{"id":33098,"date":"2023-02-14T08:00:44","date_gmt":"2023-02-14T16:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=30000029758"},"modified":"2023-03-20T00:01:28","modified_gmt":"2023-03-20T07:01:28","slug":"new-health-conscious-restaurant-with-meals-to-go-opens-at-former-berlin-bistro-location","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/food\/new-health-conscious-restaurant-with-meals-to-go-opens-at-former-berlin-bistro-location","title":{"rendered":"New health-conscious restaurant, with meals to-go, opens at former Berlin Bistro location"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When Chris Sweeney was driving to work over 50 miles a day in a run-down car, with a negative bank account and a non-working phone, he never imagined that the \u201csimple habit of packing a healthy lunch\u201d would change his life forever.<\/p>\n<p>As a former Division I athlete, Sweeney had honed the discipline of taking care of his body and eating consistently nourishing meals like brown rice, chicken and broccoli while running track and field as a walk-on at Cal State Long Beach.<\/p>\n<p>That high-performance background is now the basis for Sweeney\u2019s meal delivery service RightMealz, which recently opened a dine-in storefront on Fourth Street, but it would take a serendipitous twist of fate and Sweeney\u2019s persistent drive to get him where he is today.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI keep wanting someone to pinch me,\u201d Sweeney said. \u201cIn 2015 I had no idea that the path I was on was going to lead to all this.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10000082632\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10000082632\" style=\"width: 1110px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/0202-food-6\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10000082632\" src=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/03125533\/0202-Food-6-1110x670.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1110\" height=\"670\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10000082632\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chris Sweeney, owner of RightMealz, inside his new restaurant in Long Beach Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The seed for his new business came in 2015 as he was struggling to make it as a Realtor. Sweeney\u2019s bank account was withdrawn $56 when a coworker asked him to make a week\u2019s worth of the same healthy meals Sweeney brought to the office. The coworker said he would pay $120 for the service, which Sweeney gladly accepted. He bought, cooked and packaged the meals, and delivered them the next day.<\/p>\n<p>When he got home later that day, Sweeney was shocked when he turned on his computer and was buried in Facebook notifications from people requesting weekly meal plans after they\u2019d seen a picture of what his co-worker had posted online.<\/p>\n<p>After a few weeks of cooking over 50 meals in his home for other customers, Sweeney was able to quit his job, get his car out of the impound and start his company, RightMealz.<\/p>\n<p>Between 2016 and 2019, Sweeney said he \u201cwas a one-man-show,\u201d cooking, packaging, and delivering sometimes up to 200 meals a week, all while working as a bartender at Boathouse on the Bay.<\/p>\n<p>Sweeney said that during the 2020 pandemic, when all the restaurants shut down, he experienced a significant surge in people ordering his meal plans.<\/p>\n<p>As word of mouth began to spread about RightMealz, so did his client list, which now includes professional athletes from Olympians to NFL players. In February he opened his first brick-and-mortar restaurant on Fourth Street, the former location of Berlin Bistro. RightMealz offers breakfast and lunch menu items based upon the dietary principles of professional athletes.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10000082634\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10000082634\" style=\"width: 1110px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/0202-food-2\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10000082634\" src=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/03125541\/0202-Food-2-1110x921.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1110\" height=\"921\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10000082634\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chef Victor Barboza holds a turkey chorizo burger at RightMealz restaurant in Long Beach Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI look at our bodies as exotic vehicles, per se,\u201d Sweeney said. \u201cThey need the proper fuel and nutrition to perform, and you can\u2019t put regular fuel in an exotic car.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sweeney hired\u00a0 Chef Victor Barboza\u2014once a sous-chef at Boathouse on the Bay\u2014to take the lead in creating a gourmet style health-focused menu.<\/p>\n<p>Barboza said he is able to \u201cmarry health and taste\u201d in dishes like the grilled veggies and hummus ($14.95), by focusing on enhancing the flavor through the use of natural oils and fresh herbs\u2014all crafted in-house.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_10000082633\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10000082633\" style=\"width: 1110px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/0202-food-0\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10000082633\" src=\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/03125537\/0202-Food-0-1110x741.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1110\" height=\"741\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-10000082633\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rise &amp; Shine Salad at RightMealz restaurant in Long Beach Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Some of the dishes include a breakfast burger made with a chorizo turkey patty and egg ($19) and a breakfast salad with arugula, quinoa, egg and garbanzo beans ($16); lunch options include grilled chicken lettuce wraps ($15.95) and a kale chop salad ($15). RightMealz also offers a monthly plan ($260) that includes a range of packaged to-go meals.<\/p>\n<p>RightMealz has a coffee, juice and smoothie bar, made fresh to order, ranging from $3 to $11, as well as a wine and beer menu.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRightMealz changed my life for the better,\u201d Sweeney said. \u201cIt brought a new light to my life, essentially saving me, and I can share that with others by just simply offering them a great product that\u2019s healthy and nutritious.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><i>RightMealz is located at 420 E. Fourth St. For more information, <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rightmealz.com\/\"><i>click here<\/i><\/a><i>.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The seed for Chris Sweeney&#8217;s RightMealz business came in 2015 when a co-worker asked him to make healthy meals for a week. Now he&#8217;s opened his first brick-and-mortar restaurant. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":304,"featured_media":72272,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[153,871],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32071],"class_list":["post-33098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food","tag-food","tag-restaurants","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/304"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33098"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33098\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72617,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33098\/revisions\/72617"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33098"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=33098"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=33098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}