Fitlife Foods is expanding its prepared meals mini-kingdom to the Sarasota region. Across from the University Town Center mall, the 14th location for the Tampa-born company — specializing in convenient, portioned dishes for health-minded minded folk and others — is headed to 5275 University Parkway in Bradenton.
The new 1,059-square-foot store's grand opening, which runs from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. April 27, has a ribbon-cutting ceremony planned for 10:45 a.m., followed by free meals, wellness sessions, tours, live cooking demos from head chef Andrew Ruga, and giveaways for customers.
According to a statement from founder David Osterweil, introducing Fitlife Foods to the Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch and University Park communities is something the company looks forward to doing in more cities down the road.
"At the end of the day, we want customers to get addicted about the way they feel," Osterweil said. "We believe that the week has enough stresses packed into it and our goal at Fitlife Foods is to turn meal occasions during the week into something people look forward to and help save time."
Barbecue beef with mac 'n' cheese and gluten-free Chicken "Pizza" Supreme, a layered Italian pizza-like dish, are two of the most popular meals at Fitlife Foods, which carries a selection of 65-plus items ranging from $3 to $13. There's also a revamped menu for the spring season, along with options for paleo, vegetarian and low-carb eaters.
Orders can be placed online in advance and picked up at any store, or sent straight to a customer's home (in select locations) via the delivery service Fitlife Foods launched in early January.
The company's latest outpost joins nine stores around the Tampa area, two in Orlando and two in Fort Lauderdale.
This article appears in Apr 13-20, 2017.
