HeyOEats has taken over the space last occupied by Omelette House inside the 340 Castro St. market.
The owners of HeyOEats are focused on sustainability in the food and drink world, their first venture being a bottled bamboo leaf tea company called Igzu. The owner of Ava's Market, which sells the teas, approached Igzu co-founders Zachary Anderson and Courtney McCoy to see if they would want to open a storefront to replace Omelette House, Anderson said.
Anderson, a vegan and Kentucky native, developed the HeyOEats menu. The recent surge of companies that make plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy products, including the locally founded Impossible Foods, have transformed vegan cooking and eating, Anderson said.
The HeyOEats menu includes an Impossible burger, grilled "chicken" from Beyond Meat and vegan garlic-herb cheese and butter from Miyoko's. There's also vegan beer cheese with pretzels, a vegan Reuben sandwich, gluten-free skillet pastas and pad Thai made entirely from vegetables, among other dishes.
HeyOEats will be open for lunch and dinner initially, then add breakfast and weekend brunch down the line. Brunch dishes include cornmeal pancakes, chilaquiles and biscuits topped with a mushroom and Beyond Meat sausage gravy. The Southern-like dishes reflect Anderson's upbringing in and around a restaurant in Kentucky, he said.
At HeyOEats, customers can order at a counter and eat their food inside the market or take it to go. There will also be a prepared foods case stocked with salads, wraps and other grab-and-go items.
HeyOEats will at first be open from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily and later have the same hours as Ava's (8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily, until 9 p.m. on Sundays).
