Amid the industrial buildings of San Francisco's Dogpatch, hungry people on lunch breaks. A crowd forms in the loading dock at 958 Illinois Street, all of them eager to receive food from Kitchenette- a small, lunch only, take-out restaurant.

Inside the quaint restaurant, Tyler, a petite brunette, stands behind a counter draped in a red-checkered vinyl tablecloth. She is surrounded by empty ice tubs and boxes of various types of stemware, relics from their other business, LRE catering. Tyler whispers orders to the kitchen through a headset.

"Three and one," says Tyler referring to the meatball sandwich and corn dish on today's menu, as she organizes tags on the line and coordinates boxes freshly delivered from the kitchen.

In an attempt to serve the freshest take-out possible, all of Kitchenette's food is made to order.

Kitchenette has no servers. The only options for seating are two benches set below the dock or a street curb just across the way. Though the accommodations are modest the small, daily-changing menu is anything but. Made from organic ingredients sourced from local vendors, the cuisine is as diverse as the people of San Francisco.

"The Dogpatch Millionaire, our Indian-inspired fried-chicken sandwich, and Korean Tacos are certainly the most popular items we serve," says Tyler proudly. "The line gets crazy when those are the menu."

Other menu items include Vietnamese-style banh mi sandwiches, pozole, and pizzettas, just to name a few.

Just one of many lunch-only options in the city that are new on the scene, Kitchenette sets itself apart from others with its commitment to eco-friendly business practices and economy-friendly prices. Most items are between $3 and $11 dollars.

An exemplary green restaurant from the loading dock to the kitchen, this certified-green business goes above and beyond San Francisco's restaurant standards. An energy-star efficient refrigerator takes up a portion of the large apartment-sized kitchen. The single rectangular waste bin for the entire kitchen is not even yet half full. The other four are large, round; blue and green recycle or compost bins.

"We have had to change over all the kitchen equipment, and lighting to be certified green...there's a lot of upfront costs but the payoff is priceless," says David Elias, the sous chef as he throws yet another batch of meatballs in the oven while eyeballing corn cobs on the grill.

There are no dishes at Kitchenette as everything is made with the intent of being taken away. All the foodservice ware is either compost able or recyclable. The cutlery is made from non-GMO cornstarch that breaks down in about 180 days. The napkins and to-go boxes are made from recycled paper, which can be recycled again. The cups, straws and lids that hold the quenching, also daily changing juice refreshers are made from PLA biopolymer. A resin made entirely from plants that composts in as little as 50 days.

" A green business is all about attitude, not comparing costs to a full-service restaurant or café," explains David.

Kitchenette uses organic vegetable oils as much as possible. The city picks up the oil in drums and recycles it for free. It's a win-win. Kitchenette saves money by not paying a third-party to recycle the oil. The city then turns the oil into bio-diesel, which goes back into powering service vehicles.

Little goes to waste at Kitchenette, according to Tyler they come close to selling out everyday. At the end of every shift a hungry staff eats what is left behind.
And, if there is still food left over, Food Runners, an organization that delivers food to shelters picks up what is left at Kitchenette. Although they pride themselves on avoiding waste, there is a single trash can in the kitchen.