Salads, sandwiches and soups on tap as Bellingham gets three eateries

Helen Neville is all in when it comes to offering something new to the Bellingham restaurant scene.

Neville is in the process of opening three eateries called Mix in Bellingham, she told The Bellingham Herald in an interview. The first restaurant will open Oct. 10 at 215 W. Holly St., near Goat Mountain Pizza. Next month she will open a location in Barkley Village, followed by one at 902 N. State St. in early 2019.

There’s plenty of variety on Mix’s menu. One focus is salads, that offer customers choices of vegetables, cheese, grains and protein. The next is “Mixwiches,” or sandwiches that include salads on fresh flatbread. The third area is soup that comes from Bellingham’s Cauldron Broths. Soups on the menu include Boat Noodle Beef and Chicken Verde Pozole.

There’s also a children’s menu and a dessert list that includes a soft-serve custard from Lopez Island Creamery.

It’s a quick-serve format where customers can choose their ingredients for the salads and sandwiches based on what they see in front of them.

Neville has plenty of experience with business openings, having spent 25 years in the grocery business which included management positions at Haggen and Seattle’s Metropolitan Market. While she’s enjoyed working in the grocery industry, she said she was working long hours and commuting to Seattle and lost some of that passion. She knows she’ll remain very busy with this venture, but will be doing it closer to home and gives her a chance to focus on food and customers.

Opening three eateries in a short period of time is not typical for a business start-up, but Neville said she wanted to show a commitment to the community as well as establish market share.

“It’s not the best thing if you want to sleep,” Neville said with a laugh. “But I’m all-in with this.”

Neville said she also spent time working with vendors to get the right mix of locally sourced ingredients into her eatery. Other local vendors include Twin Sisters Creamery, Wander Brewing and Seattle’s Dreamland.

While going through the process, the one thing that’s left her in awe is all of the support she’s received in the business community, particularly other nearby restaurants.

“It’s an exciting time in Bellingham and it feels like there is so much support,” Neville said.

Hours for Mix are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. For further details visit Mix’s Facebook page or MixRestaurants.com.