The Baro Chopped Salad Shoppe

We love salads, but not so much when we have to shovel unwieldy large leafs of lettuce with oily salad dressing potentially dripping onto our silk blouses. So let’s give the boys of The Baro Chopped Salad Shoppe some applause. Two gents have given up their office jobs to launch The Baro (short form for “koumbaros,” the word for “best man” in Greek), a casual spot for a chopped salad, which somehow hasn’t made much headway here in Hogtown despite its popularity in the U.S. Having the salad chopped with a mezzaluna (a two-handed rocking chopper) allows the ingredients to be better incorporated together so each bite is more flavourful, they say, and after digging into a Mississippi Flyer (which includes hot-sauced chicken), we have to agree. Oh, and you selective or restricted-diet eaters? You can customize your own salads if the nine ones on the menu don’t cut it. Our tastebuds (and silk wardrobe) are happy. — Karen Kwan

424 Queen St. W., Toronto. www.facebook.com/thebaroinc