America's Healthiest Chain Restaurants: Protein Bar

This is part three of a 10-part series highlighting the healthiest chain restaurants in America, along with the efforts they're making to promote healthy eating. We're defining a chain as any restaurant with more than 25 locations. Find part one here and part two here. 

Those looking for a protein-packed lunch or dinner definitely need to visit Protein Bar. The mission of this chain is to change the way people eat on the go, and while they serve food fast, it's certainly not fast food. Menu items include a burrito, salad, or bowl with braised barbecue beef; quinoa, corn, kale slaw, grape tomatoes, radishes, and agave barbecue sauce; egg white scrambles; chicken and vegetarian chili; and a wide variety of blended drinks and cold-pressed juices. 

The company was founded by Matt Matros (who got in shape and lost 50 pounds in his 20s) in 2009, and the first location in downtown Chicago was an immediate hit. Today there are 13 Chicago locations, four in Colorado, and three in Washington, D.C.