Beloved Houston Sandwich Shop Local Foods Is Coming to Austin

Houston sandwich and salad shop minichain Local Foods is opening its first-ever Austin location. It’ll be found at 454 West Second Street in downtown Austin starting sometime in the late summer of 2020.

The restaurant is known for its healthier dishes made with local ingredients, in the form of sandwiches, salads, soups, plates with proteins and vegetables, and desserts. There are plans for tapped wine and beer.

Local Foods’s Austin space will feature two floors and a patio. It’s being designed by go-to Austin restaurant architect Michael Hsu, along with Houston-based interior designer Aaron Rambo.

The West Second Street address had been home to Italian restaurant Numero 28’s casual counterpart Alimentari 28, which opened in March 2017 and closed sometime in spring 2019.

Local Foods co-owners Benjy Levit and partner and culinary director Dylan Murray oversee the chain’s five locations in Houston. Partnering on the Austin location is Martin Berson. He founded Austin healthy food chain Snap Kitchen in 2010, and, as CEO and president, expanded the company with locations in Chicago and Philadelphia. He left in 2017, and Snap closed its Chicago shops, as well as two in Philadelphia. Berson and Levit worked together on essential Houston restaurant Benjy’s.

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