Green Eats’ co-owners Simone Castillo and Edward Villatoro jumped into action when they realized that Glen Cove needed more healthy food options. Now, about a year later, their health food store opened on at 17 Bridge St.
From salads to warm bowls and sandwiches to smoothies, the entire menu is customizable to best suit your dietary needs and restrictions.
“We try to listen to our customers and see what they would like,” Castillo said. “Everybody loves to customize their own bowl.”
A lot of the produce used at Green Eats is sourced from Rottkamp Brothers Farm, which is located in Old Brookville. While it is not entirely organic, Castillo still values sustainability and supporting local businesses. Castillo also tries to avoid pesticides and additives when possible.
“We try to find the cleanest option for something, we’re trying to keep all the dirty things clean,” Castillo said. During the fall time, we’re going to have a yellow lentil soup, and we really did our research, and it’s a glyphosate-free lentil. So we definitely try to reduce [the use of] all those things that we don’t like, [like] pesticides.”
Castillo said that to best accommodate people’s dietary needs, none of Green Eats’ menu items include protein. Customers can add their desired protein for an additional $2 or opt for no protein.
“Our menu is made without any protein,” Castillo said. “We offer vegan, vegetarian and carnivore protein, so we have falafel, chicken, tuna [and beef] … Everybody has completely different diets here, but that’s why you can always customize your own bowl as well. So, we basically offer everybody’s diet, from vegan to vegetarian to carnivore to gluten-free as well.”
Castillo and Villatoro had the idea for a health-conscious food option approximately a year before they opened Green Eats in May. After seeing the lack of health-oriented restaurant options in Glen Cove, Castillo and Villatoro knew exactly where they needed to open their business—new and repeat customers share the same thoughts.
“[Customers always] say, ‘this is something we needed in this community … We were always lacking something fresh, healthy and easy to grab,’” Castillo said.
Green Eats is not in their final form yet. The final menu will be released in two weeks and seasonal options will be introduced as time goes on.
