A “flavor-focused and healthy” change is coming to College Hill this month with the addition of Greenhouse Kitchen, located in the retail space below Urban Flats.

It is set to open on March 22, with sneak peeks to come beforehand for local businesses, friends and family, student groups and the general public.

The independent restaurant will feature a menu full of burritos, wraps, salads and grain bowls with a variety of options and sauces.There will be a preset menu, but customers will also have the option to create their own meal. Options for every diet will be available, with a focus on nutritious and protein-filled gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options.  

The restaurant will press their own flour, wheat and gluten-free tortillas as well as offer 17 chef-curated, original sauces, including a vegan avocado mayonnaise.

“It started with a burrito place, and the more we sat down and […] talked there [were] different opportunities than just burritos,” said Ryan Derwes, operations manager. “And the fresh aspect is kind of what a lot of people are looking for right now.”

One of the goals of the business is to be as green as they can be. They plan to recycle and compost in order to reduce waste, and the to-go containers will be recyclable and compostable. Another goal is to support local food producers by bringing in as much local produce as possible.

“We try to get as much fresh, local produce as we can bring [in] Iowa,” Derwes said. “We can’t get a lot of fresh produce in the middle of winter, so we do work with a local greenhouse outside of town where we get some of our mixed greens from.”

Kyle Dehmlow, another instrumental figure in the restaurant’s creation, said he hopes to catch the attention of even more local producers than they already have after opening.

“We are hoping after this opens that we can market enough to catch the attention of some of the other local producers to get those options, as well, in here,” Dehmlow said.

When the restaurant first opens, it will be in operation from 10:30 a.m. until 10 p.m. every day. On April 6, they will begin staying open until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.  

Dehmlow explained that the restaurant would unfold in stages, beginning with opening and then staying open later on weekends, and then working on establishing delivery and catering as well.

“First and foremost, before we do those things we need to make sure that we get the food out in a timely manner — training staff and all of those things first,” Dehmlow said. Before we can overpromise and [under]deliver we want to be able to overdeliver.”

“It’s definitely something unique to this area, I think, with all of the fresh local options that we will have available,” Derwes said.

In anticipation of Greenhouse Kitchen’s grand opening, there is a social media promotion being held on Facebook called “Find the Green Spork.” Green sporks are being hidden around Cedar Falls once daily, with clues being offered to help find them. The person who finds each spork will receive one free meal a day at Greenhouse Kitchen for the month of April.

Dehmlow expressed excitement for people to try the food.

“I think there is going to be a lot of options here […] with the kind of choices that we have,” Dehmlow said. “It’s really for anyone. That’s kind of really what we are focused on.”

Greenhouse Kitchen is hiring, and open interviews are currently being held on location.