A menu captive audiences repeat
Travellers, students and hospital staff eat in the same building over and over. PBK's variety and macro-friendly menu supports daily repeat visits rather than one-time novelty.
Non-traditional licensing
Bring Protein Bar & Kitchen to your airport, campus or hospital
PBK licenses its brand, menu and operating model to experienced operators in high-traffic institutional venues — and we already run all three formats ourselves.
Request licensing informationThe concept
Protein for every body, in the places people can't leave
Protein Bar & Kitchen is America's leading protein-focused fast casual brand — shakes and smoothies, bowls, burritos, salads, wraps, breakfast and açaí bowls, built for people who want real food fast.
Recognised and relevant
A brand named to the QSR 40/40 list, Fast Casual Top 100 and Nation's Restaurant News Hot Concepts — and one that reads immediately as better-for-you.
Built for speed
Assembly-based production with a minimal equipment package keeps lines moving during the narrow windows institutional venues live on.
Where licensing works
Three venue types, one operating model
Airports
Travelers want food that fuels them and keeps them moving. PBK's grab-and-go shakes, burritos, bowls and wraps hit the speed, portability and nutrition airport concessions programs are graded on. With a fully developed breakfast, lunch, and all-day snack menu — PBK keeps an airport powered up
Universities
Students eat all day and care deeply about protein, macros and plant-based options. PBK gives campus dining a nationally recognized, high-repeat brand that works from breakfast through late-night for both food-led and beverage-led occasions.
Hospitals
Clinicians, staff, patients and visitors are on a 24-hour clock. A better-for-you brand backs up the health mission of the building while serving every daypart and every shift.
Open today
Real PBK non-traditional locations
Airports, hospitals, kiosks and storefronts already operating under the Protein Bar & Kitchen banner.
O'Hare Airport 
Northwestern Memorial Hospital 
LaGuardia Airport 
Prentice Women's Hospital 
O'Hare Airport 
Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Formats and support
A model that flexes to your space
Flexible footprints
Flexible to fit any space, with full and partial expressions able to fit in any type of environment. Full expressions below 400 square feet, and partial in less than 200 square feet.
Minimal equipment
No open-flame cooking, no Type 2 hood, no black iron. Menu items are assembled, not cooked to order.
Built-in support
Menu engineering, training, supply chain, marketing and opening support from a team that runs these formats itself.
Throughput-first operations
Every item is assembled in under 180 seconds, so peak rushes and shift changes move without a queue backing up.
Proven, not theoretical
We operate these formats ourselves
Protein Bar & Kitchen self-operates locations in airports, on university campuses and in hospitals, with 10+ non-traditional locations open or under construction. Licensees inherit an operating model that has already been tested in their environment.
- 10+
- Non-traditional locations open or under construction
- 3
- Venue types PBK self-operates: airports, universities and hospitals
- All dayparts
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner and between — one menu, one line
Start the conversation
Tell us about your venue
Share the venue, the format you have in mind and your operating background. Our team reviews every inquiry and follows up directly.
Looking for a traditional franchise instead? Visit our franchise information request.