The small drive-thru boxes are still on Gilbert Road, Cooper Road, Pecos Road, Power Road, Baseline Road and Williams Field Road. They are dark now. Salad and Go got its start in Gilbert in 2013. In August 2026 the chain filed for bankruptcy and closed every location. Phoenix New Times reported that customers lined up for what they thought would be their last lunches.
Over two court auctions this fall, the buildings were sold separately from the brand, and they sold for very different prices. That gap explains what is coming to each of Gilbert's six former sites. Four of them are going to the company behind 7 Brew, one is going to an East Coast salad chain, and one is going back to Salad and Go.
What the auction actually paid for
The chain's decline was gradual. KTAR reported that at its peak, Salad and Go ran about 164 drive-thrus in five states. It needed $27.2 million in new money in December 2025 to stay open. Sales then fell as gas prices rose, and fell again this summer after a Cyclospora outbreak hurt salad chains.
Here is how the pieces sold, according to KTAR's reporting on the bulk sale and the final buyer list:
- The locations: Brew Culture LLC, 7 Brew's parent company, agreed to pay $123.5 million for 63 Salad and Go leases in Arizona, Texas, Nevada and Oklahoma. Thirty of them are in metro Phoenix.
- The brand: The Salad and Go name, trademarks and recipes sold for $180,000 to Beyond Salt and Pepper LLC, a company formed by founding chef Daniel Patiño.
- The comeback store: Beyond Salt and Pepper won the lease on one Gilbert store for $1.
The bidders fought over the drive-thru lanes. Dutch Bros, which is based in Tempe, made the first offer, $105 million. 7 Brew outbid it at an August 31 auction. A second auction on September 30 split up 34 more sites. Mouth by Southwest summed it up: "most of those little drive-thru boxes are about to start pouring coffee and dirty soda." Swig, the dirty-soda chain, bought the two former Queen Creek stores, on Ocotillo Road and Ellsworth Road.
Six Gilbert addresses, four different futures
KTAR's buyer list, published October 14 and updated October 15, puts six Gilbert addresses on the roster. Note how lopsided it is.
| Former Salad and Go address | Next operator | Status as of late October |
|---|---|---|
| 3299 E. Williams Field Rd., near Higley Road | Salad and Go, under Beyond Salt and Pepper | Possession targeted for the first week of November |
| 743 N. Gilbert Rd. | Brew Culture, 7 Brew's parent company | No opening date reported |
| 910 S. Cooper Rd. | 7 Brew | Part of the bulk sale, closing scheduled for Oct. 27 |
| 1660 E. Pecos Rd. | 7 Brew | Part of the bulk sale, closing scheduled for Oct. 27 |
| 7480 S. Power Rd. | 7 Brew | Part of the bulk sale, closing scheduled for Oct. 27 |
| 5218 E. Baseline Rd., northeast corner of Higley Road | Just Salad | No opening date reported |
The Cooper, Pecos and Power Road sites belong to the large 7 Brew deal. KTAR reported that the closing was pushed to October 27 at 7 Brew's request. A lawyer for Salad and Go's creditors warned the judge that the price could be renegotiated if the deal did not close by October 30, when the backup bidder's offer expires. Until 7 Brew announces something, treat those three as planned conversions, not finished ones.
The Gilbert Road site came through the second auction, under the Brew Culture name. If all four go as reported, the Salad and Go footprint in north, central and south Gilbert becomes part of a single coffee brand.
Williams Field Road goes first, on a short clock
The one Gilbert store that will sell salads under the old name is near Williams Field and Higley roads. Patiño cooked at high-end restaurants, including Bourbon Steak at Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, before he developed the chain's menu. His partners are Mike Myers and Tom Misitano of Hospitality First Concepts, the group behind Back Alley BBQ, The D.T.C. Sports Grille and the Rusty Buckle Saloon. Misitano was also an original investor in Salad and Go.
Myers gave the timeline to What Now Phoenix on October 22:
"We're excited to start in Gilbert, where it all began. We'll refresh the store with new paint, upgraded kitchen equipment and some new technology, with a target of opening within about 45 days of taking possession, depending on approvals and other factors outside our control."
The group hoped to take possession in the first week of November, which is this week. If that happens, a 45-day target lands the opening around mid-to-late December. That date is worked out from the target. The group has not announced it. What Now also reported that the corporate team is in place, staff training is about to start, and Patiño is preparing the recipes.
Gilbert's second Salad and Go will have to wait. Myers said that after the first opening, the group plans to open more stores "roughly every 30 to 45 days." He said they have identified two to seven possible locations. The next lease in line is in Mesa, at 1040 W. Southern Ave., near Alma School Road. No reopening date has been announced for it. Most of the other Gilbert boxes have already gone to coffee, so any second Salad and Go in town would need a different building.
Higley and Baseline gets a salad chain new to the Valley
The Baseline Road store at the northeast corner of Higley Road opened as Salad and Go's fifth Gilbert location, according to the Gilbert Independent. It will stay a salad counter under a different name. Just Salad, an East Coast chain, bought sites in the second auction. Mouth by Southwest noted that it had no Phoenix-area locations, so these will be its first stores here. KTAR's final list includes the Gilbert store alongside sites on Bethany Home Road in Phoenix and Bell Road in Surprise.
So the east side of Gilbert ends up with two salad drive-thrus, both on the Higley Road corridor. One is the returning Gilbert original at Williams Field. The other is a newcomer at Baseline. Neither Just Salad nor its new owners have announced an opening date for the Baseline store.
The coffee build-out reaches past the old salad boxes
7 Brew had been expanding in Gilbert before the bankruptcy. In August, What Now Phoenix reported a planned 7 Brew in the Fry's-anchored shopping center at the southwest corner of Baseline and Gilbert roads, with no opening date announced. Franchise operator Encore 7 Brew, LLC has led the brand's expansion in the Phoenix market.
Counting that new build, 7 Brew has five Gilbert sites in the works. Four come from Salad and Go and one is a new store. Its menu covers coffee, energy drinks, teas, lemonades, smoothies and shakes. A coffee company paid $123.5 million for the locations, and the salad recipes sold for $180,000. In Gilbert, that split leaves four former salad windows on track to serve drinks.
The dates to watch through December
- October 27: Scheduled closing for 7 Brew's bulk purchase, which covers the Cooper, Pecos and Power Road sites.
- October 30: The backup bidder's offer expires, and the deal's price could reopen if 7 Brew has not closed.
- First week of November: Target for the revival group to take over 3299 E. Williams Field Rd.
- Around mid-to-late December: The opening target, roughly 45 days after possession, depending on approvals.
The Gilbert Road, Baseline and 7 Brew new-build sites have no announced dates. Watch for signs and permit notices at those buildings. For the Williams Field store, the Hospitality First Concepts partners have been posting updates on social media.
When a vacant commercial building near your home gets a new tenant, it raises practical questions about traffic, hours and what a busy drive-thru does to the street. Jesse Lowery has spent years on both the contracting side and the transaction side in Gilbert. If you want a clear, current read on how the changes near your corner fit into your home's value, ask for a list price and we'll go through it with you.
