“It’s nice to have that variety, and I think people want to have different options and know that they’re healthy.”įrom classic cheeseburgers to chick’n nuggets, Stalk & Spade’s menu appears to have given even carnivores a run for their money. “I’m certainly making it a lot easier to eat the classic favorites that I miss,” he says, noting that he ate his last hamburger from a chain in 2013. “I’ve been plant-based since January 1, 2014,” Smiley says. With lower calories and higher protein content than traditional fast-food spots, Smiley says the idea for Stalk & Spade grew out of his own craving for fast-food favorites. “It’s your classic McDonald’s from the 1960s-you know, when McDonald’s used to be great-remixed and all plant-based,” Smiley says. Stalk & Spade is a plant-based burger, chicken and ice cream fast-casual concept that launched in April 2021. And where a Crisp & Green opens, it’s safe to say a Stalk & Spade will soon follow. Smiley says that the community is such a wellness hub already that opening a Crisp & Green felt like a no-brainer. “We’ve had over a thousand people either direct message us send us emails asking for a location in Woodbury.” “The answer to ‘Why Woodbury?’ is kind of the obvious,” Smiley says. One of these new spots opened in Woodbury this April at the Valley Creek Plaza. It’s nice to be able to do that.”įrom less than 10 locations in early 2020, Crisp & Green has since grown to over 175 stores either already built or currently in development. “About our ability to give back to the community, not just through health and wellness but also through the visual arts, which is where my personal passion lies. “It’s something I feel very strongly about,” Smiley says. There’s still a hint of fitness about these art installations too, encouraging pedestrian traffic to visit photo-worthy walls in their own neighborhood. “People will have the opportunity to have a local artist do something special either outside on the wall or maybe inside.” “This is a personal endeavor of mine through the foundation,” Smiley says. Recently, Smiley has embarked on a project to bring commissioned art to his storefronts, starting with his Wayzata stores. For him, fitness is his gift back to the community.įitness hasn’t been his only gift. Whether it’s a smoothie or açaí bowl after class is up to the customers, Smiley says. Now, nearly every day across Crisp & Green locations nationwide, the restaurant provides people with the opportunity to further their fitness goals through complimentary classes and fitness events. “I couldn’t charge for fitness, so I decided to give away fitness in all of my stores.” “I think you ultimately have to engage in the community,” Smiley says. In Smiley’s view, the old restaurant playbook of “open your doors and wait for people to show up” isn’t enough anymore. “I’d never opened up a restaurant before but to some degree, never having opened a restaurant gave me a competitive advantage,” he says. From the jump, the concept was popular, which Smiley attributes to his time in fitness. It was at this point he decided to build his own brand and “dive in head first.”Ĭrisp & Green opened its flagship location in 2016 in Wayzata, next to where Smiley opened his first gym over a decade before. “I’d go to the local grocery store, and I would get a salad through the salad bar, which at the time was $20,” Smiley says, noting that was far too expensive. The idea for Crisp & Green, a fast-casual restaurant specializing in salads, grain bowls and smoothies, came from Smiley’s own lackluster experience finding fast, healthy food options for himself.

“So going with healthy eating was very natural for me.” “Healthy eating was really the only other business I knew very, very well,” Smiley says. When Crisp & Green founder Steele Smiley sold his Steele Fitness brand in 2004, his noncompete meant he had to give up the world of fitness.

Crisp and green