Even without the dressings, they tend to be loaded with items like meat, cheese, bacon, and croutons. The lettuce is a nutritional non-entity -- at best, a way of getting some extra water into you.

Salads can be pretty good, if they're loaded with vegetables. You can get those at places that specialize in salad, and maybe even Subway. But the "side salads" that you get at fast food restaurants, while better than a burger and fries, aren't very good.

As you say, personal choice. But a decent diet consists of avoiding fast food restaurants most of the time. If you have to, make the the best choice you can, but be aware that lettuce isn't magic health food.

What is magic health food?

There aren't any magic health foods. There are a lot of ways to eat a healthy diet. Most of them are based on a lot of vegetables (in different varieties), whole grains, pulses such as beans, and (if you like) some meat and dairy. The last is optional but makes certain things easier.

It doesn't act like a video game power-up. It just provides adequate nutrition without overdoing any one aspect. It fills you up without giving you too many calories (the main thing that people overeat).

Greens that are actually green would be a good start. Most lettuce I see in those salads look like the plant incarnation of water

Spinach, Kale, and Beans are as close to “magic” health food as you can get. However there is of course no magic going on. It’s just a question of giving your body the right source materials to heal itself from the damage caused by eating unhealthy food. The body is amazing at healing itself. But it can’t do it if you keep damaging it with crappy food and don’t give it the nutrients it needs to heal itself.

/s