Founded by the San Francisco Zen Center in 1979,[3][4] Greens has been credited in The New York Times as "the restaurant that brought vegetarian food out from sprout-infested health food stores and established it as a cuisine in America."[5]
Greens has a legacy of female lead chefs, beginning with founding chef Deborah Madison, and followed by Annie Somerville, Denise St. Onge, and currently Katie Reicher.[6][7] The restaurant utilizes fresh produce from the organic Green Gulch Farm Zen Center.