The Rutti’s Story
Rutabagas was launched in the summer of 2018 by Chef + Owner Sara Brown. There was a need in the Lincoln community for plant-based comfort food options, as as a self-proclaimed foodie. self-taught chef, with restauranteur blood running through her veins, Sara knew she was just the person for this adventure.
After spending nearly a year in a private commercial kitchen testing and releasing dishes to the public for feedback and popping up at local breweries and events to sell her popular dishes, it was time to take Rutti’s to the next level, and see if a restaurant concept could be supported.
Rutabagas opened as a restaurant-concept in the Fall of 2019, operating with limited hours as a temporary arrangement in the old Spaghetti Works at 12th and P for 8 months. It became immediately clear that Lincoln could support an entirely vegan, full service restaurant. Sara felt confident in finding Rutabagas a “forever home” and finding a space to make their own.
The lease was signed March 2020 for Rutabagas very own restaurant space, a place to call home, in the old Lazarri’s spot at 1434 O Street, in the heart of downtown Lincoln. Renovation was well underway as COVID was impacting our community and wreaking havoc on the restaurant industry. Despite the pandemic, Rutabagas opened its doors as a full service restaurant to the public in May 2020.
In the summer of 2021, Sara welcomed a sweet little ruta-baby boy to the team and Cormac became the youngest known dishwasher in the city.
After enduring the pandemic and all the challenges that followed from it for nearly 18 months, Sara made the incredibly difficult decision to close the doors of the restaurant Christmas Eve 2021.
In February 2022, Rutabagas returned to its roots and secured a private commercial shared kitchen space and operated from there, focusing on large catering events, pop ups, and weekly meal offerings.
In August of 2022, Rutabagas debuted as a food truck and hit the road! Borrowing a food truck from a dear friend, Sara was able to serve food all around the city (and even surrounding cities) from the food truck window. Sun, rain or snow… nothing stopped her! In March of 2023, her time in the food truck ended, and she served out of the Harbor Coffee Shop a few nights a week until this journey became VERY full circle.
In May of 2023, the space that gave Sara her start back in 2018, was vacated and became available for rent. Sara IMMEDIATELY jumped at the opportunity, and the rest is history. A few months later, Sara was given the keys and officially (re)opened Rutabagas as a restaurant in August of 2023.
Since August of 2023, Sara has been operating the restaurant with scaled back hours to maintain some work-life balance and is operating with a small but incredibly mighty team. Bingo is hosted every Thursday night, cooking classes take place a couple times a month, and Sara has never felt more at home or more at peace.
June of 2024: Sara is planning to overhaul a delivery truck that was very generously gifted to her from Pepsi and get Rutti on the road again as a food truck for all those fun summer events. Stay tuned!