"Mediterranean fast-casual chain Noon Mediterranean (formerly known as Verts) is now being converted into yet another chain restaurant: the California-based Daphne’s Mediterranean. The transformation into the new chain will apply to all six of Noon’s Austin-area locations starting in March 2019 at the 1920 East Riverside Drive restaurant. Noon filed for bankruptcy in August under co-founders Michael Heyne and Dominik Stein. That followed by several location shutters across the country, including the Austin-area’s Round Rock and Hill Country Galleria, plus it laid off staffers. Daphne’s acquired Noon earlier this year, and Heyne and Stein are no longer involved. Daphne’s resulting menu will include some dishes from Noon’s, as well as its Greek-minded Mediterranean fare. This means customizable bowls and salads, along with plated entrees, with items like gyros, grilled seafood, gyro fries, falafels, kale quinoa tabbouleh, and more. The menu will be overseen by Daphne’s and parent company Elite Restaurant Group’s culinary director James Bailey. Elite expects the restaurant renovations to take about a week for each location. It plans on maintaining Noon’s staff. The same changes will happen for restaurants in Dallas, Houston, and Boston. Heyne and Stein opened VertsKebap in 2011 as a German-style street food cart. It expanded quickly with restaurants across Austin, Texas, and the East Coast, plus underwent a slight name change to Verts in 2016. The company decided to do away with the Verts name completely, changing it to Noon Mediterranean, hoping it would clarify the type of restaurant chain it was, in 2017." - Nadia Chaudhury
