Fresh Take | Fresh and flavorful
WHEN BILL VORMBROCK PUT HIS LIFE’S SAVINGS into a new business called Fresh Take Market in January 2020, he planned to focus on fresh produce and deli products. But when pandemic shutdowns hit, he added a new product to his Taylorsville operation.
“It was a Tuesday, and I fired up the grill,” Vormbrock remembers. “Everybody saw the smoke, and they started coming in.”
Today, the renamed Fresh Take Deli & Grill serves salads, soups, sandwiches, deli products, desserts and more—but the best seller is still a flame-seared, 1/2 pound beef patty. “We sell more burgers, three to one, to any sandwich,” Vormbrock says.
Customers also love rotating plate lunches like loaded nachos, pot roast or loaded jumbo baked potato, as well as deli products like chicken salad, broccoli salad and pasta salad. Fresh, top-quality ingredients and friendly service, he says, are what keep customers coming back. Vormbrock has a staff of 13, including Deli Manager Rita Pemberton, a nearly 50-year food industry veteran. “I would not be in business right now if it wasn’t for Rita,” he says.
Vormbrock served seven years in the Navy following high school, then earned a business degree from the University of Louisville and spent 12 years in retail management. He says those experiences reinforced his work ethic and developed his communication skills. They also taught him something else: “I told my wife that if I’m going to kill myself working for a company, I’d rather own it,” he says.
Fresh Take is a family endeavor. Vormbrock owns the restaurant with his wife, Kelley. Their 23-year-old daughter, Faith, manages the business, and younger children Kayla, 17, and Chase, 13, help in the restaurant as well. Vormbrock also points to his late father, Larry, as a formative influence.
“I don’t have any kind of culinary background or anything like that,” he says. “My dad was a good cook, and I learned a lot from him.”
Vormbrock sees his business as an opportunity to give back to the community. He dedicates space to sell locally produced honey, goat milk soaps, candles and wax melts, and during the growing season, he hosts the Saturday farmers market in his parking lot. In October, he partnered with the local fired department to host a chop cook-off, raising more than $1,000 to benefit Crusade for Children. “I like to do things like that for the community,” says.
Served by Salt River RECC, Fresh Take Deli & Grill is located at 751 Taylorsville Rd in Taylorsville, open Monday–Friday 7 a.m.–7 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m.–7 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m.–6 p.m. Learn more on Facebook or at freshtakemarket.com.
