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Alfalfa, a healthy fast casual food concept launched by three Hoboken natives, officially opened its second restaurant in New Jersey.

Located in Jersey City’s Powerhouse Arts District at 160 1st St., the restaurant offers a variety of fresh food options, ranging from salads and wraps to doughnuts and breakfast burritos—all of which are crafted from high-quality, locally sourced ingredients.

The April 8 grand opening was especially meaningful for Alfalfa founders Dan Sobsey, Dan Londono and Andrew Arrospide, as the store is just down the street from St. Peter’s Preparatory School, where the trio originally met and became friends years ago.

After pursuing their own careers in the corporate world, the childhood friends reunited in 2018 with a mission of inspiring healthy communities through food and experiences.

Alfalfa started out as a vendor at a farmers market in Hoboken and then expanded into a pop-up before opening its first storefront in the city in 2019. Two years later, Alfalfa launched its second location in Santa Monica, Calif.

Arrospide said, “We are absolutely thrilled to expand the Alfalfa community into Jersey City. Opening this location has been all the more meaningful given our personal connection to the area. It’s definitely been a full circle experience for all of us being here together again.”

The brand is also celebrating a few other milestones, including the planned opening of its second location in Los Angeles’ historic Larchmont neighborhood this summer. And, Alfalfa will be a food vendor at Southern California’s signature music and arts festival, Coachella, which will be held over two weekends in April.

The expansion comes just a few months after Alfalfa raised $2 million in seed funding to help the chain expand across both Southern California and the New York City area. The financing will also help enhance the company’s in-house, AI-enabled food preparation tools to improve kitchen efficiency.

Along with growing its brick-and-mortar footprint, Alfalfa says it remains committed to offering jobs designed to reduce turnover and to providing curated food pairings that complement the brand’s holistic approach to prioritizing physical and mental health.

“The salad category has tremendous growth ahead. As founders, we want to elevate the salad conversation beyond physical health to include mental health,” said Londono. “We believe in the health benefits that come from high-quality and nourishing ingredients, but also appreciate the spark of joy that the occasional indulgence brings.”