Denver-based Garbanzo to open first St. Louis location

A tasty little bean is taking over Clayton this September when Garbanzo Mediterranean Fresh opens at 8143 Maryland Ave.

With the help of St. Louis investor Michael Staenberg of The Staenberg Group, St. Louis native and CEO James Park is bringing the Denver-based chain home to offer fresh, healthy flavors in a casual, quick setting.

Park said the onsite Clayton manager will be Marvin Brown, who has been with the company for eight years. “We believe there’s a great opportunity in St. Louis,” Park said. “The universe was coming together, and it was the right time for us. We’re excited to bring [Garbanzo] to St. Louis and celebrate with St. Louis.”

Serving up falafel, shawarma, gyros, falafel and pita, Garbanzo’s menu is friendly to vegan, vegetarian, paleo and gluten-free diets.

“The Mediterranean diet is the healthiest recognized diet in world,” Park said. “It’s delicious and nutritious. A lot of food today unfortunately doesn’t follow those guidelines — they can be incredibly tasty, but poor in nutrition.”

The idea for the restaurant came from the founder’s Mediterranean roots and got its name from a core ingredient derived there — the chickpea, aka the garbanzo bean. “The original founder was from Israel, so a lot of the food was inspired from the cooking of his grandmother back home,” Park said.

Park said there are plans to open at least two more stores in the year following Clayton location’s grand opening.

“We’ve already planned out 10 potential sites in St. Louis,” Park said. “We’re looking to go full steam ahead and target those sites aggressively.”

Caitlin Lally is an editorial intern at Sauce Magazine.