Just Salad opens first Long Island location in Commack

Joining other build-your-own-salad chains like Chopt and sweetgreen, Just Salad feels like a bit of a misnomer. There are wraps and toasts, bowls, also soups and smoothies. But salad reigns supreme at the NYC-based fast casual chain’s first Long Island location, in Commack’s Trader Joe’s shopping center.

Offering menu items for all lifestyles — vegan, keto, paleo, gluten-free — guests choose whether they want a lettuce, wrap, or grain bowl base, then pile on their veggies, proteins, crunchy toppings and housemade dressing of choice. If you’re not picky or creative, there are 15 chef-designed options. Standards like Cobb ($12.69) and Caesar ($11.99) salads live alongside modern creations like Crispy Chicken Poblano ($12.69) comprised of chicken, corn, avocado, pickled onions and Cotija cheese with a smoky ranch dressing, and Tokyo Supergreens ($12.69) which features organic sesame tofu, edamame, avocado, carrots, broccoli, and a sprinkling of furikake with miso ginger vinaigrette. The brand’s “Earth-Friendly Salads,” which boast low carbon footprints, use vegan cheeses and plant-based meats.

The same canvas applies to wraps ($11.99) and bowls (starting at $11.99) with warm ingredients ranging from sweet potatoes to brown rice to quinoa. There’s also avocado toast ($11.99) and soups ($3.99) like broccoli Cheddar and chicken noodle.

Just Salad was founded in 2006 and now has over 70 locations from New York to North Carolina, Pennsylvania to Dubai. Focusing on sustainability and plant-centric eating, all ingredients are prepped in-house daily, and Just Salad boasts the world’s largest reusable restaurant initiative — The Reusable Bowl Program. This strategy invites diners to purchase a bowl for $1, rewarding them with a free salad topping for every reuse. It’s catching on; on opening day, blue bowls could be seen dotting the tables of in-restaurant diners.

A Westbury outpost is slated to open next month, as well as Huntington and Oceanside locations later this year.

Just Salad, 6040 Jericho Turnpike, Commack; 866-673-3757, justsalad.com. Open Monday — Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday-Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

By Marie Elena Martinez

marieelena.martinez@newsday.com@mariesworlds

A global freelancer who has checked her suitcase to raise her young daughter on her native Long Island, Marie Elena will always make time for good mezcal, even better tacos and killer conversation. Preferably, in a corner bar seat. She can be found on Instagram at @mariesworldeats.