If you've ever tried to recreate your favorite restaurant salad but it didn't turn out as you hoped, it's likely because you missed the small details that make a big difference.

Restaurants are judicious about the quality of the ingredients used to prepare any dish, even a simple side salad. Their goal is to snag produce that's fresh and firm.

This means skipping the pre-cut lettuce and bagged stuff, and being open-minded about what’s in season. This will foster inspiration when building a salad from scratch.

When it comes to the dressing, any restaurant salad worth its weight will be tossed in a homemade dressing — generally consisting of fat, acid, and salt.

Some chefs even add dressing to the bowl before the salad, ensuring all the leafy greens are evenly coated and any excess dressing is left at the bottom.

In terms of seasoning, how restaurants handle and dress salad ingredients is given just as much care as deciding which ones to add.

A wet salad is often a culinary faux pas. It’s why seasoning all the ingredients, even the lettuce, can help to remove excess moisture from water-packed produce.

Purposeful plating also plays a big part in preparing a salad at a restaurant, which is why the serving plates and bowls are chilled to keep the ingredients crisp and refreshing.