West Palm 'food desert' to get new grocery with cafeteria-style dining
A vegan restaurant and market is coming to West Palm Beach’s Historic Northwest neighborhood, drawn by the prospect of a discounted price on a newly renovated city-owned building.
City commissioners on Monday, June 23, approved a lease-to-own deal with Vegan Fine Foods for a two-story, 2,800-square-foot building at 719 N. Sapodilla Ave., across the street from the popular Queen of Sheeba Ethiopian restaurant.
The owners of the Fort Lauderdale eatery say they hope to open the new branch by November, bringing healthy food options to a poor part of the city that leaders describe as a "food desert."
Company founder and CEO Steven Smith said the West Palm Beach location likely will be a cafeteria-style eatery, likening it to Bolay, the fast-casual Florida chain known for its custom-made bowl-based meals. But he said it will also offer pre-made meals and a selection of retail grocery products.
A renovated building at 719 N. Sapodilla Ave.in West Palm Beach is expected to soon be home to Vegan Fine Foods.
The store is expected to include delivery services, and Smith said plans are to host a produce market on the patio in addition to classes and other community events.
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While the restaurant will have only vegan offerings, Smith emphasized that the store is not only for vegans. The Fort Lauderdale store became popular after it opened in 2018, he said, but the majority of his customers were not practicing vegans.
“More than 75% of our customers were not vegan,” he said. “They just liked to eat that way sometimes.”
West Palm restaurant seen as a benefit to a 'food desert'
The eatery will pay about $4,600 a month in rent for the location. After 10 years it will have the option to buy the property from the city at a discounted price of $700,000, with the lease payments counting toward the purchase price.
An official with the city's Community Redevelopment Agency told commissioners that an appraisal estimated the building’s value at $1.3 million, meaning the business will be able to acquire the property at roughly half-price.
Vegan Fine Foods, a restaurant and market in Fort Lauderdale, is opening a branch in West Palm Beach's Historic Northwest neighborhood.
Commissioner Shalonda Warren lauded the business as a boon to a neighborhood in need of more food options. City leaders have described the neighborhood, east of Tamarind Avenue and south of Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard, as a food desert, meaning an area where buying affordable, high-quality fresh food is difficult,
Another potential benefit, she said, is the possibility that the store will prompt more people to visit the area.
“It’s a wonderful draw to people that may not have been in the Northwest neighborhood to come to the Northwest neighborhood,” she said.
A building at 719 N. Sapodilla Ave. in West Palm Beach, before being renovated by the city's Community Redevelopment Agency. The building will now house Vegan Fine Foods, a Fort Lauderdale-based restaurant and market.
