Omnivore welcomed to Palmer with ribbon cutting ceremony

PALMER— The new Omnivore restaurant in downtown Palmer drew a large crowd during the grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday, March 17, according to owner Emerald Kroeker.

“We had a really nice turnout,” Kroeker said.

Omnivore originally started out as a food truck two years ago. Kroeker said that she didn’t really anticipate opening a full-fledged restaurant, but she decided to take the leap into a whole new world when the opportunity arose.

Kroeker said that the flow of customers has been taking off much quicker than she anticipated, and it’s taken a lot of hard work to adjust from operating alone within the small space of her food truck to managing a whole crew and brick and mortar establishment.

Kroeker said that she’s encouraged by all the positive feedback from the community and she feels very welcome in Palmer. She said that she’s feeling positive about her future growing the restaurant in the cozy, walkable community with so many supportive businesses like Poppy Lane Mercantile who presented them with a welcoming basket when they first opened.

“There’s just a really good community feel here,” Kroeker said.

Kroeker said they launched their dessert menu during the grand opening and that has been very well received. She said some of their most popular menu items to date include balsamic peach chicken and the avocado steak salad.

The Omnivore restaurant features the most popular items from the food truck along with several new choices. Kroeker said that she plans to rotate the menu on a regular basis. She said that her goal for the restaurant is an extension of what she set out to do two years ago when she first opened her food truck, providing healthy and flavorful meals from scratch.

Kroeker plans to retain the Omnivore food truck for events and marketplaces like Friday Fling. She said that she’s gearing up for the summer, and the first event to kick off her season will be at the Alaska Vintage Market at the Alaska State Fairgrounds in May.

Omnivore currently occupies the space that formerly held Humdinger’s Gourmet Pizza Co. It’s located at 173 South Valley in Palmer. For more information, call 907-290-1653 or visit omnivorealaska.com.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com