Vegan restaurant to open Fort Collins location

FORT COLLINS — Native Foods, a vegan fast-casual brand specializing in plant-based menu items, plans to open its fourth Colorado location in coming weeks near Fort Collins’ Foothills shopping area.

Construction remains underway at 3300 S. College Ave. on the 2,527-square-foot restaurant that marks the Chicago-based brand’s third opening in Colorado. It opened a location in Boulder’s Twenty Ninth Street shopping area more than a decade ago, and also has restaurants in Denver, Lone Tree, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Diego, as well as in Orange County and Palm Springs, California, and is expanding into Missouri this year.

The Fort Collins location will offer indoor seating for 60 diners and outdoor patio seating for 24.

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Carin Stutz, Native Foods’ CEO, told BizWest on Tuesday that “we hope to hire 20 to 25 new team members” in Fort Collins, and that “we are hiring now.”

According to a media release, “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.”

To celebrate the Fort Collins opening, Native Foods plans to hold a community fundraiser to support Bounce Animal Rescue as well as hosting a schedule of events and giveaways. Dates and times will be announced.

“We are so excited to continue our expansion in Colorado, and I cannot think of a better location than Fort Collins,” Stutz said in a prepared statement. “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.”

The chain was founded in Palm Springs in 1994.