Crisp & Green opening in Mankato

A new healthy fast-casual restaurant is coming to Mankato.

Crisp & Green, owned by Minnesota-based Steele Brands, will expand beyond its Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan market, the company announced last week.

In response to demand for more stores, ten new Crisp & Green Minnesota locations, including Mankato, will be opened.  That will bring the total in the state to 31.

CEO & Founder of Steele Brands, Steele Smiley, said he spent more than 20 years in the wellness business before selling a large national wellness chain in 2017.  Smiley said he realized at that time that society was over-served with gyms, but underserved with healthy food options.

At that time, Smiley said he was aware of a number of new healthy fast-casual restaurants that were opening on the coast.  “But I knew it would be a decade before they would ever make their way to the midwest,” said Smiley. So he built his first restaurant in 2016, with a second following in the spring of 2017.  Steele Brands now owns 175 locations in 19 states.

Why did Smiley turn to Mankato? “We always go where there is a demand,” said Smiley, who cited 522 requests from locals who wanted to see a Crisp & Green in Mankato.

“I realized that smaller cities want the same options that the big metropolitan markets have, but the big brands never want to give them those options,” said Smiley, who was born and raised in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Smiley expects the Mankato Crisp & Green to open sometime in the fall, but he’s mum on potential locations until a lease is signed.

Crisp & Green Mankato will require 50 to 75 employees that will support the store in some capacity, according to Smiley.

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