Project: A quick-service café and meal prep restaurant, Sprout Kitchen.

Location: 2564 Willamette Street, Eugene.

Springtime usually marks a season packed with color and vibrancy. As the days get longer and busier, eating healthy can be a challenge with full schedules and dwindling energy. 

For folks looking to maintain a healthy diet while living life on the go, Sprout Kitchen is hoping to provide nutritious meals in two formats. The restaurant is utilizing an uncommon model to serve up fresh meals ready for consumption in its cafe, at home or at work.

What inspired Sprout Kitchen’s business model?

Owner Gabe Garboden said the inspiration for the two-part business came from a desire to make the quick-service restaurant model more unique and local for Eugeneans. At Sprout Kitchen, customers will be able to order meals from a specific dine-in menu as well as place orders and pick up packs of pre-made meals prepared on-site. Some pre-made meals will be available for purchase as well so folks can try out the meal prep options before committing to them with regular orders.

“We started off wanting to do something that was healthy. Still, we want to be fast and efficient. That’s what we started with, but then it evolved into realizing, ‘people really like and want these meal plans,’ and there’s not really places around that do that kind of stuff,” Garboden said.

“That’s how we evolved from starting out with a fresh and healthy vision. When the idea of the meal plans came together, that was the missing piece.” 

Sprout Kitchen to use local ingredients

Garboden said what sets Sprout Kitchen aside from other meal prep services is the focus on making the food in Eugene with mostly local ingredients. Without the need to ship food cross-country, Garboden said the meals stay fresh.

“We definitely hope that we’re something new, fresh and something that’s good in the area that’s not currently there so I’m just excited to offer a new thing to the people of Eugene and Springfield,” Garboden said.

“We’re excited to open something up that’s new in the world and I really hope that people around here like it.” 

Sprout Kitchen’s official Eugene opening

Sprout Kitchen is still outfitting its space on Willamette Street in the former Great Harvest location where the local bakery was housed for over 30 years. Garboden said Sprout Kitchen hopes to do the space justice and live up to the delicious foods and welcoming environment Great Harvest brought to that location. 

Sprout Kitchen aims to open in late March. For those who want to try out a locally made, health-conscious meal prep restaurant, Garboden said they expect to offer meal prep delivery services to residents across the Eugene-Springfield area once the restaurant opens. 

Building Size: 16,000 square feet.

Owner: Gabe Garboden, of Eugene.

General Contractor: Parsons Contracting Inc., of Lane County.

Sources: Sprout Kitchen, city of Eugene Planning and Development Department Permit Records, Lane County Property Records.

Is there something under construction that you’d like to learn more about? Contact growth and development reporter Hannarose McGuinness at 541-844-9859 or[email protected]