INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A new downtown Franklin eatery is putting a fresh spin on casual dining, giving customers the freedom to choose exactly how much they want.
Salad Palette Eatery, known as SalPal, welcomed its first guests May 11. The 25-seat restaurant on Courthouse Square is owned by Christy and Ed Locke.
Most items at SalPal are sold by weight, allowing customers to customize their portions. Guests can choose a small serving for lunch or take larger portions home.
“You can choose a tiny sliver of cake, or you can buy a quarter of a cake,” Christy Locke said. “You can grab half a chicken salad sandwich for lunch, or pick up a pound to take home.”
The restaurant’s small kitchen produces fresh, made-to-order items each day. Locke makes everything from croutons and ranch dressing to the daily cake.
“We don’t even have a freezer,” Locke said. “It’s all fresh every day. We pretty much empty out the refrigerator each evening and fill it back up for the next day.”
The menu includes chicken, ham, tuna and egg salads, fresh greens and vegetables, house-made croutons, rotating side dishes, baked goods and a daily cake.
SalPal also offers signature items such as mini ale breads with espresso butter, individual cornbread salads, mini protein salad croissants and daily hot specials.
Cake flavors rotate and have included confetti cake with vanilla buttercream, sherbet cake with lemon-orange and raspberry filling, and maple vanilla cake with cream cheese icing and bacon.
With a staff of six, the restaurant makes fresh batches throughout the day as items sell out.
The eatery also offers catering for smaller gatherings. Recent orders have included artisan truffles and smash cakes for first birthday celebrations.
For Locke, SalPal brings together decades of experience in hospitality with her passion for food and graphic arts.
“I’ve been a bartender for 30-some years and had been catering and doing food on the side,” Locke said. “This is my swan song on my way into retirement.”
The restaurant’s intimate space seats 25 people and features an art-focused atmosphere designed to complement its fresh and creative food.
“With a small staff and a small building and 25 seats, we’re making the most of it,” Locke said.
Salad Palette Eatery is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Courthouse Square in downtown Franklin. For more information, visit facebook.com/SaladPaletteEatery.
Dining and Cooking