Native Foods, the vegan fast-casual brand serving plant-based goodness, is set to open its fourth Colorado location in Fort Collins this winter 2023. As construction is underway, this Fort Collins location marks the Chicago-based brand’s second new restaurant opening in Colorado since 2014, with plans on the horizon to expand into Missouri later in 2023.
Angela Odom of Odom Architects is the architect for the project and Nathan Mendel from M&C Consultants serves as the general contractor.
Native Foods was founded on the premise that tasty meals and natural plant-based ingredients should go hand-in-hand and that environmental sustainability and animal welfare need to be an important element of the brand’s mission.
The menu offers taste-tempting dishes at reasonable prices, bringing vegan, flexitarian and plant-curious guests familiar comfort foods – all without the use of any animal products. All of Native Foods’ menu items are made from scratch with environmentally sustainable ingredients, as well as non-GMO and sourced from local producers whenever possible.
The new Fort Collins restaurant location will boast a light and airy interior, accented with light-colored woods, bright and cheery lighting, and bold and playful wall decor featuring Native Foods’ vegetable friends characters. The new restaurant offers indoor seating for 60 guests and outdoor seating for 24 guests on the patio.
CEO Carin Stutz says of the expansion, “We are so excited to continue our expansion in Colorado, and I cannot think of a better location than Fort Collins. We felt the area is home to many guests we already welcome at our other locations in Denver, Lone Tree, and Boulder. The Fort Collins community is booming with healthy food brands, and we’re thrilled to make our mark in this area. We can’t wait for community members to experience the ‘original’ plant-based fast-casual restaurant.”
Menu highlights include mouth-watering burgers featuring Native Foods’ signature all-natural house-recipe burger patties–made without the use of lab-grown ingredients–with toppings like ‘bacon’ tomato jam, crispy onion rings, plant-based jalapeño pimento cheese, and plant-based mayo–all served on a vegan pretzel bun; The Real Nashville Hot sandwich, featuring Native Foods’ proprietary plant-based chicken patty, spicy Nashville hot sauce, Southern Slaw, pickle chips on a toasted bun; and a hearty Meatball Sub, made with plant-based meatballs, spicy marinara, plant-based provolone, arugula, truffle aioli, plant-based parmesan and truffle potato chips. The menu is rounded out by an enticing array of fresh salads, bowls, wraps and entrées.
In celebration of the Fort Collins opening, Native Foods has a special community fundraiser planned to support Bounce Animal Rescue in addition to hosting a schedule of events and giveaways.