Cupboard Natural Foods offers Denton citizens healthy options

by Carolyn Brown of of North Texas Daily

Walking toward Cupboard Natural Foods and Café, it's apparent that the place takes its commitment to the health food specialty market seriously. Signs advertising its gluten-free food and organic products line the windows, and fliers with health and wellness themes line the bulletin board at the store's entrance.

Cupboard's café is tucked off to the side of the store, and has both indoor and outdoor seating thanks to its new covered patio. Overall, the atmosphere is light, airy and modern, with plenty of eye-catching décor from local artists and photographers to amuse customers during the short wait for their food.

"Basically anyone who wants to put up art can talk to the manager. They switch it out every month," said Beth Ritter, a Texas Woman's University student who has been working at the café for three weeks. Artists can also leave their contact information on the wall to help customers buy pieces that they like.

The café's busy hour lasts from about 12:30-1:30 p.m., Rutter said. Although the place is not usually packed with students who want to stay and hang out, several of the workers at the Cupboard are students, and a few usually come in for lunch every day, Rutter said. She said that most of the ingredients used in the café's dishes are organic, and some of them come from local farmers.

The breakfast and lunch menus offer plenty of health-conscious items for those on special diets, especially vegetarians and vegans. The café offers familiar favorites such as tuna salad in addition to more unusual fare such as the 'jerk' tempeh sandwich, which lists soy tempeh and tamari or vegan mayonnaise among its unusual ingredients. The lunch entrée prices range from $5.99 to $6.99, which is cheaper than students might expect for a specialty-food business.

"I like it because it's local," Jenny Braudt, a Denton resident and Cupboard customer, said. I"f you're trying to eat healthy, it's a good source."

Cupboard Natural Foods takes its customers' experience a step further with its detailed Web site, cupboardnaturalfoods.com. The site offers scientific research articles about advances in healthy living and special recipes complete with nutritional information. It also offers calculators to determine a person's body mass index and average calorie burn for various exercises.

Cupboard Natural Foods and Café is located at 200 W. Congress St. Its hours are from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. The phone number is 940-387-5386.