When Hamdia Mohammed took a step back from the restaurant business, she wasn’t expecting to return to it.
For a decade, she owned and operated Greek eatery Never On Sunday in Kansas City, Missouri, before stepping away from the restaurant to go back to school. But in the past year, she said, she found herself missing the hustle and bustle of the hospitality world.
Now she’s back in the thick of it, but this time, things look a bit different in more ways than one. Her customers are now enjoying healthy eats like açai bowls and avocado toast — and they’re doing it on the other side of the state line.
The new venture, Sage & Berry, opened last month inside the Oak Park Mall in Overland Park.
Sage & Berry opened at 11149 W. 95th St.
- The eatery occupies a space at the food court on the upper level of the Oak Park Mall.
- The space was previously occupied by Kansas City-based eatery Taste of Brazil’s “express” location.
- Sage & Berry’s regular hours are from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Sage & Berry serves açai bowls and other healthy eats
An array of drinks (mojito lemonade, berry smoothie and strawberry matcha) from Sage & Berry. Photo credit Lucie Krisman.
At Sage & Berry, Mohammed said, açai is the star of the show.
Customers can either create their own açai bowl by mixing and matching bases with toppings, or choose from the menu’s creations.
The Sage & Berry “signature” bowl, for example, comes with an açai base and is topped with blueberries, strawberries, granola, bananas, coconut flakes and honey.
Outside of açai bowls, though, Sage & Berry serves other healthy eats like avocado toast and Greek salads — the latter of which Mohammed is “kind of addicted to”, she said with a laugh.
The menu also offers beverages like fruit smoothies, matcha lattes, and flavored lemonades.
Sage & Berry aims to fill a local demand
When it came to the mall, Mohammed said, a big part of the appeal was the fact that nothing else like Sage & Berry was there.
She’d originally expected to bring another Greek eatery to the mall, leaning on her roots from before. But the space she was offered inside the mall lent itself better to a streamlined, counter-service concept.
Due to her daughter’s love of açai bowls, she also knew that dish is on the rise — and that no one else in the mall was serving them.
Within its first few weeks, that demand has proven itself. Some Sage & Berry customers who work at nearby stores in the mall have already returned for their next fix; in some cases, multiple times in one day.
“I just wanted to bring something healthy to the mall,” she said. “That’s what’s most exciting to me.”
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