Since Chicago-area McDonald’s decided to drop salads this year, I’ve been searching for alternatives that are both tasty and well-priced. My quest took me to a northern Chicago suburb, Deerfield, and a place called Cafe Zupas.

Zupas apparently is a chain, you can check its website for locations. Like other national salad places, it offers a range of pre-determined salads or you can create your own, which is what I did.

The create-your-own comes with a protein (I picked chicken) and five toppings. The assortment was such that I got two helpings of tomatoes, there wasn’t a lot else that appealed to me. I also got cucumbers, cranberries and strawberries.

The place also didn’t have plain oil and vinegar, surprising and a little disappointing. It does have some low-salt dressing options, check its nutrition page before you go.

The size of the salad was larger than other salad places and the price, a little over $10, was in line with what two McDonald salads would cost me.

While I’d like to see oil and vinegar and more topping choices, I still give Zupas a thumbs up. One especially nice feature, a free chocolate-covered strawberry comes with every meal.