Mad Greens Inspired Eats

If it hasn't been evident in all of my reviews, I'm not much of a salad person. I don't think I've ever ordered "just a salad" for a meal going out and come to think of it, the only time I eat them is if they are sides or part of a course on an event dinner menu. It's not that I have anything against vegetables. Completely the opposite, in fact. I love vegetables. However, salads just don't do it for me. They are never big enough, never filling and leave me hungry a few moments later. I even discourage my personal training clients from eating salads as a meal, encouraging them to eat them as sides or snacks (because you have to eat a massive salad to get enough calories). Since eating at Mad Greens, I think my perception has changed.

"You will never believe what I'm about to say," my husband tells me as we are thinking about what to eat for dinner. At first I thought he had something serious to talk about, something other than dinner. With a deadpan look, I wait for his answer. "We should grab Mad Greens for dinner. I feel like eating a salad." Can you believe it!? My meat and potatoes husband wanted a salad for dinner. Hell must have been freezing over. He jotted down the ingredients he wanted to build his own and off I went to go pick it up as fast as I could before he changed his mind and wanted Five Guys instead.

Mad Greens is a Denver-based chain focusing on made-to-order salads named after historical "Mad Geniuses". Marley Hodgson and Dan Long founded Mad Greens - Inspired Eats in 2004, with the first location by Park Meadows Mall. There are currently eight other stores around the Front Range, one being in Fort Collins on East Harmony and Timberline by 24 Hour Fitness that opened last year. They are opening a second location on College where Waffle House used to be (next to Bann Thai and Los Tarascos) which should be up and running in March.

My husband built his own salad - Romaine lettuce, steak, croutons, cheddar cheese, potatoes, corn and ranch dressing ($4.00 for the 'Regular' size, $.55 for each ingredient and $3.25 for the flank steak). And what do you know, he ordered a meat and potatoes salad. I didn't know it was possible.

I ordered the "Mad Molly Brown" - spinach, mozzarella, tomatoes, grilled sweet onions and green onions, added some citrus grilled chicken and had the sherry molasses vinaigrette as was suggested on the menu board ($6.25 for the 'Regular' size and an additional $2.25 for the chicken).

Service was incredibly friendly as we went down the line of vegetables and ingredients, each one being scooped with a measuring cup that looked to be about the size of 1/3 or 1/2 of a cup. At the end when the salad was ready to toss with dressing, I was asked if I wanted light, medium or heavy dressing. My husband wanted his drowning in ranch, so after a long squirt from the bottle, I was asked if that was enough. I opted to go for medium coverage on mine since I still wanted to taste the vegetables. I liked that they double check to make sure you have the dressing to your preference.


I came home with two HUGE salads. The 'regular' is more like gigantic, even for me needing a whole lot of salad. My husband couldn't finish his, but I was able to finish mine, considering that I had just worked out at the gym earlier. My husband enjoyed his salad though, even if it was too much.


My "Mad Molly Brown" was good, but next time I would make a few changes. I would go with a different dressing. The sherry molasses vinaigrette was not fantastic and rather bland. It needed some more acidity to it. They have a variety of dressings to choose from, many of them vinaigrette, and I probably would have to go with a Balsamic or Port.


The rest of the meal was good - fresh vegetables and everything was tasty. At first, every bite was just spinach but then I got to the bottom and all of the yummy add-ins were waiting for me at the bottom marinating in the small amount of dressing (or the large pool, in my husband's case).

On those night's where we don't feel like cooking and it's the day before grocery shopping (and we have no produce in the house), Mad Greens is a great option to have. I would totally have a salad for dinner again (I've been converted!) and my husband can still get his meat and potatoes drowning in ranch. Yum.


Mad Greens - Inspired Eats
105 East Harmony
(970) 372-6216
www.madgreens.com

Kid-Friendly? Totally! They have a great kids menu priced at $2.50 per meal with healthy options.

Parking: Small lot parking

Healthy Options? The better question is "unhealthy options?" They have their nutritional information posted everywhere, so you can make an informed decision when ordering. The most unhealthy salad is the Crazy Ivan clocking in at 572 calories, 13.41 grams of saturated fat - not including dressing (yikes). They are also a great place for gluten-free meals.

Budget-Friendly? If you stick to the menu and don't add in meats, then yes. If you add in meats, or worse, build your own, expect to pay a bit more. We payed about $19 for our two salads, and it was the add-ins that got us.

Recent Health Inspection: Excellent