Get a group of twentysomethings together for lunch or dinner, and I guarantee you at least one of the women will order a Caesar salad. I recently had to submit an order ahead of time for a club dinner through the University, and I noticed at least six girls on the list ordering a Caesar salad with chicken. While the Caesar salad was dubbed the “it girl” meal of the summer, it seems like it’s here to stay even as temperatures drop. It’s a dish that has been Americanized and reinvented over and over, with variations including a kale base, roasted chickpeas or seasonal additions like roasted sweet potato chunks. Its popularity could be argued to be caused by its popularity — a safe choice available at most restaurants — and its versatility.
What I am more curious about is why Caesar salads in particular have so much notoriety over other salad options and, moreover, why the order seems to be feminized. It could be because salads overall are seen as feminine. It makes us think of ladies who lunch, laughing on a Tuesday afternoon over an overpriced plate of greens. The Caesar salad offers a way to stay within this norm while still eating something that feels indulgent, but actually enjoyable. The popularity could be seen as presenting an illusion of femininity and daintiness while still being able to eat what we actually are in the mood for.
The strange thing about the Caesar salad is that it has many of the ingredients that would be on, say, a sandwich, yet one order is seen as masculine and one as feminine. Flatten out the croutons of the salad, squish them together, and they could resemble the bread. Both have cheese. And the thick dressing could probably be comparable to most spreads used for a chicken pesto or other sandwich varieties. Yet it is the presentation that is different. One is seen as healthier, feminine and dainty because it is eaten with a fork over bare hands. I would argue part of it is also the diet culture’s war on bread, which actually can have some health benefits and support healthy weight loss. And even though I feel our culture today is moving away from this demonization of carbs, it seems we are still catering our dining choices to these norms, even if a Caesar salad seems to only give an illusion of being a healthy choice with its salad label.
And if the Caesar salad is seen as a feminine dish, is eating it a way of reinforcing these values? Donald Trump, at a dinner with other U.S. officials in China, was said to have forced his former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to eat the Caesar salad served as a way of humiliating Tillerson. In politics, a space of strongmen culture and strong patriarchal ties, eating a Caesar salad is seen as feminizing oneself. It seems the association of Caesar salads with daintiness and girlhood has been omnipresent in American culture long before last summer.
I think the obsession with the Caesar also embodies a shift in our culture of food moving from sustenance to style. It’s an interest in perception and how we appear while eating. Caesar salad has taken on a label of chicness, especially when paired with fries and a dirty martini, a trio dubbed on TikTok as a “NYC Happy Meal.” Other restaurants in New York City are offering these items as a prix fixe pairing. The meal evokes a sense of quiet luxury and accessibility that I feel has skyrocketed its popularity. The article from the New York Post paints an image of a Caesar salad being eaten slowly on some outside restaurant patio, picking at fries and idly sipping cocktails. It evokes an image somewhat reminiscent of “Sex and the City” of a group of independent, beautiful women with nothing but time. Some feel the meal combo is in some ways nostalgic, with Caesar being the first salad some women said they ordered, feeling elegant and grown.
To be clear, I enjoy a Caesar salad from time to time. Sometimes I go out to dinner with friends and am truly in the mood for some greens, cheese and crunchy croutons in a tangy dressing. But when we see a pattern time and time again, it is important to acknowledge it. And, moving into 2026, it seems like gendering food is something we can leave behind. We should all be able to enjoy bread and cheese without having to disguise these foods under handfuls of romaine lettuce.
