Atlas Mediterranean, a new Mediterranean restaurant on East 13th Avenue, held its grand opening on Jan. 24.
Atlas owner, Gabe Garboden, found the space for Atlas in February of last year. “There’s not any customizable Mediterranean food around here and we thought a lot of people would like it,” Garboden said.
Garboden said he had found the restaurant busier by the day, and he credited the high foot traffic on East 13th Avenue for the business’ free marketing. “This is arguably the most walked street in all of Eugene,” Garboden said.
All the food at Atlas is made in-house from their tzatziki and hummus to the pita pressed fresh every morning.
The target audience for Atlas was the students and so far their favorite dish on the menu is the Classic Chicken Gyro. “People see the word classic and if they’re here for the first time it’s like, ‘lets try what’s tried and true,’” Rachel Ridenour, director of operations for Atlas, said.
“I love Mediterranean food, but I haven’t tried it yet. I’ve heard it’s like a solid restaurant,” University of Oregon student Elliot Lee said. “I planned on trying it today after work.”
Before opening Atlas, Garboden and Ridenour worked to create Sprout Kitchen. Sprout Kitchen offered bowls, sandwiches and salads as well as pre-packaged meals to help with meal prep. The team at Sprout moved to Atlas after the restaurant closed its doors on Nov. 20. Sprout Kitchen was open for six months.
Atlas is in talks with the University of Oregon’s athletic department to be a part of the red card program which allocates funds to athletes for approved restaurants in Eugene.
“It all comes back to the product. If you have the best food you will succeed, everything else is secondary,” Garboden said.
