At a time when it's never been more fashionable to express public outrage, even the most benign things can spawn controversies. Case in point: the Caesar salad at 416 Snack Bar.

I was tipped off to the frenetic storm brewing in response to this salad via the @chefgrantsoto parody Instagram account, which has become more and more entertaining as the Toronto food scene gets ever more ridiculous.

After Toronto journalist Rhiannon Russell posted a photo of the dish on Friday night, social media went into a tizzy about the apparent audacity of the restaurant to serve such a thing without a knife and fork.

A very Toronto thing that happened tonight: I ordered a Caesar salad and got this. Was told the restaurant doesn't "do cutlery." pic.twitter.com/GDaugBjTlK

— Rhiannon Russell (@rhrussell) May 27, 2017

The initial tweet isn't over the top, though it's dubious this particular salad speaks volumes about Toronto or its food scene. In any case, the response it sets off is what's fun to keep tabs on.

@rhrussell You are kidding right? Because I am having a hard time even with that.

— Nora Loreto (@NoLore) May 27, 2017

People are really upset about this salad, which is made all the more troubling by the fact that we should all be focusing on one thing: is Jaden Smith okay?

@rhrussell How do these people sleep at night? 😣

— Lorraine Murphy (@83LOM) May 28, 2017

The award for most opportunistic response of the affair goes to Baro, who should probably seek out the definition of the word tact (note: Baro eventually deleted this tweet, but the substance is preserved here).

"@rhrussell We couldn't help but chuckle at this a little bit! If you'd like a fresh, local salad come to Baro; the salad's on us (cutlery included!) pic.twitter.com/bDMBpwnC9H

— Baro (@BaroToronto) May 27, 2017"

That eventually met with a response from 416 Snack Bar, who thankfully didn't take the whole thing too seriously.

@inyourmouthTO ya @BaroToronto okay that's it we no longer oblige your staff requests for reggaeton when they come by after service! 😂😂😂

— 416 SNACKBAR (@416snackbar) May 29, 2017

Meanwhile, plenty of other people weighed in with putatively witty remarks, like this one:

@rhrussell Maybe tell them that you don't 'do payment'.

— Moke Lachbat (@leach_leach) May 27, 2017

The requisite fatalism was also handily covered...

@rhrussell @mssinenomine Looks like pretty soon, they won't "do customers" either!

— Jorja (@jforjorja) May 28, 2017

Even prominent Toronto restaurateurs and critics like Jen Agg and Chris Nuttall-Smith weighed in, with the latter gaining some amplification from New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells.

But the top tweet surely goes to this person, who wasn't having any of it!

@rhrussell I would've thrown it at them. Especially the bacon bits and parmesan.

— whatever sis (@braepau) May 28, 2017

Perhaps instead of railing against a quirky salad sold at a self-advertised snack bar that's always shunned cutlery, we might collectively spend some time wondering where in the world all this anger is coming from.