Three of our salads take genuinely different directions once you look past the shared lettuce-tomato-onion base: a classic deli combination, the richest cured-meat option on the menu, and the only salad built around seafood instead of meat at all.
Here’s exactly what’s in our Chef, Antipasto, and Tuna Salads, and how to tell which one actually matches what you’re craving tonight.
Our complete salad guide covers all eight salads on the menu at a glance. This is a closer, side-by-side look at just these three — the protein-forward options that go the furthest beyond a plain garden salad.
All three, like every salad we make, come in Large and Small sizes rather than one fixed price. Call (215) 904-7353 to confirm current pricing for the size you want when you’re ready to order.
Chef Salad vs. Antipasto Salad vs. Tuna Salad at a Glance
| Chef Salad | Antipasto Salad | Tuna Salad | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein | Turkey, ham | Salami, ham, pepperoni | Tuna salad |
| Cheese | American | Provolone | Not listed |
| Dressing included | Italian | Not listed | Not listed |
| Meat count | 2 | 3 | 0 (seafood instead) |
| Base | Lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, black olives (all three) | ||
Chef Salad: The Classic Deli Combination
The Chef Salad is built from turkey, ham, American cheese, and Italian dressing, over our standard base of lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, and black olives. Two meats plus cheese is a familiar, middle-of-the-road build — not as loaded as the Antipasto, not as different as the Tuna.
It’s also the only one of these three salads with a dressing built into the recovered description. Italian dressing ties the turkey, ham, and American cheese together into one cohesive flavor, rather than leaving you to add dressing separately the way you might with the other two.
The name itself has a genuinely uncertain history. According to Tasting Table’s look at the chef salad’s origins, food historians still disagree on who actually invented it — some trace it back to a 17th-century English dish called salamagundi, while others credit a specific New York or Buffalo hotel chef in the early 1900s. Nobody has ever definitively settled the question, which is a little unusual for a salad this common.
Antipasto Salad: The Richest, Most Cured-Meat-Heavy Option
The Antipasto Salad is the most loaded of the three: salami, ham, pepperoni, and provolone cheese, over the same lettuce-tomato-onion-cucumber-olive base. Three distinct cured meats is one more than the Chef Salad and the only fully meatless-free option among the three — the opposite end of the spectrum from the Tuna Salad.
Ham is the one ingredient it actually shares with the Chef Salad — the only overlap between any two of these three salads. Everything else that separates them is real: salami and pepperoni instead of turkey, provolone instead of American, and no dressing listed in our recovered description for this one specifically.
The name comes directly from Italian tradition. Dante University’s history of Italian antipasto explains that “antipasto” literally means “before the meal” — “anti” (before) plus “pasto” (meal) — and traces the practice of serving cured meats, cheese, and pickled vegetables ahead of a main course back to ancient Roman banquets. Our salad version borrows that same combination of cured meats and cheese, just served as a full meal rather than a starter.
Three cured meats also means three different textures and salt levels in one bowl — salami’s fattier bite, pepperoni’s spice and crisped edges, ham’s milder sweetness. If you want the most flavor-dense option on the salad menu, this is it.
Tuna Salad: The Only Seafood Option
The Tuna Salad breaks from both of the others completely — tuna salad over the same lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cucumber, and black olives, with no deli meat and no cheese listed at all. It’s the only seafood-based option among all eight salads we make.
Texture is what actually separates it from the Chef and Antipasto Salads, more than the protein swap itself. Turkey, ham, salami, and pepperoni all arrive sliced, sitting as distinct pieces on top of the greens. Tuna salad is mixed and scooped, so it blends into the lettuce underneath rather than sitting on top of it in separate pieces — a genuinely different eating experience, not just a different protein.
If you’ve tried our Tuna Hoagie, this is the same tuna salad, just served over a full bed of vegetables instead of inside a roll. It’s worth knowing about if you like the tuna itself but want to eat lighter than a hoagie without giving up the flavor you already know.
The Cheese Difference
Cheese is one of the clearest ways to tell these three apart at a glance. Chef Salad uses American, a mild, smooth-melting cheese that matches its deli-counter flavor profile. Antipasto Salad uses provolone, a firmer, sharper Italian cheese that holds its own against three different cured meats. Tuna Salad doesn’t list cheese in our recovered description at all.
That’s not a small detail. American cheese is mild enough to blend into a salad without competing with anything else, while provolone is assertive enough to stand up to salami and pepperoni without disappearing. If cheese specifically matters to your order and you want to confirm what’s included on the Tuna Salad, call (215) 904-7353 before ordering rather than assuming either way.
What All Three Share
Underneath the protein and cheese differences, all three salads use the exact same fresh base: lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, and black olives. That’s true across six of our eight salads — only the Caesar-style salads skip it in favor of romaine and croutons.
Knowing that base is shared is useful when you’re deciding: since the vegetables underneath don’t change, the entire decision between these three comes down to the protein, the cheese, and the texture. Sizing works the same way, too — Large and Small are both available on each, so the choice is purely about flavor, not portion or budget.
Pros and Cons of Each
| Salad | Best For | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Chef Salad | Familiar deli flavor, built-in dressing | Milder than Antipasto, less variety than Tuna’s seafood switch |
| Antipasto Salad | Maximum meat and flavor complexity | Richest and saltiest of the three |
| Tuna Salad | Only seafood option, different texture entirely | No deli meat or confirmed cheese |
Which One Should You Order?
If you want a familiar, balanced combination with dressing already built in, order the Chef Salad. If you want the richest, most flavor-dense option with three different cured meats, order the Antipasto Salad. If you want something that eats completely differently from a deli-style salad, order the Tuna Salad.
Deciding between Chef and Antipasto specifically comes down to how much you want going on at once. Chef Salad is two meats and a mild cheese, held together by dressing. Antipasto is three meats and a sharper cheese, with nothing to soften the edges between them. If you’re not sure, Chef Salad is the safer, more familiar order; Antipasto is the one to pick if you already know you want a lot of flavor in one bowl.
See the rest of the lineup — including the House Salad, Caesar Salad, and both chicken options — in our complete salad guide, or read our House Salad vs. Caesar Salad comparison if you’re weighing the two simpler options instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What’s the difference between Chef Salad and Antipasto Salad?
- Chef Salad has turkey, ham, American cheese, and Italian dressing. Antipasto Salad has salami, ham, pepperoni, and provolone cheese, with no dressing listed. Ham is the only ingredient they share.
- Is the Tuna Salad the only seafood option?
- Yes — it’s the only one of our eight salads built around seafood instead of deli meat, chicken, or no protein at all.
- Which of these three salads has the most meat?
- The Antipasto Salad, with three cured meats (salami, ham, pepperoni). The Chef Salad has two (turkey, ham). The Tuna Salad has none, using tuna salad instead.
- Does the Chef Salad come with dressing?
- Yes, Italian dressing is included. It’s the only one of these three salads with a dressing listed in our recovered description.
- Do all three salads have the same base vegetables?
- Yes — lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, and black olives are the same across all three. Only the protein, cheese, and dressing change.
- How much do these salads cost?
- All three come in Large and Small sizes, and pricing depends on which you order. Call (215) 904-7353 to confirm current pricing.
Classic, loaded, or something from the sea.