First Look: Everyday Organic

Taylor and Breighanna Newnham opened Everyday Organic between downtown and Furman because that side of town didn't have many choices for vegetarian and organic food. (Credit: Josh Nash)

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Despite Greenville’s rapid growth, the city still isn’t an early adopter. Despite Whole Foods coming into in the market, only a handful of dedicated locavores exist to trumpet the organic cause here in town.

And in an era when the green movement has jumped the shark, marketing a natural product has grown all the more difficult. Not to mention the recession and the perception that eco-conscious dining is the provenance of the privileged.

To some, opening a small, organic, family-style cafe focused on individual service and meticulously prepared food might not be the wisest business strategy. But, like any cause, don’t tell the crusaders that they can’t do it.

“There really is a need for [organic food] in Greenville, especially on this side of town,” says Taylor Newnham, who co-owns Everyday Organic, located at 121 State Park Road in Greenville, with his wife, Breighanna.

The two Furman graduates, who married merely a week after her commencement last summer, have been involved in a handful of business ventures, including real estate acquisition and landscaping services. But it was their dog that turned them onto the idea of having a restaurant.

“We found out from our breeder that a cocker spaniel could live four years longer if fed organic foods,” says Taylor. “We then started spending a whole lot more time at Earth Fare,” he laughs.

After experiencing first hand the benefits of eating healthy, the two decided to try their luck in the restaurant business. They set up shop in a former back room of the Reedy River General Store, located in the Cherrydale shopping district.

After renovation, the restaurant side has the feel of an old wood-paneled country kitchen, and provides a complementary presence to the isles of the storefront. It seems very apropos, considering that Everyday Organic’s tagline is “Your Grandfather Ate Organic.”

Open from 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, Breighanna both cooks and serves customers a full array of made-to-order vegetarian and vegan offerings, many to the individual requests of customers. Taylor “does all the business legwork,” Breighanna says.

Salads, fruit platters, vegetable dips and sandwiches factor prominently on the lunch menu, which varies often based on produce availability.
And by including nachos, roast beef and other non-organic staples, the perception that it’s all “rabbit food“ should be dashed, Breighanna says. “We eat hamburgers and hot dogs, too,” she says. “That’s why we set the menu up the way it is. We needed some ‘guy’ food.”

Recent customer favorites include the Turkey Pesto Wrap, which features sundried tomatoes, pesto, baby spinach and mozzarella, and the “Gourmet Grilled Cheese,” which uses three cheeses and selected herbs.

Dinner hours are planned for the near future. Other long-term goals for the couple include the opening of satellite locations with the  idea being “slow food done in fast food fashion.”