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Roots Natural Kitchen, a salad and grain bowl restaurant will open on Nov. 20 on the corner of North High Street and 15th Avenue. Credit: Gabby Khodadad | Lantern Reporter

A restaurant offering healthy options for students is laying down roots in Columbus.

Roots Natural Kitchen, a salad and grain bowl restaurant, is set to open Nov. 20 at 10 E. 15th Ave., according to its website. The chain started at the University of Virginia in 2015 and has expanded to other locations in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware and now Ohio. 

“We felt that the need for a salad and grain bowl restaurant would be a really great hit in that market,” Larissa Caballero, director of advertising for the restaurant, said.

Caballero said the focus for Roots Natural Kitchen is to provide an easily accessible, fun environment with delivery options and an in-house app. The store will be located alongside Barrio in the University Square development, which is directly across the street from campus.

Katie Jones, a second-year in biomedical engineering, said she visited Roots Natural Kitchen multiple times while visiting her sister at Penn State and is thrilled about the new Columbus location.

“I’m really excited for a new restaurant that has lots of fresh food in it, and there’s a lot of different varieties for meals, and it provides a different option than the typical fast-food chains that are directly located off campus,” Jones said. “They just have really good food.”

Jones said she appreciates the variety of fresh and roasted vegetables, pesto dressing and the freshly cooked chicken that the restaurant offers. 

According to the restaurant’s website, the menu features several pre-arranged salad and grain bowls or the option to create an original bowl.

Roots Natural Kitchen will be located at 10 E. 15th Ave., and will be open Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. beginning Nov. 20, according to the website. Roots Natural Kitchen is currently hiring, with applications available online and in person through hiring events.