Today on the Oregon Brewery Running Series podcast, we’re talking about one of my favorite places to eat in the whole world, Laughing Planet. If you’re not from the Portland area, Laughing Planet is a small chain of local, quick service restaurants in the Portland Metro (also with locations in Bend, Eugene, Corvallis, and Reno, Nevada).
Laughing Planet is hard to classify into one particular food category. They offer burritos, bowls, and salads, but it’s not Mexican food. You have to experience it. Michael Firth, the General Manager at my local Laughing Planet location, in the Hollywood district of NE Portland, describes it this way.
You can get this legitimate farm-to-table, nutritious meal made by happy people that give a damn about what they’re doing. You know and how they like, just influence this world in their daily lives by doing the right thing. But you get that for like 25 bucks!
In today’s episode, we’re going to be talking to Michael and the owner and CEO of Laughing Planet, Franz Spielvogel, about what makes this place so unique. You’ll get to learn:
- How Laughing Planet came to be
- What makes Laughing Planet a farm-to-table restaurant
- Their approach to creating nutritious, delicious food
- How they are trying to create a happy, fun dining experience for both their employee’s and guests
And more! Listen Now.
Why We Love Laughing Planet
Laughing Planet holds a special place in my heart. When we moved to Portland from Minneapolis, our stuff was delayed, and I swear we ate at Laughing Planet for a week straight. It never got old, and we continue to eat there around once a week. Part of what keeps us going back is not just the delicious, healthy food, or the fact that my kids love it (which is a huge bonus), but also the friendly people who work there. They never even let us clean up after the kids have thrown a ton of food on the floor! It’s also pretty cool that they offer craft beer, wine, kombucha, and in some locations, margaritas.
Laughing Planet is one of the Oregon Brewery Running Series small business partners in 2017. We reached out to them because they are a company we aspire to become. Their values seem to align with our own, and with what we hope to grow into as an organization that gives back to the community. Consider all the good they do the next time you eat there.
About the Podcast
The Oregon Brewery Running Series Podcast is a weekly show dedicated to inspiring Oregonians to Get Active, Have Fun, and Give Back. We host untimed family-friendly 5K fun runs that start and end at some of Oregon’s best breweries. Register for our next run using promo code LaughingPlanet5 to save $5.
