Cheap eats, worth the money, family-friendly

What makes a stellar salad bar? Options, for one, both healthy and not-so-healthy. Fresh fruit and vegetables. Those whipped-up pasta, bean, Waldorf, macaroni and potato salads that you try, but cannot, re-create at home. And enough of a salty-to-sweet ratio to keep you from having to order dessert. Here are some locales with just the right amount to gratify:

Ruby Tuesday

various locations, Sarasota, www.rubytuesday.com.

Second to the bison burger, the "Fresh Garden Bar" on the menu is the primo reason to hit Ruby Tuesday. The Rotini pasta salad with peas and ham is a signature, as well as the green bean salads, and the marinated mozzarella balls and grape tomatoes. While the dessert selection is sparse, there is usually an apple-raisin-mayonnaise salad concoction, dried cranberries for a mixed herb salad topper, and some grapes and cottage cheese for a sweet ending.

Sweet Tomatoes

4994 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, 922-4908, www.souplantation.com.

The label "salad bar" does not begin to describe it. Try pasta bar, ice cream bar, soup bar, fruit bar, coffee bar and bread bar. Even though "healthy" is the subtext, it is not too difficult to engage in an eating overdose here, especially when it comes to carbohydrates. There are also monthly specials, from Greek salads to pineapple delicacies, vegan and vegetarian dishes and low-fat offerings. The "won ton chicken happiness" salad, the tuna tarragon pasta salad and the apple cinnamon bran muffins are personal favorites.

Whole Foods Market

1451 First St., Sarasota, 955-8500, www.wholefoodsmarket.com.

Diners with food sensitivities, dietary restrictions and a love for all things organic and antibiotic-free may elect Whole Foods Market as their salad bar hub. Though it is not an all-you-can-eat for one price type of offering (it is pay per pound), for $10 or less, there is a sufficient chance of filling up. The mushroom risotto, curried chicken, turkey salads, soups and fresh vegetables -- many with an ethnic slant -- make up the smorgasbord. Dessert? That is a separate expense in another aisle.

Golden Corral Buffet & Grill

5525 Cortez Road, Bradenton, 761-0872, www.goldencorral.net.

Though many people may not even know a salad bar exists at the all-you-can-eat Golden Corral, it is the restaurant's secret weapon. While incomers shovel fried chicken and mashed potatoes onto their plates, five times over, the silent minority is compiling a salad with fresh hearts of palm, artichoke hearts and baby shrimp. Even the salad bar bigwigs in the area do not carry those gourmet ingredients. And, neglecting the Corral's wicked desserts would be blasphemous, even on the healthiest of outings.