Steele Smiley’s Spectacular Stalk + Spade
photo via Stalk + Spade
Vegetarians and vegans, don’t click away after seeing that picture!
There is now a good-tasting, good-lookng, good-feeling plant-based alternative to McDonald’s or Wendy’s. Stalk + Spade is located in Wayzata, but has location in Edina, the North Loop, Iowa, and Florida coming soon.
Stalk + Spade is a up-and-coming plant-based restaurant founded and created by Steele Smiley in 2014. He is also the CEO and founder of Crisp & Green (yum!) The story behind the showstopping Stalk + Spade is quite simple — Smiley was recommended by his doctor to go plant-based with his diet and realized much more energy and mental clarity. When your dad runs Crisp & Green, you tend to eat a lot of salads for dinner. One night while standing in line at Crisp & Green, with his 11-year-old son, Asher, the boy turned to Smiley and asked, “Why can’t I just get a burger?” “I started developing the concept that day,” Smiley said he “started developing the concept that day” because his son “forced [him] to think differently!” (Smiley, 2022).
photo via Stalk + Spade
Stalk + Spade is 100% plant-based and dairy-free. They believe that great-tasting, healthy food should also be accessible and convenient. Their menu offers a wide selection of plant-based fast food alternatives, including hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chick’n sandwiches, chick’n nuggets, fries, salads, wraps and frozen treats. Looking at their menu will have you jumping in your car to drive to Wayzata and get some immediately! Some of their most popular items are the Spicy Sriracha Chick’n Sandwich and the Classic S+S Burger. To pair — you can’t pass up a side of fries (sweet potato or original) and an Oreo Cookie Shake (dairy-free, of course!). What could be better?
via Stalk + Spade
Stalk + Spade is also community driven and centered, just like us here at #FWMN. They believe in making plant-based meals accessible for all, and are passionate about people 100% of the time. Stalk + Spade gave back nearly $10,000 this past fall/winter to local organizations/non-profits/schools/sports teams through in-kind donations and fundraising events at their store. They also host community events each month to connect and bring people together - that's really unique for a restaurant.
So what’s next for Stalk + Spade? Besides staying involved in community and continuing to provide us with delicious, healthy food, their Edina Grand Opening is just about a month away (they haven't officially announced the date yet) and then the North Loop location will be open in early Summer. They also will be will also be entering completely new territories - Miami and Iowa - this year. Their brand at large is in growth mode — and we don’t see that stopping anytime soon!
We urge everyone to become regular patrons at Stalk + Spade and spread awareness in the community whenever you can. We are so grateful that we get to partner with them for #FWMN and cannot wait to see what they accomplish next. Connect with them on Instagram @stalkandspade to stay in the loop!
via Stalk + Spade