Salad and Go bankruptcy filing brings permanent closure of remaining stores

The Salad and Go bankruptcy filing will permanently end service at the chain’s remaining restaurants after final guest service on Aug. 5. For customers, that means the roughly 70 drive-thru locations in Arizona and Nevada were slated to close that Wednesday, while the Chapter 11 case proceeds separately.

Salad and Go said it sought court protection after facing strategic growth challenges, weaker consumer demand and higher costs, CNBC reported. The company also said public concern around a July cyclospora outbreak added to the strain on salad restaurants, although it stressed that it was not implicated in that outbreak.

Why did Salad and Go file for bankruptcy?

The company’s explanation points to several pressures rather than one event. In its statement to CNBC, Salad and Go cited earlier strategic growth challenges alongside softer demand and higher operating costs. It said the cyclospora outbreak weakened consumer confidence across the industry and compounded those existing problems.

That distinction is important: Salad and Go did not say its food was tied to the outbreak. CNBC reported that the broader outbreak had led consumers to become more wary of fresh lettuce, affecting restaurant companies beyond those directly connected to it.

FOX 10 Phoenix reported that the company filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. The outlet said Salad and Go described Chapter 11 as a court-supervised process intended to realize asset value and meet obligations in an orderly way. The reports do not establish when the bankruptcy case will conclude.

What does the closure mean for Salad and Go customers?

All remaining locations were to shut permanently after final guest service on Aug. 5, according to Salad and Go and local reports. Arizona’s Family and FOX 10 Phoenix put the footprint at 70 drive-thru restaurants in Arizona and Nevada, while CNBC described it as about 70 stores.

The available reports do not specify how gift cards, employee arrangements, creditors or other customer obligations will be handled.

From rapid growth to retrenchment

Founded in Gilbert, Arizona, in 2013, Salad and Go built its business around salads and wraps assembled in stores with ingredients prepared through commissary kitchens, CNBC reported. Volt Investment took a stake and later bought out founders Tony and Roushan Christofellis in 2020.

Under former Chief Executive Charlie Morrison, the chain more than doubled its store count, CNBC reported. Morrison left in late 2024, and Mike Tattersfield took over in 2025. During Tattersfield’s tenure, Salad and Go closed dozens of stores in Texas and Oklahoma, reducing its footprint to the Arizona and Nevada locations now being shuttered.

CNBC reported that the bankruptcy filing listed assets of $500 million to $1 billion and liabilities in the same range. The filing marks the endpoint for the restaurant chain’s physical locations, but the reported evidence does not set an endpoint for its Chapter 11 proceedings.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.