By Cliff Lewis

The empty storefront at the southwest corner of Prince and W Orange Streets will soon become home to the “Green Man Café”, which, as owner Richard Mellinger described it, will be an eco-friendly and organic shop with a “European flavor.” Mellinger sat at an old table from the “Starving Artist Café”—which shut down several months ago after a brief run at this 106 W Orange address. The tables and chairs will be replaced, explained Mellinger, who is currently working to replace the existing purple décor with earthier, more natural tones.

This will be the first restaurant in Downtown Lancaster to deliberately market itself as “green.”

The goal of the café is to be “ecologically sound and organically oriented.” To this end, “Green Man” will work with reusable dishes and cups to reduce waste; and for take-out packaging, they are contracting with an eco-friendly supplier for biodegradable materials (“no Styrofoam or plastics”). Both the organic and green priorities will also be served by using local food products: “We will be over at Central Market, looking for items over there rather than buying through a wholesaler-where it could come from California and you don’t know where it’s been.”

“Green Man Café” will serve breakfast and lunch. For breakfast there will be made-to-order omelets, baked oatmeal, porridge, and fresh baked croissants; for lunch there will be soups, salads, sandwiches, paninis, and smoothies. And, throughout the day, the café will serve coffee, cappuccinos, lattes, etc. Mellinger noted that the café will always offer a good selection of vegetarian options.

For students of the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, there will be a permanent 10% discount: “A lot of them live down at Stevens house, and they travel past here twice a day, going to school.”

Mellinger expects that the “Green Man Café” will open sometime around July 1. Once up and running, the café will keep hours from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. to serve the breakfast and lunch crowds. On First and Third Fridays, “Green Man Café” will stay open into the evening.