Salad and Go to close all locations, including 7 in Tucson

Salad and Go will close all seven of its Tucson restaurants, ending the local presence of a drive through chain that became known for inexpensive salads, wraps and breakfast burritos. The Tucson locations are among 70 stores the company plans to shut down Thursday, only two days after its parent company sought protection under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code. The closures will also affect restaurants elsewhere in Arizona, the Phoenix area, and Nevada, removing a relatively low cost option for customers who relied on the chain for quick meals.

The bankruptcy filing was made Tuesday by And Go Concepts LLC in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, which is based in Houston. Court documents listed the company’s assets and liabilities in a range from $100,000 to $500 million, but did not provide a detailed accounting of its debts or identify the businesses and other parties to which money was owed. In a statement released Tuesday night, Salad and Go officials attributed the shutdown to several pressures, including continuing weakness in consumer demand, earlier challenges related to the company’s growth strategy and increasing costs.

The closure follows a major contraction for the business. Nearly a year earlier, Salad and Go closed 41 restaurants in Texas and Oklahoma. The company’s remaining footprint was concentrated largely in the greater Phoenix area, with seven stores in Tucson and several locations in Nevada. The decision to close every remaining location means the chain will no longer operate in the state where it began, despite its expansion into multiple markets and its effort to offer fast food at prices below many competitors.

Salad and Go was founded in Gilbert in 2013 by Tony and Roushan Christofellis. The couple built the business around a compact, drive through only format that reduced the need for dining rooms and allowed the restaurants to operate with fewer employees. The company also developed a vertically integrated system, maintaining direct relationships with growers and other suppliers. Tony Christofellis told the Arizona Daily Star in 2023 that this approach helped the company keep prices low. Salad and Go also avoided some traditional restaurant expenses, including branded cups and trays.

The Christofellises brought Salad and Go to Tucson in 2021, and the chain expanded quickly, reaching four local restaurants by the end of 2022. The company’s model fit a city where many residents commute across long distances and often look for meals that can be picked up without sitting down in a restaurant. Its menu also stood apart from many drive through operations by centering on salads and wraps, while still offering breakfast burritos and other fast food choices. The seven local stores represented a significant expansion from the company’s initial Tucson presence.

The chain’s ownership changed before the closures. In 2021, New York City private equity firm Volt Investment Holdings bought the remaining interest held by the founders, making And Go Concepts a subsidiary of the investment company. The Christofellises said they had exited Salad and Go at that time. In a Facebook post Tuesday night, they described the end of the chain as bittersweet and said they were saddened to see the remaining restaurants close after the original mission had attracted employees, customers, suppliers and communities.

In their statement, the founders recalled starting the company with the idea that nutritious, appealing food should remain affordable. They expressed gratitude to the people who supported that effort, while acknowledging that the company’s announcement was heartbreaking to watch. Their comments offered a perspective on the business’s original purpose, even as the bankruptcy filing pointed to a combination of financial and operational pressures that ultimately made continued operation impossible.

The founders are still involved in the food business through Angie’s, a separate fast food concept that includes Angie’s Lobster and Angie’s Prime Grill. Those restaurants serve items such as steak, lobster rolls, burgers, fried chicken, wraps and salads. The Angie’s concepts operate in Arizona, Nevada and Texas, giving the couple a continuing presence in the same broader restaurant market. For Tucson customers, however, the Salad and Go shutdown will mean the immediate loss of all seven local outlets, with the company’s planned Thursday closure marking the end of its Tucson chapter.