The biggest recipe trends on social media are often cheesy, hearty, or mash-up meals, so when I spotted a salad recipe with more than 12,000 likes, the veggie-lover in me stopped scrolling immediately.
Earlier this year, MacKenzie Smith, a New Smyrna Beach, Florida-based food blogger and author of Grilled Cheese Social, introduced me (and countless others) to the magic that is the 1905 Salad:
“Florida gets a bad rap—gators in pools, wild headlines, and Florida Man doing the most—but Columbia’s Famous 1905 Salad is here to clean up the state’s reputation, one garlicky bite at a time,” she wrote in the caption. “Who knew Florida’s finest flex was a salad?”
This high praise—and the bountiful bowl Smith builds in the video—left me so inspired I had to reach out for the dish.
“I have so many vivid memories of the 1905! This salad has seen it all. My first communion? It was there. High school and college graduation parties? Front and center. Funerals? Without a doubt. Backyard barbecues? Basically a requirement,” Smith tells Southern Living. “It’s one of those nostalgic dishes that instantly tastes like home. I swear, if this salad could talk, it would be able to write a biography of my life.”
All of this raving about a green salad might seem surprising coming from a recipe developer who literally wrote the book on grilled cheese and specializes in “chill easy comfort food recipes.” Turns out, the 1905 Salad is like the ultimate low-fuss comfort food for summer… whether you, too, love lettuce or could use some additional coaxing.
What Is 1905 Salad?
“If you’ve never had a 1905 Salad, we need to fix that immediately,” Smith says. Imagine all the flavors of your favorite deli sandwich (including ham, Swiss, tomato, olives, Romano cheese) tossed in what Smith calls “the most addictive, garlicky, zingy dressing you’ve ever tasted. It’s salty, savory, crunchy, cheesy, and just downright magical. Honestly, it sounds too simple to be that good,” she admits. “But trust me, it’s the kind of salad that even the ‘I don’t eat salad’ crowd scarfs up in minutes.”
To learn more about the history of the 1905 Salad, I went straight to the source. Andrea Gonzmart Williams, fifth-generation caretaker of Columbia Restaurant in Tampa, Florida, tells us that 1905 Salad was originally known as the Tony Salad. In the 1940s, Tony Noriega was a server at Columbia Restaurant in Tampa’s Latin district, Ybor City. (They still have an outpost there today, as well as six others across Florida.) Noriega used to make this salad after work as a midnight snack, “tossing together whatever ingredients were in his refrigerator,” Williams explains. “Noriega shared his delicacy with his favorite customers. Soon, it appeared on the menu at the Columbia Restaurant.”
Tony went on to open his own spot, Tony’s Restaurant, where he served his creation throughout the 1950s and ‘60s. Over at Columbia, Tony Salad was renamed 1905 Salad by third-generation owner Cesar Gonzmart as the restaurant’s 75th anniversary approached in the 1970s. (On its website, Columbia boasts that it’s “Florida’s oldest restaurant,” open since 1905.)
Williams concedes that the “1905” might actually need an asterisk, though. When Columbia was about to celebrate its centennial in 2005, a historian informed the team that the brand actually started as Saloon Columbia in 1903, before burning down and restarting as Columbia Restaurant in 1905. In remembrance of Columbia’s saloon start, diners can now order the 1905 Salad without tomatoes, which is known as a “1903 Salad.”
What Makes 1905 Salad Special
The base has always been lettuce, ham, and Swiss cheese, but Tony’s version also called for onions, green peppers, chopped boiled egg, parsley, olive oil, vinegar and other spices which are not part of the modern-day 1905. The original 1905 Salad did not have green peppers, egg, or parsley; it does today.
While this might sound like an unexpected combination, it starts to make much more sense when you study the backstory on the menu. The formula is “inspired by immigrants to the Cigar City: Romano cheese from the Sicilians and the famous garlic dressing used by Cubans to marinate fresh roast pork, plus Florida tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, julienne of baked ham and Swiss cheese.” (The latter two are likely hat tips to essential Cuban Sandwich ingredients.)
Besides the ingredients themselves, 1905 Salad stands the test of time and is worthy of its international viral recipe fame due to its tableside preparation. Williams reminisces fondly about how many 1905 Salads she’s made for guests, allowing her to form a deeper bond with those around the table while sharing how to make it. Of course, that doesn’t mean she never sits down to eat it herself: “If I go a week without eating a 1905 Salad, I feel like I’ve neglected myself,” Williams says.
Smith took those tableside lessons to heart, and looks forward to adding 1905 Salad to the menu at “birthdays, holidays, Sunday dinners, graduation parties—you name it. This salad is basically my family’s version of a love language,” she says. However, even though the family enjoys it at home every week or so, they make a point to make a reservation any time they’re planning to be near a Columbia Restaurant because “we must get the real thing before we leave. Guaranteed!”
Tips For Making 1905 Salad
Over the years as she’s recreated the 1905 Salad at home, Smith has learned a few tricks of the trade:
- Invest in quality ingredients. Since there are only a handful of ingredients in this easy salad recipe, they are all allowed to shine. It’s definitely worth it to “splurge on a nice ham, grab some real deal Swiss, use the good olive oil, and always shave your Romano cheese fresh off the block,” Smith says.
- Be generous with the dressing. “For the love of garlic, don’t be shy,” Smith laughs. You can actually purchase a bottle of dressing directly from the restaurant, but it’s a breeze to make from scratch. We have the official restaurant recipe awaiting below. If you don’t have any fresh garlic handy or want to make dressing prep even easier, try Smith’s hack: Combine Garlic Expressions, lemon juice, and worcestershire sauce. “It takes like 2 minutes and packs a garlicky punch that’ll have you licking the bowl,” she says.
- Customize as desired. If you can’t find Romano, swap in Parmesan, Smith suggests. Sharing with vegetarians? “It’s just as delicious when you leave out the ham. The versatility makes it even more of a crowd-pleaser,” Smith adds. Or take a cue from the official menu. Visit any Columbia Restaurant location and you can order it as a side, an entrée, or make it even more of a meal with turkey or garlic shrimp.
How To Make 1905 Salad
“I know it might not sound like a showstopper, but this salad is way more than the sum of its parts,” Smith says. “It’s cheesy, salty, crispy, meaty, tangy; basically everything you want in a salad. People always say ‘no notes’ when something’s perfect. This is one of those things. No notes. Just grab a fork and thank me later. It’s one of Florida’s greatest achievements and I’ll take that to the grave!”
1905 Salad
Yield: 2 full salads or 4 side salads
- 4 cups iceberg lettuce, broken into 1½-inch x 1½-inch pieces
- 1 ripe tomato, cut into eighths
- ½ cup baked ham, julienned into 2-inch x ⅛-inch pieces (may substitute turkey or shrimp)
- ½ cup Swiss cheese, julienned into 2-inch x ⅛-inch pieces
- ½ cup green Spanish olives
- 1 cup “1905” Dressing (recipe below)
- ¼ cup Romano cheese, grated
- 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
- 1 lemon, juiced
- Combine lettuce, tomato, ham, Swiss cheese and olives in a large salad bowl.
- Just before serving, add the dressing, Romano cheese, worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice. Toss well and serve immediately.
1905 Dressing
- ½ cup extra-virgin Spanish olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- ⅛ cup white wine vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Mix olive oil, garlic and oregano in a bowl. Stir in vinegar and season with salt and pepper. For best results, prepare 1 to 2 days in advance and refrigerate.
Recipe courtesy of Columbia Restaurant
