be brought to your table so there’s no juggling on your walk back.

Your favorite chef-prepared salads will still be there – Cajun chicken penne and broccoli balsamic aren’t going anywhere – but other new ones are debuting, and they’re fantastic.

Salads will rotate, too, allowing you even more selections throughout the week.

The classic Minervas cheese spread will be waiting with a beautifully curated deli selection.

“And that’s just the start,” Meagher said. “We literally went item by item in evaluating and selecting everything you’ll discover here.”

What else is new

The enhanced salad bar puts a huge emphasis on local partnerships. Area producers featured include Breadsmith, Dakota Fresh Food Hub, Fruit of the Coop and Morgan Ranch.

“This means not only are we supporting local food in a powerful new way, but our salad bar selections will continually be evolving, and our ingredients will be the freshest available,” Meagher said.

OK, enough talking. Want to see it in action? We invited a group of taste-testers to give the new salad bar a try:

What else you need to know

The salad bar will be available at lunch and dinner, and the increased selection means Minervas hopes you’ll choose it as your entree at either meal.

“This absolutely is a meal in itself,” Meagher said. “There’s so much you can create here, from your own charcuterie off the deli selection, to a custom green salad with the freshest ingredients, to a smorgasbord of all of it.”

You’ll be provided a pair of gloves before going through the salad bar, and Minervas requests that you wear a face covering while doing so.

“These times won’t last forever, but we discontinued the salad bar because of the pandemic, so to bring it back responsibly during a pandemic, we need to make these adjustments,” Meagher said. “Our guests have been extremely understanding and courteous for months, so we anticipate they will be here too.”

The menu

As we said, the menu will continually change, and you always will be handed one for the salad bar once you’re seated.

But here’s a look at the debut selections!