New JoCo restaurant is as ‘healthy as you wanna be,’ and there’s even a secret menu item

Lauren Kuthan was just a seventh-grader when her parents opened their first restaurant, now known as Doc Green’s Gourmet Salads & Grill, in Wichita. But she remembers being so excited for them.

Now her enthusiasm is as majority owner of her first location (and first for the family in the KC metro). It opened in late October in Olathe Station, 15141 W. 119th St., Olathe.

“I just really believe in our product, the food that we are serving our customers,” Kuthan said. “I’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of love we have received from our customers and the Olathe community.”

Her parents, Scott and Tammi Kuthan, become franchisees of the Atlanta-based Doc Green’s Gourmet Salad & Sandwich Bar in 2006, and a couple of years later made an agreement with the owner to go out on their own. They could tweak the name and menu, and expand in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Colorado, Nebraska and Texas.

They now have four locations in Wichita and plan to open one Kansas City metro location each year for the next three to four years. They may franchise in the other states.

Customers can select from a variety of specialty salads, including the two top sellers: dr. fiesta (with black bean and corn salsa), and the dr. tomahawk (with barbecue grilled chicken and jalapeno ranch dressing). Doc Green’s has a variety of ingredients and dressings so customers can come up with their own creations.

The menu also includes wraps, panini (beef tenderloin, and turkey jalapeno ranch are the two most popular), sandwiches, soups, and sides such as corn casserole, grilled zucchini and squash, and white cheddar mashed potatoes.

Customers also can order meals: chicken tenders, roasted turkey, grilled beef tenderloin or grilled salmon with a choice of two sides for lunch or dinner. The turkey is roasted overnight for 12 hours.

A Doc Green’s secret menu item? The “corn and mac,” half corn casserole, half mac-and-cheese. One customer recently ordered eight to go.

Customers place their order, then can walk down the line of the open kitchen to watch it being prepared, and they pay at the end. Dine-in customers get a number and employees bring the order to them. It also offers express pick-up where customers can order and pay through its app.

Lauren Kuthan had been a nurse for five years before joining her parents in the restaurant business. Their next location will probably open in late 2020 in Johnson County.

“I’m still helping people so I feel so good at the end of the day,” she said. “I’m still promoting a healthy diet and lifestyle.”

Pei Wei Asian Grill formerly occupied the space. Kuthan remodeled using touches of barn wood, adding greenery such as succulents, and high-top tables that have been taken over by birthday parties and customers who meet nearly daily for business meetings.

Doc Green’s is open from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. It also has a catering operation.