As food fights go, it’s hard to imagine one healthier than the war underway near the bustling downtown Toronto intersection of King and Yonge. It’s a battle of the salad bowls, and the weapons of choice are kale and quinoa.

With all the salad spots packed into this area there are more leafy greens than a farmer’s field. To the north, a Fast Fresh Foods restaurant attempts to lure customers to one of its eight downtown locations with customizable spinach, quinoa and spring mix salads. To the east, B.Good, a Boston-based chain with five spots in the city, counters with its marinated kale, carrot and brussels sprouts power bowls. A nearby iQ Food Co., one of seven in Toronto, pitches a seasonal rotating salad menu to passersby. And if salad fans needed still more options, there’s a Flock Rotisserie + Greens, a Hopscotch, a Kupfert & Kim, a La Prep and a Salad Days, all vying for their healthy-minded dollars.

And it’s not the only front in the salad skirmish. In cities across Canada, healthful fast-casual chains and mom-and-pop shops are squaring off. In Calgary, restaurants like Dirtbelly, a homegrown chain known for its seasonal mix-and-match salads, and Fork and Salad are facing off against Seed N Salt and larger chains like the Chopped Leaf, which was founded in the Okanagan and has more than 30 locations, mostly in the west but in Ontario as well. Meanwhile, in downtown Vancouver, restaurant-goers on a kale quest have a multitude of options, with names like Chop and Toss, SaladLoop, Green Leaf, GreenDay, Leafy Box and Tractor Foods.

But in this avocado arms race, there’s a Goliath among the Davids. Back in Toronto, within a five-minute walk of King and Yonge, there are eight Freshii restaurants beckoning customers with limited-time kale Caesar salads and wraps. Just beyond those, there’s another ring of Freshii restaurants. And just past them. . .well, you get the picture.