For more than five years, Greg Conner and Matthew Steed hoped to open an outlet of their prepared foods shop, Eat Local, on Mercer Island. Finally, over the summer, they did just that, and in the process introduced some of their latest innovations, an updated store design, and a brand-new flagship for the 12 year old company.
In 2007, Eat Local opened its doors on Queen Anne, with a mission to bring the kind of careful and curated ingredients and techniques a good cook would use at home to the prepared-foods market. Since then, they’ve added a store on Capitol Hill and a commissary kitchen and shop in Burien, making Mercer Island their fifth location.
“We are all about building community,” says Conner, and they’ve had a lot of customers from Mercer Island asking them to open here. “They want their own store to build community around.”
The store will sell the same prepared, frozen meals found at their other shops, including the popular Mediterranean diet and keto-friendly options, all of which use grass-fed beef, antibiotic-free chicken, and other carefully chosen ingredients. Options include dishes such as keto spaghetti squash, Mediterranean salmon pasta, and Kashmiri chicken curry, and most cost around $9 per entrée portion.
The meals are designed with the input of a nutritionist, and customers can make a free consultation appointment with the in-house nutritional counselor to discuss their diet – whether it’s adjusting for a new health diagnosis, trying to get into better shape for an upcoming trip, or just how to best fuel for workouts.
New to the company at the Mercer Island shop will be a broader range of ketogenic options, including keto coffee and keto ice cream. The shop also recently add a new line of Russell Wilson kid’s meals – like chicken meatballs with creamy mash and veggie harvest penne – and 3% of proceeds from that line go to Wilson’s Why Not You Foundation. Adults shouldn’t feel left out though; there is also be an adult performance line, too, which includes meals like Seattle breakfast scramble and roasted vegetable lasagna.
The Mercer Island shop is the company’s first new storefront in five years and marks something of a turning point as it grows and expands, while serving as a model for updating the older stores. Doors are now open – so make healthy eating a breeze and stock up on an array of delicious meals today.
Eat Local is located at 7635 SE 27th St in Tabit Village Square next to Chick’s Shoes & Service. Learn more at eatlocalonline.com.
