Minnesota's Crisp & Green restaurant chain to add some crunch to northwest Rochester in 2024

Jeff Kiger, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·2 min read

Nov. 17—ROCHESTER — A healthy Minnesota-based fast casual restaurant chain — Crisp and Green — hopes to sprout a new Rochester location in 2024.

A recent building permit filed with the City of Rochester shows that Crisp & Green, founded by Minnesota entrepreneur Steele Smiley, plans to build out a 2,500-square-foot space with a large patio on the south end of a new 20,000-square-foot commercial complex under construction at 3660 Sarah Place NW.

The new building is located just off of West Circle Drive near the

Sterling State Bank's

corporate headquarters and Southeastern Minnesota Center for Independent Living's new

Boundless indoor playground.

Crisp & Green is a rapidly growing chain that serves made-to-order salads, grain bowls, and smoothies. It has about 40 locations open across the U.S. with 15 restaurants in the Twin Cities area and about 15 Minnesota locations in the pipeline.

Crisp & Green has been trying to line up a spot in Rochester

for a while.

The three principals of Rochester's

Realty Growth Inc.

— Nick Pompeian,

Bucky Beeman

and

Dylan Carty

— are partners in the development of the new Sarah Place building. RGI is also managing the property.

"Our hope is to have tenants in there and open for business in the second quarter of 2024," said Pompeian.

In addition to Crisp & Green, a local beauty business is also planning to move into a ground-floor space along with another restaurant on the north end with a drive-thru window.

While the ground level is expected to house mostly retail businesses and restaurants, the second floor is gearing up for office tenants.

RGI is planning to move from its current downtown office on South Broadway to a 5,000-square-foot space on the second floor.

"We're really excited about that location. We feel very fortunate," said Pompeian.

He said the only tenant space remaining on the main level is a 1,856-square-foot spot. There is also 5,000-square-feet of office space still available on the second floor.

Stay tuned for more about the other tenants in the pipeline for the new complex.