Sometimes franchising is weird. Like Doc Green's, for instance - aside from The Waterfront, you're…read morenot going to find them outside of Georgia. Or The Good Egg, which has a couple dozen locations in Arizona, plus one in San Diego and one here. O'Naturals is another one of these.
Started in Portland, Maine within the last decade, it was the combination of an entrepreneur looking for something to eat, Stonyfield Farms, and the O'Naturals brand of organic yogurt. It grew into three locations on the east coast - two in Maine and one in Boston - and then for some reason someone decided Wichita would be a good place to open a fourth. Perhaps it's our reputation for being a test bed for restaurant franchises, or perhaps the owners of the Genesis Health Club wanted something reasonably healthy to pair with their expansive and expensive gym.
The concept is largely based around their flatbread. They seem pretty into it, with a large industrial dough mixer situated behind the counter and a brick oven over by the wall to facilitate the creation of sandwiches and pizzas, though they also have salads and soups and - inexplicably - Asian noodle bowls and alcohol.
There were several things working against O'Naturals, though. The location was not ideal - I knew you didn't need to be a member to visit the restaurant, but still, it's inside a gym, so the view from the street is limited. Also, in the decade since being established, the O'Naturals band hasn't done so well - the flagship restaurant has closed, and another has had a change in name and ownership. Now, there remains two proper O'Naturals restaurants - the one in Boston, and one here. Even the website, which apparently operated by the original location, now has a "thanks for your patronage, but we are closed" post and nothing else.
The lack of vision reflects poorly on the place - the place was quite empty during my visit, and manned by two teen males that were aloof, though not exactly incompetent. They also denied me as I first requested a bowl of soup, then a side of fruit salad, before finally giving up and just picking things I could visibly see were available.
Assuming the sandwiches would be the simplest thing for all parties involved, I chose the Chicken TMB. It was a simple sandwich of chopped chicken, tomato, mozzarella, and basil, and while it was a decent sandwich, the light grill marks on the bread and the cold chicken indicated it wasn't very well-prepared. I didn't complain, as it seemed like it would be a waste of everyone's time.
Even if O'Naturals didn't seem like a husk of the aspirations to which it clung, it would have faced stiff competition by the Panera and Jason's Deli, two sandwich shops with a much more complete concept and a similar sort of health bent to it. But as it is, the only way I could see O'Naturals making any sense is the small community of gym-goers who, like that original restauranteur in Portland, are heading home and want something reasonably healthy without having to make any additional stops.
