When Cody Starrett shows off his ProteinHouse restaurant in Gilbert, he points out something most owners probably would breeze right past — its restaurant inspection grade.
The paper certificate from Maricopa County Environmental Services Department shows ProteinHouse received an “A” grade, and Starrett has it posted prominently at the door and again near the ordering station at the counter.
“The ‘A’ on the door is probably one of my most proud moments,” Starrett said. “Because when I can produce that, you're walking in here to a pristine place, quality.”
That’s important to Starrett as it goes with a brand associated with healthy lifestyles. He and co-owner Eric Greenwald were drawn to it as both practice it in their lives.
“We were both very passionate about the concept, the food, the meaning behind it, the philosophy, the culture,” Greenwald said.
ProteinHouse has 12 locations in nine states, three in Arizona. Starrett and Greenwald own the Arizona locations — in Gilbert, Scottsdale and Arcadia.
Starrett became familiar with the brand when he lived in Las Vegas, where he worked in the hospitality industry, owning nightclubs and restaurants. He moved to Arizona in 2020 to start a location of STK Steakhouse in Scottsdale.
But he knew the owners of the corporate ProteinHouse in Las Vegas because he had underwritten their second location. Starrett also worked in finance and real estate.
“When I relocated out here, they knew I had moved to Arizona and the vice president of Corporate ProteinHouse contacted me and said, ‘Hey, we have an opportunity for you at Gilbert, if you'd like to take a look at it,’” Starrett said.
He contacted Greenwald, who he met through mutual friends. Greenwald had done 30 years in restaurants, starting as bartender at Maloney’s with the Mastro Restaurant Group and ending up as president of Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, overseeing its expansion to 50 locations.
“It was like kind of instant East Coast,” Greenwald said with a laugh about meeting Starrett. "He's Boston; I'm New York/New Jersey. So East Coast gravitates to East Coast, it seems.”
Greenwald was in on the opportunity to purchase the Gilbert location in 2021, and the two just closed on the Scottsdale and Arcadia locations in November when the couple who owned them decided to scale back.
Starrett credits a strong digital presence, an excellent staff and the healthy menu of “great, healthy, fast casual food” for the restaurants’ success. He likes the Gilbert restaurant’s location near a nice neighborhood and next door to a gym.
Still, he notes, “Truthfully, my customer isn’t this guy,” hulking himself out to mimic a body-builder type. “It’s corporate America. It’s the soccer moms.”
Those people have become health conscious, the owners said.
“It's not a fad, it really isn’t,” Greenwald said. “It's something here. I think more and more people are gaining knowledge and educating themselves and being educated on (being healthy). And to me it's just absolutely amazing how good the food is besides the portions and everything else. But the flavors and the combinations, the way it was created, the food's amazing. I mean, there's really nothing on that menu that I wouldn't eat.”
Tom Blodgett Senior News Editor | Gilbert @sp_blodgett
Meet Tom Tom Blodgett joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2022, when the company acquired Community Impact Newspaper's Phoenix-area properties. Raised in Arizona, he has spent more than 35 years in journalism in the state.
Community: He has served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication since 2005, and is editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet. He also is director of operations for an 18U girls fastpitch softball team from Gilbert.
Education: Arizona State University with a BS in Journalism.
Random Fact: He lived in Belgium during his freshman year of high school.
Hobbies: Tweeting enthusiastically about ASU softball (season-ticket holder) and grumpily about other local sports (pessimistic fan).
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