Marley Hodgson and Dan Long, lifelong friends and chefs, founded Colorado-based MAD Greens in 2004. They were intent on addressing the lack of fresh, fast and healthy fare available to the average American consumer. Back in 2004, MAD Greens was a pioneer of the fast-casual salad category and over the past 12 years, it has grown to be a leader in both the region and the category.
MAD Greens is committed to helping guests 'Eat Better.' This means sourcing local ingredients straight from area farms, bakeries, and dairies. It's the belief that preparing everything in-house and making things from scratch is simply better than any alternative. It is proof positive that tasty and healthy are not mutually exclusive. Most importantly, eating better shouldn't be an uptight or tense experience. After all, you need to eat often so why not make the best of it...smile, laugh, and savor the experience. We want our guests to love the food as much as we love making it.
AC Restaurant Group — a Coors family company — acquired MAD Greens in 2013 with the intention of expanding partnerships with local food suppliers and growing the presence outside of Colorado for the first time. Darden Coors, former counsel for family-owned CoorsTek Inc. and for publicly traded Einstein Noah Restaurant Group Inc., joined the team as CEO.
Available: Arizona, Colorado, Texas
Chef's Inspiration
This fruit-forward salad with a sweet crunchy surprise is one of our long-time favorite salads. The sweetness of the praline pecans really highlights the salty-sweet play going on between the cheese and the fruit. Eat at your own risk...one bite and you'll be hooked!
MAD Story
Like most gods of her time, Pomona went to college and, of course, had to participate in awkward orientation icebreakers (some things never change). Her school had asked all of its students to bring a physical representation of their “area of influence” (so the goddess of springtime came with beautiful flowers, the god of all rivers brought a bottle of water, etc.). The gods were then paired up and instructed to create something using both of their offerings, which they would present to the group. Pomona had brought a bounty of apples and craisins from her oasis. She was partnered with Aristaeus, son of Apollo and known for his ability to make olive oil, honey, cheese and butter. He had brought his favorite cheese…feta. Knowing that salad was THE hot new foodie trend (Dionysos has just invented the Greek salad), Pomona proposed they throw the feta, craisins and apples together on top of a bed of greens (plus some nuts for texture). Their creation earned a standing ovation from the other students and Pomona earned her place in salad her-story.
Available: Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Utah
Chef's Inspiration
The original Cobb salad was created in 1937 as a midnight snack by Bob Cobb (awesome name) at the Brown Derby Restaurant in Hollywood. It was an instant hit so we followed the acronym EAT COBB to a T: Eggs, Avocado, Tomato, Chicken, Onion, Bacon, Blue Cheese. But, if you want to kick it up a notch, ask for a dash of MAD Spice our own zesty mix of peppers and ghost pepper-infused sea salt goes perfectly with the creamy avocado.
MAD Story
Ty Cobb's surly temperament on and off the baseball diamond was legendary, but his interesting way of managing his anger went largely unreported for decades. Recently, some baseball historians found a secret diary (Ty wrote in it every night after making himself a mug of Earl Gray tea!), which detailed his calm-down routine. When he was angry, he would first count to ten and take deep breaths. But if that didn’t work, he would take his Louisville Slugger and smash everything in his house. One day during a dinner party, Ty got into an argument with a buddy while making dinner…and out came the bat. He bashed the bacon strips to smithereens. The blue cheese? Liquefied. The eggs? Smashed so hard they became hardboiled instantly from the heat of his fast swings. After his rage blackouts, Ty was always famished. He started scooping chunks of all of the pulverized ingredients into his mouth and dancing with glee, singing “This is one of the best things I've ever created during an anger management session!" And since that fateful day Ty ate his ‘Cobb’ concoction before every game. He went on to become one of the greatest ballplayers in history. Coincidence? We think not.
My Review:
Find your love for healthy fresh salads, wraps, paninis and more at MAD Greens! MAD Greens is the perfect way to fall in love with eating healthy again. My husband and I have always eaten pretty healthy but we recently got burnt out on salads until we made our way to our local MAD Greens. Their menu is amazing and choosing what to eat isn't easy because everything sounds and looks incredible. Their staff is super friendly and they do a terrific job to make your food just right for you.
My husband and I recently tried MAD Greens Pomona and Ty Cobb salads and were in love with them! The Pomona is a salad with some sweetness to it which I love. Even my husband loved the Pomona even though that's not the typical salad he'd order. He ordered the Ty Cobb salad and loved how fresh and wonderful every single bite was. We ended up switching salads about half way through and I have to say I'm not usually a fan of Cobb salads but MAD Greens Ty Cobb salad was incredibly good. MAD Greens salads are incredibly fresh and are the perfect way to fall in love with eating healthy again!
If you're lucky enough to have a MAD Greens location near you, I highly suggest you try their amazingly delicious menu!
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