The History of the Cobb Salad

Robert Howard Cobb, the owner of the Brown Derby Restaurant in Los Angeles, California, was working late and entertaining some of his friends on a random night in 1937. He went into the kitchen to scrounge up a midnight snack and decided to put together a salad with what he could find: lettuce, blue cheese, chicken, tomatoes, and scraps of bacon. He whipped up a quick French-inspired dressing and brought the salad out to his guests. The dish was so delicious that the next day, one of his friends — Sid Grauman of the iconic Grauman’s Chinese Theatre — returned to the restaurant and requested another “Cobb salad.” The name stuck and the dish was soon added to the menu. It was chopped and assembled in front of the guests, creating a spectacular dining experience that drew even more guests to the restaurant. While this origin story is commonly accepted, some claim that the restaurant’s head chef actually created the dish rather than Cobb. Others add some additional nuance to the tale by claiming that Cobb originally chopped the ingredients into such small pieces due to a dental procedure he had recently undergone. Regardless, we know for certain that the Cobb salad was created at the Brown Derby Restaurant and that it was also popularized there. Today, there are many interpretations of Cobb salad, but the “classic” Cobb salad remains largely unchanged — with one exception. Cobb’s original version was served with a French-style dressing. Today, Cobb salad is most often served with blue cheese or ranch dressing. With so many interpretations and its roots so firmly planted in American culinary history, the Cobb salad remains one of the most iconic and beloved salads in the United States today and a version of the dish is served at many establishments all across the country.