Reno co-op’s café reopens and is better than ever.
There’s no shortage of great restaurants in Reno, but what makes the Foodshed Café stand apart from the rest is its extraordinary mission. The newly remodeled and reopened eatery, located in the Great Basin Community Food Co-op in Downtown Reno, aims to bring healthy, sustainably sourced food to the community while supporting local farmers and ranchers. That goal is achieved by working with local producers to curate the seasonal menu.
Or as co-general manager Melanie Stephenson puts it, the aim is “to provide our community with really delicious and comforting, nutritionally dense food that showcases as much local meat and produce from Northern Nevada as possible.”
Farms and ranches contributing to the menu will change over time; the restaurant has 38 (and counting) in rotation, including Snowball Ranch in Eureka, Holley Family Farms in Dayton, Kool Kids Ranch in Spanish Springs, and Little Frog Farm in Reno. NO CITY Coffee, based in Reno, provides items on the coffee menu, including espressos and lattes made with organic cow’s milk or milk alternatives.
Another guiding principle of Foodshed Café is to create good-for-you dishes that anyone can eat. The menu is created with special diets in mind, so it’s easy to find fresh, delicious food that fits your lifestyle regardless of your dietary needs or allergies, or it can be customized so that it does. Whether you prefer vegetarian, vegan, paleo, gluten-free, or foods that don’t contain seeds, dairy, or nuts, you can find tasty choices that cater to your needs. Menu items are even marked with icons for the diets they support (e.g. “seed oil free,” “paleo,” etc.)
Stephenson points to grilled sandwiches such as the hot rancher and the hogs and kisses as being among locals’ favorite menu items, and they showcase meats from local and regional ranchers. Plus, the sourdough bread is house made with organic flour.
“I also love our sweet and savory toasts, which come on our thick-cut sourdough bread toasted with organic butter (vegan butter is available) and piled high with yummy toppings,” she says.
While Foodshed Café celebrated its grand opening at the co-op on April 1, it’s not the restaurant’s first iteration. The Foodshed originally opened its doors in 2017 and operated until 2020, when the pandemic caused a shutdown. The masterminds behind the concept used that downtime to revitalize the brand and came back stronger than ever.
“The biggest differences are the expanded menu and creative flavor combinations that highlight more local food than ever,” Stephenson says.
Foodshed serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner with a focus on nourishing bowls, grilled sandwiches, salads, burritos, and smoothie bowls. In addition to coffee drinks and other non-alcoholic beverages, the café also serves draft beers and wines from our region. Inside dining is cozy and comfortable, but you also can take your meal outside to the beautiful deck, which has expansive views of the mountains.
For details, visit Greatbasinfood.coop/pages/foodshed-cafe.
