Save The Cottage, which generally feels too far away for us to go on a whim, I tend to feel a little nonplussed about the sit down restaurant salad scene. We decided to loop through Cambridge in hopes of finding inspiration. Unfortunately, our first attempt -- the Black Sheep Restaurant at the Kendall Hotel -- which has a decent roster of salads -- was closed. We mulled a few other options spanning Harvard and Central, but we didn’t feel inspired enough to get back in the car. We decided to try Legal Sea Foods across the street to see if they had anything vaguely kid friendly and were thrilled to find that they are, in fact, a kid friendly restaurant, complete with a dedicated kids menu (including a dozen options...not too shabby!), activity sheets, crayons, take-home plastic straw cups, and wait staff that were super friendly towards Laurel. Unless your child likes eating lobster, the kids choices are totally affordable, ranging from $4.50 - $7.95, which includes main course, fruit, veggies, and a starch.

And as for me, I wanted a salad with plenty of roughage, but since we were at Legal’s I also wanted seafood. They assembled a fantastic Caesar salad with generous amounts of lobster, grilled scallops, and grilled shrimp on top ($22) and said I was welcome to ask for it anytime even though it wasn’t on the menu. Utter. Happiness.

Though behaviorally dining with Laurel is practically like dining with a grownup (for the most part she’s content sitting and chatting with us or working on an activity book), she still has a kid’s taste buds. So it’s always a boon to find a calmly appointed restaurant that truly welcomes kids in menu and attitude, while still offering real food for grownups. We are totally going back. Maybe even this weekend with our out of town guests.

Do you have a favorite spot for fabulous salads? I'd love to hear about them via the comments below!

Legal Sea Foods, Kendall Square, 5 Cambridge Center, Cambridge; 617-864-3400 (plus a slew of other locations along the Eastern seaboard)