Amy's Kitchen, the pioneering manufacturer of vegetarian frozen entrees, soups and other items, is now on a mission to "shake up American fast food."
The company is getting ready to open its first Amy's Drive Thru restaurant in Rohnert Park, Calif., bringing its meat-free, organic, GMO-free, allergen-free, eco-friendly operating sensibilities with it.
The menu will offer freshly made vegetarian burgers, fries cooked in sunflower oil, pizza, salad, burritos, macaroni and cheese, chili and shakes. Each item can be ordered vegan or gluten-free and every ingredient is non-GMO. Almost all are organic and many will be locally sourced, and the menu is peanut- and egg-free.
Designed by Berkeley, Calif.-based Trachtenberg Architects, the first 4,000-square-foot prototype embodies Amy's operating principles. The firm notes, "Fundamentally, Amy's is a plant-based company and we see the new restaurant as an oasis on the highway – a resting and gathering place in a natural setting. Indoor garden dining will accommodate about 150 people. The building will incorporate a living roof, rainwater capture and filtration system, solar panels and permeable paving and will be a model in sustainable architecture."
Most furnishings and finishes are from reclaimed and recycled materials, packaging is compostable and made with GMO-free ink.
The company, which has been testing menu items and operations in a mock fast-food kitchen it built in one of its warehouses, says ticket times will be around 3 minutes and menu prices will be competitive with other QSR operations.