Mustard Seed Market & Cafe
867 W. Market St.
Phone: (330) 434 2233 (CAFE)
Open: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.; and Sunday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Website: https://www.mustardseedmarket.com/locations/highland-square/
Before it opened, Abraham Nabors designed Mustard Seed Market & Cafe down to its blueprints. Nabors wanted a space with natural light pouring in through the windows, so he designed the cafe’s eating area with south-facing windows — the room gets full sunlight most of the day, even in the winter.
Nabors’ other priority was to make the space a casual and open environment. The solution was fast casual-style dining where customers order and pay for their meals before sitting down.
“This fast casual model, to me, cracks the code to make a grocery store and a restaurant play nice together,” Nabors said of his family’s business, which opened the cafe in 2015.
Unlike dining at a standalone restaurant, customers can purchase food from the grocery and eat it in the cafe. And there’s no limit on how long a guest can enjoy the space. As long as you’re a Mustard Seed customer, you can camp out all day. Patrons, Nabors said, often grab energy drinks or sodas and spend the day “working from home” at Mustard Seed.
Other customers come in with a group and move between tables throughout the day, with the parties ebbing and flowing as they greet friends and neighbors.
“I wanted this place to be Highland Square’s living room and our patio to be Highland Square’s front porch,” Nabors said.
As a self-proclaimed “organic baby” who grew up in a health food store – Nabors’ mother opened the first Mustard Seed in 1989 – Nabors is committed to providing natural food to Akronites.
Mustard Seed follows a set of golden standards, which guides the selection of products on the shelves. Nabors manages a list of more than 5,000 ingredients that buyers must ensure are not included in merchandise. Products sold in the grocery are free from artificial flavors and coloring, high fructose corn syrup and bleached flour, and any meat is hormone- and routine-antibiotic free; farmers can give livestock antibiotics in the case of sickness, but cannot regularly use antibiotics for productivity purposes.
All of these things are true of the food served in the cafe. Nabors said that people tend to be creatures of habit when it comes to which grocery store they frequent, but the cafe serves as a way for people to sample foods sold in the market, which they may be surprised they enjoy.
“We can dismantle the perception that health food has to be twigs and berries, and it’s only vegan vegetarian macrobiotic weird food that doesn’t taste good or is too crunchy and blah, blah, blah,” Nabors said.
The menu offers a wide range of options, from stir fry bowls to quinoa nachos to a black bean, beet and walnut burger, which Nabors said is the most popular of the vegetarian and vegan options.
And a lot of the non-vegetarian or vegan menu options can be adapted to suit customers’ preferences. The cafe offers alternatives such as coconut bacon (marinated coconut flakes), vegan cheeses, vegan fried chicken and marinated tempeh. Additionally, some of the sauces are vegan and gluten free by default.
Mustard Seed also has strict allergy protocols, Nabors said. When allergens come through the kitchen, the staff changes gloves, uses fresh pans and lays parchment paper on cutting boards, among other procedures, to avoid cross contamination.
“All you have to do is change one ingredient to make it from a ‘no’ to a ‘yes’ for somebody with a dietary preference.” Nabors said. “We know how important it is for people who either cannot or choose to not consume certain ingredients.”
2nd place
NOMZ
21 Furnace St., (330) 286-1315