Oprah Winfrey-Backed True Food Kitchen Eyes Las Vegas Next

Created by Dr. Andrew Weil and boosted earlier this year by a “significant equity investment” from new member to the board of directors, former talk show host Oprah Winfrey, health-conscious restaurant chain True Food Kitchen will debut two Las Vegas expansions next year.

Already promising to be ready by fall 2019, the first will take over the shuttered Crave American Kitchen & Sushi Bar at Downtown Summerlin, sitting next door to gastropub Public School 702. The original Crave footprint featured a fire pit and outdoor patio.

Long rumored, the second location will move into an existing retail space near the Las Vegas Boulevard entrance of the Forum Shops at Caesars, close to another 2019 arrival, San Francisco’s The Slanted Door.

The exact site has been withheld while the retailers remain in business, but paperwork for the interior remodel was filed last month with an estimated construction budget of $1.4 million and an overall budget of $8.5 million. Yet to be publicly announced, the timetable for completion should also last until at least next fall.

True Kitchen has 23 locations in 10 states with a menu of bowls, pizzas, salads, and sandwiches, plus seasonally inspired entrees including “responsibly sourced striped bass, “gluten friendly” spaghetti squash casserole, grass-fed steak tacos, and lasagna bolognese.

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