Pioneering organic restaurant the Good Earth has closed in Roseville

One of the Twin Cities' earliest adopters of organic, farm-driven dining has closed.

The Good Earth in Roseville served its last cashew chicken sandwich on July 31. The lease at the Hwy. 36 restaurant ended, according to operator Parasole Restaurant Holdings.

"It's a sad day for us," said Donna Fahs, Parasole's chief operating officer. "But it was over 40 years we were in business, and the current lease expired, and we just said, we'd had a very good run."

When the Good Earth debuted in the late 1970s, few restaurants were sourcing ingredients from local growers. The Good Earth focused on cooking with products that were free of hormones and antibiotics, a category of food that was classified at the time merely as "health food."

"It was a pioneer," Fahs said. It opened "when organic and natural was a little weird in the Midwest, and the Good Earth was ahead of its time."

The Galleria location of the Good Earth remains open, and is now the last location standing of a chain that once also dotted the California coast. Staffers from Roseville are being offered jobs there or at other Parasole restaurants.

Holders of Good Earth gift cards can use them at the Edina location or any other Parasole restaurant, including Pittsburgh Blue, Manny's Steakhouse and Salut Bar Américain.