Sunland Park Mall’s Greenery Restaurant about to be sold, will remain open

The Greenery Restaurant, an El Paso favorite inside Sunland Park Mall, is changing ownership for the first time in 35 years.

Owner Mark Heins, 63, confirmed to ABC-7 Tuesday the Greenery is in the process of being sold, but says the restaurant will remain open.

“It will remain there in the same place, and hopefully, with this move it will really propel it to the next level,” Heins said.

The restaurateur has owned several different restaurants in El Paso over the years, including the former “2900” and “Crust” on North Mesa Street. Heins declined to say what he plans to do next, but indicated he would reveal that early next week.

“Why I did this has very little to do with the Greenery and much more to do with where I am in my life, what my goals are and how I hope to achieve those goals in the future,” Heins told ABC-7. “It’s been an ongoing process for well over a year. It’s not something that just happened. It has been planned out.”

The Greenery opened in 1981. The restaurant’s web site states its 150-item menu features “World Cuisine with a Southwestern Influence” and “reflects seasonal ingredients and current dining trends, along with an extensive variety not found in any other area restaurant.”

Heins declined to talk about his next venture except to call it “a big project.”

“I think people will be thrilled about the new ownership (of Greenery),” Heins said. “I think it will do wonders for the restaurant and for Sunland Park Mall. Greenery is 35 years old and I’m 63. It needs some youth and vitality. Everybody is a winner on this and I get to go do something I really love.”