I'll go out on a limb here and say that you probably have a love-hate relationship with fast food. It's quick, cheap and makes you feel good for the 10 minutes you're scarfing it down. But then the guilty after-effects set in and make you question why you ate it in the first place. Like me, you probably feel sluggish and overall, just kinda gross when the meal is over.

Dino Lambridis and two of his friends felt exactly the same way, and back in 1994, they decided to do something about it. They started up a chain of healthy fast food restaurants beginning in Florida, called Evos. With humanely-raised beef, organic dairy products and eco-friendly and energy efficient store designs, Dino and his partners set out to change the landscape of fast food. If nothing else, they'd have a place to eat themselves.

"We started with a soy burger, and that was just really 'out there,'" says Dino. Remember, this was back in the mid-90s when "organic" and "sustainability" didn't roll off the tongue like they do now. So after facing a steep – and expensive – learning curve, the partners realized that people were thirsting for a good, juicy burger, fries and a shake – just a healthier version of that meal.

Now fast forward a little over 10 years when we're starting to think differently about the world around us and what we put into our bodies. We're moving past a point of inner regret for wolfing down a Big Mac and fries – it's grown bigger than that. We're starting to question where the meat came from, how the fries were cooked, why the napkins don't contain any post-consumer content.

So a more conscious fast food restaurant like Evos that was so far ahead of the curve back then is now a logical fit with today's lifestyles and mindset – and one that will surely incite new energy into a slow-changing industry.

I'm starting to think it already has. Just jump to the other side of the country, and you'll find Cisco Burger. Started by motorcycle bad-ass Jesse James (and yes, husband to Sandra Bullock), their one location in Long Beach, CA opened in 2006 and promotes a similar mindset as Evos: if you're gonna grab a burger and fries, at least do it in the healthiest way you can.

And how can you really argue with Cisco the pit bull: "Fast Food has gone to the dogs... No more drinking out of the toilet and picking up scraps on the floor... we've created a great fast food, healthy alternative joint that is great for you humans, too. The dogs are moving up... It really is a dog's life!"

I think Dino would agree with Cisco. After all, if the food doesn't taste and look good, everything else just flies out the window. "Evos has food that looks like regular food except behind the scenes, the ingredients are better, we put thought into what you're eating, we put thought into the environment by using more sustainable building materials …it's the whole package," Dino explains. Plus, "a guy's guy can come in and not feel like he's eating in a hippie or granola kinda place," he finishes off.

The healthier quick-serve trend has also hit New York with newcomer Zen Burger and is even making its way to the Rockies with VG Burgers out of Boulder. These are more like the vegetarian siblings to Evos or Cisco Burger, but the point is that they're making access to healthier fast food a whole lot easier, and at a time when it seems pretty ripe.

When I asked Dino, who admits to having "ketchup in his veins," how we deals with this newfound competition even if they're small start-ups right now, he doesn’t mince words. "You know, we are who we are… We certainly can't control what others do. We just need to focus on who we are as a brand. We're authentic, we've been doing this for a long time, we’re not doing it because it's cool or it's hip. We're doing it because this is our background, it's our personal values – as individuals and as a company. We just focus everyday on executing our product and hopefully our guests will reward us."

I bet Cisco would agree with him on that.

Images courtesy of Evos and Cisco Burger.