Customers make their own custom bowls by choosing their own meats, vegetables and toppings[/caption] The restaurant features a modern setting with
concrete floors, wall art and high tin ceilings.[/caption]

Huti’s 5 Free-Fire Grill opened Oct. 5 in The Woodlands and is building a customer base by offering customers a new take on fast-food dining.

Owner Chris Osborne said the South American-inspired eatery offers made-from-scratch food in a fast environment, giving customers the chance to get healthier food on the run.

“The thesis of this restaurant and why this is concept is original to The Woodlands is that I believe businesses are made to be solutions to problems,” Osborne said. “A lifestyle challenge is that people are time-starved [and] busy. They want to know how they can eat out quickly without eating fast food. This is a place you can go if you only have 30 minutes to eat and don’t want to compromise your food choices.”

True to its slogan “What’s your 5?,” the restaurant serves food in a five-step process via a serving line that allows customers to order what they want. Customers first choose a protein food option, such as steak, chicken or salmon. Then a base is chosen, such as brown or white rice or fresh organic vegetables. Customers can then choose sides, such as quinoa salad or fire-roasted corn, and top their selections off with sauces and toppings.

Osborne said there has been an increase in foot traffic since the restaurant opened in October.

“In the first 30 days [that Huti’s 5 has been] open, people have loved the food, and we keep seeing them come in over and over again,” he said.

Besides offering customers natural, fresh food, Osborne also gives customers the opportunity to dispose of their trash in a natural way. By using the Trash Stash, customers can put their empty bowls in labeled recycling cans.

“If the food is natural, we want to be natural in disposing [waste] as well,” Osborne said.

He said the natural aspect of Huti’s 5 is what makes the restaurant unique, along with its 5-step concept and its mascot, Don Kee Huti, a donkey that is the face of Huti’s 5.  Osborne created the mascot after he was inspired by a donkey on his own farm.

As far as creating more Huti’s 5’s locations in the future, Osborne said that is a definite possibility.

“My philosophy is that I build one successful restaurant at a time,” he said. “There is a possibility on the horizon to create another one in the right community in the right time.”