Bowl of Greens, a Mediterranean grill, salad and smoothie restaurant, will open in early July in the retail space on the bottom floor of the Walter Cronkite School, according to University officials.
Associate Director at University Real Estate Development Patrick Panetta told Downtown Devil on April 25 that a new lease agreement had been reached with Jay Krishan, the owner of Bowl of Greens.
Krishan, who moved to Arizona from New Jersey about 10 months ago, said he hopes to bring his 17 years of experience with “the best recipes in the world” to ASU.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever been to New Jersey, but we have some of the best food,” Krishan said. “I can’t wait to have the students try it.”
Krishan said students will be attracted to the new restaurant because of the focus placed on ingredient freshness and locally grown produce.
“(Bowl of Greens) is a fine salad company where you can come in and create your own salad with everything freshly cut in front of your eyes and made on premises,” Krishan said. “Most of the ingredients will be supplied by the marketplace or local farmers we can find (in Phoenix).
“We’re going to find non-antibiotic chicken and steaks that will be healthy for (everyone). Just a healthy Mediterranean restaurant with sandwiches, hot and cold,” Krishan described. “On top of all that, we’re going to have a smoothie bar. It’s not like your typical Jamba Juice.”
Krishan said because other suppliers use canned juice products instead of the actual fruit, Bowl of Greens will bring in customers for doing exactly the opposite.
“Our fruit will be freshly cut in front of you when you walk in,” Krishan said. “You name the vegetable or the fruit, and we’ll juice it for you right there.”
Bowl of Greens was almost opened in Scottsdale, but Krishan decided the students would be “more appreciative of the healthy food options.”
“Most of the restaurants by ASU do not supply good, healthy foods, and most of the food they do supply is typical restaurant food.” Krishan said. “They aren’t going to have a falafel sandwich or hummus or vegetarian sandwiches.”
Some Downtown students frustrated by a lack of other on-campus dining options are excited Bowl of Greens will be open when classes start again next semester.
“It’s especially good for people who can’t eat certain foods or have a hard time eating with the meal plans (at Taylor Place),” early childhood education undergraduate Katherine Rasch said.
Krishan said Bowl of Greens will not sacrifice price for the sake of healthiness.
“Not all of our products will be (solely) organic because organic is expensive, and there are other options to making dishes healthier,” Krishan said. “It just won’t be possible, but we are aiming for mostly, if not all, natural ingredients.”
When asked about Maroon & Gold dollars, Krishan said Bowl of Greens will not accept them, as “it’s very expensive.”
However, they hope to institute their own sort of “credit-card system.”
“Parents or students can buy a meal package or plan from us. They will pay as they go,” Krishan said. “We’ll give them the Bowl of Greens credit card, and let’s say parents put $50 for the student to use over the entire semester. As it goes down, we’ll verify with the parents that it’s low or out and they have the option to add on more money for the kids.”
Krishan said this system would work “better than (M&G) because students aren’t limited to using them up by the end of the year because there will be no expiration on (the cards).”
Krishan also wants to bring his food to downtown Phoenix residents and businesspeople, as well as the students.
“I want to target the buildings in the area that aren’t just students,” Krishan said, referring to the courthouse and accounting firms in downtown Phoenix. “If they don’t come to us, we will come to them with a cooler and such to keep the food healthy, clean and at the right temperature.”
Delmi Melendez, an exploratory freshman, said delivery sounded “awesome.”
“Sometimes I would be too lazy to walk over there,” Melendez said.
While Krishan hopes to provide food to students, he also encourages them to apply for jobs.
“I want to help students and make this a positive and comfortable addition to (the downtown Phoenix community),” Krishan said.
After opening in the retail space at the Cronkite building, Krishan hopes to look for a second location within six months.
Contact the reporter at caitlin.cruz@asu.edu
