Whoever said you shouldn’t play with your food has clearly never dined at Teriyaki Madness. Because this place is FUN!

Teriyaki Madness is a fresh Asian grill that serves bountiful bowls of bold, flavorful food made to order with fresh, natural ingredients, and prepared within 5-7 minutes. This fast-growing fast-casual franchise recently launched its latest digs in the Atlanta area, and lucky for us Me they chose Marietta. 😛 Since it’s so close to home, I was able to visit for a pre-grand opening tasting where I met the franchise owners (and fellow food fanatics), Joe and Robin Cleveland. I felt pretty special getting to preview the place, but I felt even more special when I finally got to taste the food. I’ll explain the source of my glee shortly…

Teriyaki Madness specializes in Seattle-style teriyaki with a focus on freshness. Needless to say I had the best time tasting the delicious menu. This place isn’t like your regular eatery–it’s got a fun twist that makes each meal a lot more personal. Yep, you get customizable entrees… and they are HUGE and“hug-worthy.” Well, I think so anyhow. 😀

How ordering works:

1. Choose a protein (beef, chicken, or tofu)
2. Select a base (rice or Japanese noodles)
3. Pick a side (stir-fry/steamed veggie, green salad, macaroni salad)
4. Do your happy dance!

The best part is that everything is cooked to order and they only use the freshest ingredients. The meats are fresh, never frozen, all-natural, and marinated and grilled with savory sauces (9 to be exact) all made in-house. But the freshness doesn’t stop there… the veggies are freshly chopped and prepped daily. Starting to feel special yet!?

Looking back, it’s no wonder the food was so mouth-watering! Seriously, everything was so flavorful, I never wanted the tasting to end! I also love that it’s a healthy option for lunch or dinner–no need to settle for unsatisfying fast food because this place is affordable, just as quick, and way better tasting. Have I reeled you in yet?

Good, because you’re gonna thank me later.

Here’s what I tasted…

Apps

I had the chance to try three of the five appetizers on the menu: edamame, chicken eggroll, and chicken potstickers. There was an emphasis on freshness, which I really loved. All of these were so yummy–it’s a good thing I only had a sampling because I could have easily spoiled my meal eating all these tasty apps!

Entrees

Ahh, yes, now to the best part: the customizable meals! I absolutely adore this concept. Having the freedom to get the exact meal you’re craving is a definite plus for me, because sometimes you just know what you want.

I tried the chicken teriyaki, spicy chicken teriyaki, chicken yakisoba noodles, and the chicken katsu. Both the teriyaki dishes are the joint’s most popular, which is no surprise because they are the two I couldn’t seem to lift my chork from. And if you’re wondering, “chork” is a real thing. Google it at your leisure. 😉 They also have Asian food staples like beef teriyaki and orange chicken which offer even more options. Each dish was super tasty, perfectly portioned, and a great value. I could definitely see myself saving half of an entree for lunch the following day, and since it’s made fresh, it stays nicely for leftovers. At Teriyaki Madness size really does matter, so depending on how big your appetite is you can opt to have your meal in a bowl, on a plate, or a kids/junior sized bowl. And speaking of the youngins, this place is equally inviting for the family so you can easily (and affordably) feed a teen-sized appetite for next to nothing. Wallets, Rejoice!!!

I couldn’t help myself from all of this grilled goodness! All of the entrees were super deelish. But, I fell deep in love with their macaroni salad side. By far the best I’ve ever tasted. It was like an authentic Hawaiian style mac salad, and it was sooo good! I may or may not have been seeing it in my dreams that night… jus sayin. 😛

[ Imagine a pic of mac salad here… Unfortunately I had already devoured the dish before I took the pic. 🙁 ]

Fresh, fulfilling, and fun!

Boring work lunches just got a lot better. Because let’s be honest: it’s just plain fun to create your own dish depending on how you feel that day! You will never get bored, and with the large portions, you can definitely squeeze a couple meals out of an entree.

I have a feeling I’ll be frequenting this place for more flavorful fixin’s very soon. The fact that it’s served quick, a great value, and guilt-free is exactly what makes Teriyaki Madness the perfect alternative to ordinary on-the-go options.

Hey, if you’re ever in the Atlanta area and you want a fresh fix from fast-food, be sure to drop by Teriyaki Madness for more flavorful fare. Teriyaki Madness is located at 2960 Shallowford Road, Suite 112 in Marietta‘s East Cobb community. Oh, and don’t be surprised if you see me there with chork in hand doin the “mac salad mamba.” (Don’t Google that!) 🙂