South Concho Food Co. has opened its doors in San Angelo as a 100 percent gluten-free establishment with fresh lunches, dinner, snacks and more.

The kitchen opened at 2833 Southwest Blvd near Hobby Lobby on September 4, 2023 by Chelsea Click, who is originally from the South Padre Island area.

She met her husband and moved to Christoval 2018 after going to school to be a dental hygienist. She later retired from being a hygienist to get into the food industry.

The eatery does lunches Monday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. for people to sit and dine-in or carry out. There are also dinners prepared that can pick up from 4-6 p.m. The weekly menu is released on Sundays on the business’ social media. They are open from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. during the week days and open most Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 pm.

“We try to keep a fridge stocked with baked goods, breakfast items, frozen casseroles and things like that,” Click said. “When people come in and they can’t have gluten, they can know that they’re gonna be safe and not get sick. We are able to accommodate other allergens as well if they need something more custom they can reach out to me.”

The food can range from Chinese food, to Mexican food, to Italian food and everything in between.

Click said her passion for food began in high school.

“I was really sick in high school and got stuck at home and couldn’t go to school,” she said. “I watched a lot of Food Network, and at that time being gluten free, there was not many options and everything tasted really bad that you could buy at the store. I found out how to make the basis of all recipes, I decided to try making it gluten free to see if I could then enjoy eating again. Once I felt better, I started trying all these different recipes out and make them gluten free and loved it, so I would just cook at home.”

Click said she would cook for her husband, post pictures of her food, and people began asking her to cook for them.

“It all grew from there,” she said. “I would do it on the you know on my days off when I was in dental hygienist, then it took off being full time.”

Click said she always wanted to have businesses with the name of South Concho, since they are from Christoval.

“When I started doing my own food, we trademarked the name,” she said. “We just always loved the name.”

The kitchen will still be offering lunches on Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week.

“If we are open on Wednesday, we will have the fridge and freezer stocked with additional Thanksgiving goodies,” Click said. “If people didn’t preorder and they still need something, they can come grab it.”

South Concho Food Co. also hosts cooking parties and can be booked as an event space.

For more information and to stay updated, visit the business’ website at southconchofoodco.com or call 325-213-6295.