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Bluestem owner Skyler Hoiland continues to create ways to offer his food selection to customers looking to bring tastes from the popular eatery home.
On Monday Hoiland and his staff of 14 officially opened Bluestem Grab & Go in the East Main Street catering facility he opened several years ago.
While Hoiland continues to offer catering services, the new Grab & Go service offers individual and family meals in a more convenient way.
“We will have certain aspects of the Bluestem here,” he said. “I’ve been super excited that more people have been spending time at home eating together and I want to help promote that a little more.”
The coronavirus pandemic caused the closing of the Bluestem restaurant last spring, and Hoiland chose not to reopen the South Highway 75 location.
Instead, for the past 10 months, he recreated many former restaurant menu items for a Take & Bake business, utilizing online ordering and Thursday-Friday pickup from his catering facility.
Now with more than three dozen reheatable or cold meal options, Hoiland is expanding selections for the in-person Grab & Go store.
The Take & Bake selections, which are ready in an hour for a family sit-down meal, will continue to be available.
All items continue to encompass Hoiland’s passion for food and cooking.
“The best part about this is that I don’t have to stay with a dedicated menu that I serve every day and every night,” he said. “I get to change the menu up weekly and come up with daily specials.”
The Grab & Go will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. The business is closed on Sundays.
A handicap-accessible entrance on the catering facility’s south side allows customers to enter, peruse the display shelf and grab items for breakfast, lunch and/or supper.
The facility features no indoor seating.
As a Grab & Go, Hoiland said he’s able to offer daily specials of hot breakfast and lunch meals, along with a selection of microwavable and cold meal options, which include sandwich wraps, Bluestem salads, soups and fresh bread.
All items are sold individually, and beverages including coffee, juice, pop and energy drinks are also available.
Some items, such as the restaurant’s popular rib eye steak, will not be available exactly as they were on a restaurant menu.
“What I could give to you on a plate is definitely different than in an oven-able container,” he said. “But I can take elements of steak and give customers a touch of the Bluestem.”
Those elements may include the sale of his compound butter or meat seasonings for at-home use.