19 greatest McDonald’s menu items of all time
By Kareem Gantt
![Munich, GERMANY: A McDonald?s Big Mac and chips are pictured at a McDonald?s restaurant beside their headquarters in Munich, southern Germany 27 February 2007. Bane Knezevic (not in picture), president of the western division of McDonald's Europe and chairman of McDonald's Germany reported at a press conference that Mcdonald's turnover had increased by 6,2 percent in 2006. AFP PHOTO DDP/JOERG KOCH GERMANY OUT (Photo credit should read JOERG KOCH/DDP/AFP via Getty Images) Munich, GERMANY: A McDonald?s Big Mac and chips are pictured at a McDonald?s restaurant beside their headquarters in Munich, southern Germany 27 February 2007. Bane Knezevic (not in picture), president of the western division of McDonald's Europe and chairman of McDonald's Germany reported at a press conference that Mcdonald's turnover had increased by 6,2 percent in 2006. AFP PHOTO DDP/JOERG KOCH GERMANY OUT (Photo credit should read JOERG KOCH/DDP/AFP via Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/539f9481b357a984b455d5db69561d2b0ac671149bd0a58078781d08fa80273f.jpg)
14. Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad
Some years back, McDonald’s was catching a lot of flack for not having enough “healthy” items on their menu, and for pushing the Super Size option so hard.
So how did Ronald McDonald respond to the criticism? The chain beefed up their salad options, adding the Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad among their more healthier options. I argued in another story about how people don’t visit McDonald’s to eat healthily, and that their healthy options are really just a sideshow to their menu.
If you haven’t read it, then you now know how I feel about fast food salads.
The Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad, however, is not a sideshow to its menu, and it shouldn’t play second-fiddle to the Big Mac. I would argue that the Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad is one of their best salads, and is worthy of a meal all by itself.
Granted, it all depends on who is making the salad. If you head to a location that knows how to properly make a salad, then it will make you stray from the burgers and be a devotee to the Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad. On the flip side, if you go to a location where the preparer gives you more lettuce than other ingredients, it will turn you off from the salad.
Regardless, if you want to visit McDonald’s and not feel like you’re cheating humanity of your New Year’s Resolution to getting healthy, you really can’t go wrong with the Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad.