Danny Meyer's NYC Hospitality Group Invests in Growing Tender Greens

Tender Greens, which operates 22 fast-casual, farm to table eateries across California, including three in San Diego with a fourth scheduled to open in early Fall 2015 in Mission Valley, is hitting the big time.

Co-founded by Erik Oberholtzer, David Dressler, and Matt Lyman in Culver City in 2006, the uber-popular concept, named to Forbes’ 2014 list of "America’s Most Promising Companies" list in 2014, has attracted the attention of major industry players. In a landmark announcement, Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG) and Alliance Consumer Growth (ACG), a growth equity firm, have shared that they will be making a "significant minority investment" in Tender Greens.

The legendary Meyer, whose New York City restaurants, including Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, The Modern, Maialino and Marta, have earned multiple James Beard Awards, will join Tender Greens' Board of Directors. In a release, he says, "Every now and then, I’ll visit a restaurant and love the idea—the food, the people, the culture—so much that I wish I’d thought of it myself. That’s exactly what happened with Tender Greens." The strategic alliance will reportedly be used to expand the concept throughout California and beyond.