Food Fast (Not Fast Food)

Article Tools

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

This alternative to typical greasy fast-food fare took root back in 1987, when Portland native Dan Mosley, who’d spent a few years studying (and eating) in Japan, opened Big Dan’s West Coast Bento. At first no one knew what to make of the concept, but after a rocky few years, Mosley was selling as many as 300 lunches a day out of his 180-square-foot store. Would-be restaurateurs aped Mosley’s idea, and Portland has become the bento capital of North America, with shops dotting the city.

O’Naturals: The McAlternative

If you look out the front window of O’Naturals restaurant in Falmouth, Maine, there’s a great view of the golden arches. "McDonald’s is my neighbor," laughs Mac McCabe, who, with partners Gary Hirshberg (president and CEO of Stonyfield Farm yogurt) and Pam Solo (president of the Institute for Civil Society) opened the first of what they hope will be a nationwide chain of organic, natural fast-food restaurants.

But can a restaurant that offers foods like flatbread sandwiches, salads, soups, and Asian noodles made with natural and organic ingredients really go head to head with the established masters of the quick meal? McCabe and his partners think so. After conducting extensive market research among shoppers at natural-food stores, they uncovered an enthusiastic group of potential customers, folks who would be overjoyed to find a fast, healthy meal for under $10.

Right now there’s just one O’Naturals, but McCabe and company plan to open two more in the Boston area within the year. After that, McCabe explains, they want to move fast on franchises, which means that an O’Naturals could be opening soon in a neighborhood near you.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print