At Salata, the salad bar appeals to any type of person, franchise owner Kasey Hanlon said.“Anyone and everyone comes into Salata,” she said. “We don’t necessarily have a certain customer who comes in all the time because the trend is going towards health.”
Salata is open for lunch and dinner, and customers create their own salads or wraps. The restaurant is not all-you-can-eat, but customers can choose any number of toppings because pricing is by item and not weight, Hanlon said. She calls it the next generation salad bar.
“There’s nothing else like us,” Hanlon said. “We serve salads for people; we’re not like a salad buffet where you come in and serve yourself. We hand prep everything daily.”
Salads start at $7-$8 and proteins—such as chicken, seafood, baked tofu and quinoa—are an extra $2-$4. Soups are $3-$4 and include tomato basil, tortilla and broccoli.
Employees arrive early at 7 a.m. to chop and dice vegetables, grill chicken, prepare salmon and bake croutons and pita chips. Salad dressings and soups are also made at Salata’s commissary kitchen in Houston and shipped to the different locations.
“[Salata is] always looking for healthier ways to help our customers out and make sure they’re just getting the purest of ingredients,” Hanlon said, adding the business recently switched to antibiotic-free chicken.
Hanlon and her father, Pat, own the franchises in San Antonio and Austin. They have two stores in each market but are planning to expand. The Arbor Walk location opened in April 2014, and the Round Rock location in July 2014.
Hanlon’s father has been in the restaurant business for years, owning Alamo Cafe in San Antonio since 1981. While living in Dallas, she frequented a Salata located near the Preston Center. Hanlon said she brought the idea of franchising Salata to her father.
“I was so obsessed with it immediately,” she said. “… I was really impressed by the presentation of the line, how clean it looked, how fresh everything was, how colorful and beautiful everything was.”
Besides dine-in service, Salata also offers catering, and Hanlon said the Arbor Walk location serves many of the nearby tech businesses. Options include boxed lunches, wrap trays, salad or fruit bowls and the popular Salata bar.
“We take it to their office and they get to create their own salad just like they’re in the store,” she said. “… It’s just such a healthy option to Italian and pizzas and feeling that 3 o’clock slump.”
Salata
10515 N. MoPac, Ste. A-165, Austin
512-487-5497
www.salata.com
Hours: Mon.-Sat. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., closed Sun.
