According to recent public records, a local chain is soon expanding town.
Martin Berson, Local Foods partner and founder of Snap Kitchen, opened the first Local Foods restaurant in Austin in 2022 in the 2nd Street District. The restaurant — known for sourcing its foods from local farmers, ranchers, fishmongers and artisans — was co-founded by Benjy Levit and chef Dylan Murray and has five locations in Houston.
Finally, Berson has signed a lease for his second space for a long time and secured a 10-year lease with options to renew at 3800 N. Lamar Blvd. The restaurateur also said the Austin market has the capacity to house four or five Local Foods, assuming he can find the right locations, The Business Journal adds.
“We’ve been looking for real estate for a second location for about a year and a half or two years. Really loosely looking, for even longer than that, but it’s taken a while to get to the right spot,” Berson said.
Among the many reasons Berson was attracted to the space, “including proximity to his residence, his familiarity with the area businesses and residents and the growth in the area. Plus, there’s parking at this location.”
“When we started working on this lease a year ago, we knew that there would be a lot of activity coming up, but it hadn’t yet happened,” Berson said. “We felt like we were on the front edge of what was going to be this sort of massive growth in that trade area, and we’ve seen it sort of come to fruition.”
“We think that based on the mix of residents in the area, based on the fact that we’re going to have the full bar, and based on the design that the Chioco team has been working on… we think that we’re really going to be able to lean in on the dinner and it should feel awesome in there in the evening, while still having this really bright, fresh look and and feel during the day,” Berson said.
The new location will have a richer look by utilizing less tile than its downtown location and warmer colors, Berson said.
“The new location will also have a walk-up window for offerings such as coffee and matcha drinks, breakfast sandwiches and baked goods,” the report states.
