A Mediterranean Chipotle — that is how co-owner Hilary Martel explains her new restaurant, Feta Kitchen and Cafe.
Feta, located on 600 East Hillside Dr., officially opened Sept. 21. It offers counter service Mediterranean food.
The location doubles as a cafe, where they offer various baked goods, coffees and smoothies. The kitchen is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. while the cafe part opens at 8:30 a.m. and stays open until 10 p.m.
“For me, eating healthy is really important, and with two young kids it can be hard to find fresh healthy food on the go or in a fast-casual setting,” Martel said.
She said she feels it is a good place for students because it is quick but healthy.
Hilary and her husband, Hartzell, own Hartzell's Ice Cream and Jiffy Treet, so this is not their first business. However, it is their first restaurant.
“We thought the town was really saturated with ice cream, and we don’t have any experience in restaurants,” Hilary Martel said. “This was a concept we thought would do really well, so we just dove into it.”
She said the biggest difference between a restaurant and their ice cream shops was how much labor would go into making the food. They make everything for the restaurant from scratch, just as they make ice cream at Hartzell’s, but since there are so many more items on their menu, it requires a lot more labor.
To order, customers can start by choosing a base of grain, salad, grains and greens, hummus, tabbouleh or a flatbread. Next is the protein, which includes falafel, gyro meat, roasted vegetables and various other options.
Then there are various dips that can be added and toppings. Lastly, they can add dressings like lemon Tahini or red wine vinaigrette.
Besides bowls, they have various side dishes, such as feta fries, roasted vegetables and flatbread with hummus.
This idea was something Hilary Martel said she had seen in big cities but not in Bloomington.
The Martel’s have been working on the project for a year and half. The design and build process was lengthy because it is an entirely new building.
“We literally designed every aspect of it,” Martel said.
She said she wanted the inside to feel mid-century modern and achieved this by having bright colors and geometric lighting fixtures.
She added that they have plenty of indoor and outdoor seating, outlets and even one table that can seat a lot of people for a large meeting.
Junior Kari Joest said she went to a soft opening event Sept. 12.
“I work for Hartzell and his wife for Hartzell's Ice Cream, and this has been something they’ve been working really hard for for the past year,” Joest said.
Joest said while she was there, she tried a falafel on flatbread and has returned since the opening.
“I’ve already brought people back there and I’ve had it a couple times since the opening,” Joest said.
