For workers downtown, there is no shortage of lunch options. But eating at restaurants every day can take its toll on your physical and financial well-being. Enter the idea of meal prep, which supposes you have the time, will and energy to prepare and portion out large batches of food to sustain you for a week of healthy eating.
For some, meal prep is a Sunday ritual as second nature as brunch or new episodes of Westworld. For others, it’s necessary evil. And for many more, it’s an entirely foreign or aspirational concept.
For all of the above, there’s Feature Meals & Eatery.
Located near the northwest corner of Main Street and Chippewa, Feature Meals & Eatery operates both as a meal prep service and fast-casual restaurant. In both cases, it offers healthy, unprocessed, home-style meals that cater to a variety of dietary lifestyles, including paleo, keto, vegan, pollotarian (no red meat), and gluten free.
The eatery component of the business functions much like any other in its category. Guests order at the counter, choosing from a rotating selection of protein entrees and whole food, plant-based sides. Everything is prepared with a judicious amount of healthy fats for a macronutrient-balanced, satisfying meal that feels more virtuous than a hulking sandwich, slice of pizza, or dish at your favorite sit-down restaurant, which almost certainly contains more calories than you’d care to know. Options like lemon-tahini roast chicken, coconut rice, Italian beef meatballs, ginger sesame broccoli, and sweet potato home fries are typical Feature Eatery offerings.
The meal prep service operates out of the same kitchen and offers the same health-conscious fare in a more cost-effective and convenient package.
The premise is simple: customers go to the Feature Meals website, indicate their dietary preference, and then pre-order meals for the next week. The meals are ready for pick-up the following Monday and can be stored in your fridge at work or home for up to seven days of heat-and-eat breakfasts, lunches, and dinners that average 350 to 450 calories a pop. If ordered in bundles of 10, the plan is as affordable as $5 per meal.
Feature Meals & Eatery is owned by Justin Tatrick and Michael Khoury, who hatched the idea at the now-defunct Washington Market, which Khoury operated on behalf of his parents. In 2017, Tatrick was running his fledgling meal prep business out of the market’s commercial kitchen. As the meal prep concept took off, Khoury and Tatrick entered a more formal business partnership and closed Washington Market to focus on its success.
In addition to wholesome lunches and time-saving meal prep plans, Feature Meals & Eatery also offers grab-and-go meals, standard and “bulletproof” coffee drinks, all-natural smoothies, and cold-pressed juice, as well as a concise breakfast menu.
Feature Meals & Eatery | 598 Main Street | Buffalo NY | Open Monday and Tuesday 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday through Friday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Facebook