What Salata does

Salata is a privately held fast-casual restaurant company founded in 2005 and headquartered in Houston, Texas, operating 90-plus salad kitchens across five U.S. states (Texas, California, Georgia, Louisiana, and Florida/North Carolina). The company operates a build-your-own meal platform in which customers select from six salad bases, four wrap tortillas, more than 50 fresh toppings, and 12-plus house-made dressings, supplemented by pre-designed signature salads, soups, and signature organic teas and lemonades dispensed through proprietary Tea Tap systems. All dressings, sauces, and soups are produced from scratch at Salata's wholly owned, SQF/HACCP/GMP-certified commissary in Houston, which is positioned as a potential co-packing revenue stream.

The technology stack is consumer-facing and conventional for the segment: an online ordering platform (order.salata.com), iOS and Android mobile apps, a catering portal (catering.salata.com), and a loyalty rewards program (Salata Rewards) integrated with e-gift cards. AI deployment is limited to third-party computer-vision analytics on in-store camera footage for wait-time and labor-cost metrics, plus automated behavioral advertising personalization. There is no proprietary model, API, SDK, or developer platform. The company also integrates with DoorDash for delivery fulfillment and runs an accessibility widget (UserWay) on its website.

Salata's business model combines restaurant sales, franchise development fees and royalties, catering, and gift card sales. Franchise growth follows a multi-unit model requiring a $1.5 million net worth and $600,000 in liquid assets, with a three-unit minimum development commitment; corporate provides site selection, design, construction, training, and ongoing operational, IT, and marketing support. Revenue concentration is primarily Texas-driven (roughly 58 of 90-plus units in Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Austin), with secondary clusters in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and announced expansion into Laredo and Nocatee (Florida). No revenue figure is publicly disclosed, and no funding rounds or institutional ownership events appear in the source data.

Name

Salata

Legal name

Salata, Inc.

Website

https://salata.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Salata is a Houston-based fast-casual restaurant chain founded in 2005, operating 90-plus franchise locations across five U.S. states. It offers build-your-own salads, wraps, and soups with 50-plus toppings and 12-plus house-made dressings produced at its SQF-certified Houston commissary.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fast-Casual Restaurants

NAICS

Limited-Service Restaurants (722513), Caterers (722320)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Miscellaneous Food Preparations & Kindred Products (2090)

akta.pro primary industry

Salad & Bowl Concepts (Grain/Protein/Healthy Bowls) (THAFABAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Prepared salads, sandwiches & wraps manufacturing (AFAKAHAE), Salad Dressings & Vinaigrettes Manufacturing (AFAKADAC)

Keywords

• Fast-casual restaurants
• Customizable salads
• Build-your-own wraps
• Restaurant franchise
• Fresh chopped salads

Headquarters

HQ city

Houston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Restaurant Sales: Direct restaurant sales to consumers through individual dine-in, takeout, and delivery orders at company-owned and franchise locations. Primary revenue stream from customizable salads, wraps, soups, and beverages.
2. Franchise Fees and Royalty: Franchise development fees from multi-unit franchisees. Requirements include three-unit minimum development with $1.5 million net worth and $600k liquid assets. Ongoing royalty and fee structure for franchise operations.
3. Catering Services: Corporate and group catering orders for events and meetings, available through dedicated catering ordering platform.
4. Gift Cards and Loyalty: E-gift card sales and loyalty program engagement driving repeat customer visits and increased average order value.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Salata operates a fast-casual restaurant chain selling fully customizable build-your-own salads and wraps, alongside signature salads, soups, and signature organic teas and lemonades. Customers choose from six base options, 50+ fresh toppings, 12+ house-made dressings, and multiple proteins. The company complements in-restaurant sales with online ordering, a mobile app, a loyalty rewards program, e-gift cards, and a dedicated catering service for group and corporate orders. It also sells franchise rights for multi-unit development across U.S. markets.

Product overview

Salata is a fast-casual dining restaurant chain offering a build-your-own meal platform centered on customizable salads and wraps. The core product is the build-your-own experience where customers select from six salad bases, over 50 toppings, 12+ house-made dressings, and protein options to create personalized meals. Adjacent offerings include pre-designed Signature Salads, soups, and signature teas and lemonades through Tea Taps. The company operates supporting digital products including a mobile app (iOS/Android) for ordering and loyalty, an e-gift card system, a loyalty rewards program (Salata Rewards), and a dedicated catering service for group orders. House-made dressings are produced at a company commissary in Houston and sold through a separate subdomain (dressings.salata.com). The company also operates a franchise program with over 90 locations across five states. The brand celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2025.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Salata Dressings: A commissary operation that produces house-made salad dressings, sauces, and soups for Salata restaurants, operated from a state-of-the-art facility in Houston, TX.

Products and services

• Build-Your-Own Salads Customizable salad offering for dine-in, takeout, delivery, and online/app orders; customers select from six greens, 50+ fresh toppings, proteins, and 12+ house-made dressings to build a personalized meal.
• Build-Your-Own Wraps Customizable wrap counterpart to build-your-own salads; same ingredient options as salads, presented in four tortilla varieties, sold to dine-in, takeout, delivery, and online/app customers.
• Signature Salads Pre-designed named salads including Cobb, Harvest, Caesar, Greek, and Jalapeño Avocado, each combining specific ingredients and dressings with customization or protein swap options.
• Salata Soups Soup offerings including Chicken Tortilla Soup and Tomato Basil Soup, sold as part of the regular menu alongside salads and wraps.
• Salata Tea Tap Beverages Signature organic teas and lemonades served through proprietary Tea Tap dispensers, including Citrus Ginger Green Tea, Classic Lemonade, Iced Black Tea, Iced Sweet Tea, Peach Lemonade, and Strawberry Lemonade.
• Salata House-Made Dressings Twelve-plus made-from-scratch salad dressings produced at Salata's Houston commissary (5,500+ sq ft, SQF/HACCP/GMP certified). All gluten-free; three vegan varieties. Sold through restaurants and a dedicated dressings subdomain.
• Salata Catering Catering service for corporate meetings, events, and group orders, offering customizable salad and wrap platters ordered through a dedicated catering portal and mobile app.
• Salata E-Gift Cards Digital gift cards allowing customers to purchase and send electronic gift cards to recipients, with online balance-checking functionality.
• Salata Mobile App iOS and Android mobile applications enabling online ordering, birthday rewards, double points earning, loyalty program integration, and custom catering ordering.
• Salata Rewards Loyalty Program Customer loyalty program allowing members to earn points from sign-up and purchases, redeemable for cash credit or discounts at tier thresholds; top-tier members receive free food items and birthday rewards.
• Salata Franchise Program Franchise opportunity to own and operate Salata restaurants under multi-unit development agreements; requires three-unit minimum, $1.5M net worth, and $600K liquid assets, with corporate support across site selection, design, construction, training, and ongoing operations, IT, and marketing.

Quantifiable outcome

• Grown from single downtown Houston location to 90+ locations nationwide in 20 years
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability4 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Avocados From MexicominorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 May 2026Avocados From Mexico partnered with Salata for the Free Avocado Fridays promotion in May 2026. The partnership provided free avocado toppings (half avocado, $2 value) on every salad and wrap ordered in-store at the counter on Fridays in May 2026. The promotion was available at participating Salata locations nationwide on May 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Crisp & Green: Emerging salad and grain bowl fast-casual chain with a build-your-own model. Comparable concept and target demographic, though smaller footprint and earlier stage than Salata.
• Salad Creations: Build-your-own salad and wrap franchise concept. Comparable customization model and franchise-based distribution, useful as a smaller-scale concept benchmark.
• Tropical Smoothie Cafe: Franchise-driven fast-casual chain with a healthy-leaning menu and strong multi-unit franchise growth. Comparable franchise infrastructure and unit-economics profile even though the menu is smoothie-focused.

Direct peers

• Sweetgreen: Direct salad-focused fast-casual competitor with a similar build-your-own model, tech-forward ordering, and multi-state footprint. Most directly comparable chain to Salata in concept and target customer.
• Salad and Go: Fast-growing salad-focused concept with a value and drive-thru orientation. Comparable build-your-own salad platform with rapid unit expansion across multiple states.
• Just Salad: Multi-region salad-focused fast-casual chain with a build-your-own platform, sustainability messaging, and digital ordering. Closely comparable concept and AOV tier to Salata.
• CAVA: Fast-casual Mediterranean chain with customizable bowls and salads, rapid unit growth, and a similar ingredient-fresh positioning. Comparable in build-your-own mechanics and guest profile, though Mediterranean-led.
• MAD Greens: Salad-focused fast-casual chain offering customized salads, wraps, and bowls. Closely comparable menu structure and customer use cases to Salata.

Broad incumbents

• Panera Bread: Established fast-casual chain with a broad menu including salads, soups, and sandwiches. Overlaps with Salata on lunch occasions, catering, and loyalty program mechanics.
• Chipotle Mexican Grill: Larger fast-casual incumbent offering build-your-own bowls and salads. Competes for the same health-conscious, customization-seeking customer, with vastly greater scale and brand awareness.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/salatasalads
• Facebookfacebook.com/SalataSalads

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Salata