Don’t let your busy schedule stand in the way of those healthy-eating resolutions! These are some of our favorite spots around Nashville to snag a delicious salad in a hurry. Image: Radish Kitchen/Facebook
Whether you’ve recently committed to healthier eating habits or just craving a really, really good salad on the go, we’ve got you covered. Below, you’ll find a list of our favorite spots for snagging high-quality salads around Nashville! From build-your-own salad concepts to under-the-radar picks at local burger joints, you’re sure to find your newest go-to order here.
The Turnip Truck
The Gulch: 321 12th Avenue South Nashville, TN 37203 • (615) 248-2000 East Nashville: 701 Woodland Street Nashville, TN 37206 • (615) 650-3600 West Nashville: 5001 Charlotte Avenue Nashville, TN 37209 • (615) 953-7075
It’s super easy to build your ultimate salad at The Turnip Truck. They keep their salad bar and hot bar stocked with fresh options every day of the week. The salad pictured here is a bit of a hybrid, starting with a bed of salad greens, then piled high with salmon and roasted veggies from the hot bar.
When it comes to shopping for food, everyone has non-negotiables. Now is the time for customers to consider their sources and build relationships with brands they can trust.
Grocery shopping is not what it used to be, and that’s a problem for us all. The long-gone days of a city filled with fully stocked-and-staffed supermarkets now seem like a pre-COVID dream.
Unfortunately, the challenges are not straightforward. They require commitment by grocers, day in and day out. For my team at Turnip Truck’s three in-town grocery stores, that has looked like taking care of and retaining our team, doubling our warehouse inventory to keep shelves full, relying on local farmers and suppliers, and trusting our diversified vendor base to deliver the products we need when we need them.
These nimble moves would not be possible were we not an independently owned, local business. However, I believe mission-minded businesses of all shapes and sizes can do right by their customers if that is a core value.
As Nashville’s local grocer, I am on a mission to keep the shelves full and the service friendly for my neighbors. While there’s no magic formula to take us back to the days before shipping delays, I do have a question for savvy shoppers.
Can you trust your grocer?
Before COVID shutdowns, sanitizing sprees, quarantines and supply shortages, it was easy to take for granted that grocers would have the items shoppers needed without fail. Fast forward through the pandemic and its accompanying calamities, and it’s a whole new world. Americans have had a wake-up call to the grocer’s central role in the food-supply chain.
When it comes to shopping for food, everyone has non-negotiables. At Turnip Truck, that means offering top-notch service and healthy products our customers can trust. Every person shares a need for fresh, clean food to fuel their life. No matter your budget, zip code or grocery list, you deserve consistent access to quality food.
Now is the time for customers to consider their sources and build relationships with brands they can trust. The last two years have taught us many hard lessons and reminded us that norms can change. We can all do our part in making sure those norms change for the better, not a lowering of standards.
Never in our lifetimes have trustworthy relationships mattered more. If your retailer is letting you down, I encourage you to shop around. While every business in our sector is facing challenges, you deserve to shop with those who operate with customers’ well-being in mind.
John Dyke is the founder and CEO of Nashville’s only full service, locally owned natural foods grocer, the Turnip Truck.
“Tabitha Waggoner [The Tennessean], has a tight budget on her time and money. This week, she checks out The Turnip Truck Urban Fare in The Gulch for a filling lunch a la carte.
I didn’t really know what I would find when I visited the Turnip Truck Urban Fare in The Gulch since I had only been there a couple times before and had never eaten off the hot bar. But with temperatures in the 30s and flurries falling, I decided a hot soup would be a great lunch.
The salad bar looked oh-so-tempting as did the deli, but I stayed true to the course and checked out the hot bar. A small soup is $2.99, a medium is $4.99 and a large soup is $8.99. The soup is probably the best deal for a to-go meal this time of year, and there are different options like broccoli cheddar and turkey gumbo along with clam chowder.
With San Francisco on my mind I went with the medium clam chowder and grabbed a large, fresh salmon patty for $2.79 (most hot bar items are $8.99 a pound). After tax I had my meal for $8.50.
The salmon patty was the size of two patties, in my opinion, and of course the chowder (the clam tasted amazing) kept me full for hours. (Literally through the evening.) The only thing that could have made this better would have been a bread bowl, but then I wouldn’t have been able to eat it all.
The greatest thing about The Turnip Truck is the plethora of mix and match options that are fresh and beautiful to the eye. And you can grab it, pay and go or eat right there in the dining area.
Fugett previously worked in specialty retail management in Texas for nearly three decades. She moved to Nashville and joined Turnip Truck after an eight-year tenure as General Manager of Williams-Sonoma in Fort Worth. Soon after coming to Turnip Truck, she helped launch the locally owned natural foods grocer’s new flagship East Nashville store and quickly worked her way into management.
“Robin is an exceptional leader, and we are delighted to have her at the helm of our Gulch location,” Dyke said. “Inside or outside our organization, there was no more qualified candidate than Robin.”
Fugett has spent her time at Turnip Truck learning about the store’s culture of community engagement, including fostering relationships with farmers and food producers. In her new role, she will manage all aspects of the Gulch store – from staffing to customer relations.
“When I moved to Nashville, I made the decision to transition from corporate retail management to working for a locally owned company,” Fugett said. “I consider myself very fortunate to have connected with Turnip Truck, which has given me the opportunity to quickly move into a leadership role at a company I greatly admire.”
At EXPO East 2016, INFRA members made up 75% of the nominees for the four Retailer of the Year awards, and swept the the awards won. Native Sun Natural Foods won for Best New Store, Nature’s Food Patch won for Community Engagement, Alameda Natural Grocery won for Sustainability, and Turnip Truck won for Innovation. We congratulate all of the nominees and winners for their great work in the industry.
The people of Nashville love their Publix and Whole Foods, but The Turnip Truck deserves the title of Best Market. The locally owned store has two locations and places a serious emphasis on sourcing locally. Reviewer Jason King said, “This is a nice natural food store with some great ready-to-eat meal options. The prices are reasonable (especially when compared to other natural food markets), and they always seem to have demos and samples out.”
Thank you note from the Turnip Truck: “WOW. Thank you, loyal customers, for supporting our dream of bringing local, organic food to Nashville. You did this!!!”
