While indulgent options may abound, many cities are havens for health-conscious individuals seeking delicious and nutritious meals. From farm-to-table restaurants to innovative cafes, urban centers offer a diverse range of healthy food choices. This guide explores some of the best healthy food options in various cities, highlighting restaurants and dishes that prioritize fresh, wholesome ingredients and balanced nutrition.
Austin, Texas: A Hub for Healthy Eats
Austin, Texas, often recognized for its fitness-oriented culture, presents a vibrant landscape of healthy dining options. Beyond the typical Tex-Mex and BBQ fare, the city boasts numerous establishments catering to health-conscious individuals. Many Austinites embrace an active lifestyle, engaging in activities such as running, biking on Lady Bird Lake, swimming at Deep Eddy Pool, rock climbing at Crux Climbing Center, hiking around Hamilton Pool, and paddle boarding.
- Koriente: This casual, pan-Asian spot in downtown Austin is ideal for a quick, healthy meal. With a focus on vegetables and rice, Koriente offers large portions of dishes like curries, bibimbap, and sautéed creations. Popular choices include the Obake Bowl A with chicken and brown rice, the Papaya Salad with Ahi Tuna, and the vegetarian summer rice paper rolls. A cinnamon iced tea without sugar is a refreshing and unique beverage option.
- Casa de Luz: This macrobiotic, ayurvedic, vegan restaurant provides a peaceful and healthful dining experience. Known for its communal atmosphere and affordable prices, Casa de Luz offers a daily menu consisting of soup, salad, and an entrée, often featuring kale with almond sauce, beans, rice, and a main dish. The guacamole taco and butternut squash are particularly noteworthy.
- Swedish Hill: This establishment offers a selection of healthy options, including rotisserie chicken and cold salads from their refrigerated case. The Clarksville Crunch Salad, with kale, cauliflower, almonds, seeds, and tahini, is a great choice for a light lunch.
- Honest Mary’s: True to its name, Honest Mary's provides salad bowls that emphasize healthy ingredients and balanced nutrition. The Songbird bowl, featuring black forbidden rice, steamed kale, rainbow carrots, beets, and pumpkin seeds, is a dairy-free and gluten-free option. Adding grilled, naturally raised chicken enhances the protein content of the dish.
- Pho Please: This spot is known for its Grilled Chicken Rice Paper Rolls and Salad, which includes a fried egg, pickled veggies, cabbage, and fish sauce. Adding shrimp to the salad enhances its flavor and nutritional value. The Nuoc Cham sauce and pickled vegetables are particularly appealing.
- FoodHeads: This "Old Austin" establishment offers a relaxed atmosphere and a menu with healthy choices. The Chicken & Eggplant Sandwich is a popular option, and the half sandwich paired with half soup or salad combo provides a balanced meal. The dairy-free sweet potato soup is a creamy and flavorful choice.
- Elizabeth Street Cafe: While known for its Vietnamese cuisine and French pastries, Elizabeth Street Cafe offers several healthy options. The wonton soup with clear broth, the Snapper Bun without vermicelli and extra spinach, and the pho without noodles with added vegetables and rice are all excellent choices.
- Bouldin Creek Cafe: This vegetarian restaurant offers a straightforward menu with various salad options. The scrambled eggs with broccoli, tomato, and toast provide a simple and nutritious meal.
- Fresa’s Chicken al Carbon: Unlike many Mexican restaurants, Fresa’s offers sides featuring dressed-up vegetables instead of rice and refried beans. Opt for the sweet potatoes and beets over the Brussels sprouts for a healthier choice. The Jerez Salad, with power greens, marinated chickpeas, spicy carrots, pepitas, and queso fresco, is a delicious and nutritious salad option.
- Josephine House: This farm-to-table cottage in Clarksville offers a selection of fresh vegetable salads. The salads change seasonally and often include sweet additions like dates, dried cherries, nuts, and seeds.
- Kinda Tropical: This east side spot offers the Sesame Salad with Pulled Chicken, Butter Lettuce, Avocado, Peanut, and Cilantro, which is a light and satisfying option. Adding the Cuban Yucca Fries with Jalapeño Avocado Dip provides a flavorful side.
- Veracruz Fonda and Bar: Known for its breakfast tacos, Veracruz also offers larger plates featuring fresh, Veracruz cuisine at its Mueller location. Options include the Camarones Enchipotlados, Shrimp Ceviche, and flavorful rice and black beans with Calabacitas con Queso. The Agua Frescas, particularly the cantaloupe flavor, are refreshing and healthy beverage choices.
- Aster’s Ethiopian: This restaurant offers a lunch buffet with a variety of authentic Ethiopian dishes. The Gomen (Ethiopian-style collard greens) and Alicha Miser (split lentil) are both flavorful and nutritious options.
- Oseyo Lunch: With its chic decor and outdoor patio, Oseyo offers Korean-American cuisine with healthy and delicious Asian flavors. The Korean Bento Plate with Bulgogi, featuring steamed white rice, potato salad, doenjang green beans, fish cake, kimchi, and house salad, is a popular choice. Alternatively, the Oseyo Salad provides a lighter option.
- Proud Mary: This restaurant's menu is concise but features breakfast items such as Eggs on Toast, Avocado Toast, and a Scrambled Egg Roti.
- P Thai’s: The Khao Man Gai, a traditional Thai dish with poached chicken, rice cooked in chicken fat, cucumbers, and a fermented bean ginger chili sauce, offers a flavorful and satisfying meal.
- ATX Food Co.: This food truck offers a variety of healthy options, including smoothies, elixirs, power bowls, and tacos, with butternut squash as a featured ingredient.
- Vinaigrette: Known for its extensive salad options and outdoor patio, Vinaigrette offers salads like The Omega, which includes leafy greens, corn, bell pepper, tomato, avocado, red onion, toasted pine nuts, and chicken.
- The Well: Located downtown, The Well offers a menu free of gluten, soy, and refined sugar, featuring smoothies, bowls, cold-pressed juices, bone broths, and immunity shots.
Arlington, VA: Fresh and Accessible
Arlington, Virginia, has emerged as a destination for health-conscious foodies.
- South Block: This local chain offers smoothies, cold-pressed juices, acai bowls, toasts, energy balls, and other healthy snacks.
- Greenheart: This Arlington favorite features fresh juices, smoothies, and bowls.
- Quarter Market (Ballston Quarter): This food hall includes options like Maizal, which serves South American street food specializing in arepas, and Mezeh Mediterranean Grill, which offers all-natural food made daily with fresh ingredients.
St. Louis, MO: Local and Seasonal
St. Louis, Missouri, boasts restaurants that prioritize local and seasonal ingredients.
- The Crossing: This restaurant features local "farm to table" cuisine, emphasizing fresh, organic, and seasonal ingredients.
- Oceano Bistro: This bistro offers fresh fish and innovative flavor combinations.
- Ivy Cafe: Located in Clayton, Ivy Cafe is known for its fresh, locally sourced fare, including sourdough bread, tartines, salads, and small plates.
- Cafe la Vie: Situated inside the Le Meridien Hotel in Clayton, Cafe la Vie offers French European-style cuisine with local St. Louis flavors.
- Peel Wood Fired Pizza: This chef-owned business emphasizes quality ingredients and taste experiences.
- Robust: This establishment encourages exploration of wine, food, and hospitality.
- Chase Club: Located in the Chase Park Plaza Hotel, Chase Club offers a gastro-pub menu and a lively atmosphere.
- Napoli Kirkwood: This restaurant features items from various establishments, including pizza from Napoli Brothers.
- Cobalt Smoke & Sea: This restaurant connects farmlands and the sea, offering culinary creativity and globally inspired flavors.
Kansas City: Healthy and Convenient
Kansas City provides several options for quick and healthy meals.
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- Enjoy: This spot offers quick, healthy meals and juices. Popular choices include the Metabolizing Juice and the Great Catch Bowl or Take on the World Bowl.
- The Mixx: Known for its salads, The Mixx offers a variety of options and customizations. The Chisaya Mama salad, often paired with salmon and the soup of the day, is a popular choice.
- T.Loft: With multiple locations and a charming atmosphere, T.Loft offers bowls like the Spicy Chicken, filled with chicken, celery, avocado, carrots, quinoa, blue cheese, and buffalo sauce.
- Unbakery & Juicery: This spot offers a wide variety of juices and clean, delicious meals, including remade Tuna Poke Bowls.
- McLain’s: While known for sweet treats, McLain’s also offers breakfast and lunch options, with a convenient drive-thru.
- Caffetteria: This sister restaurant to The Mixx sources ingredients locally and offers a beautiful interior.
- True Food: This restaurant offers a menu with items like the Poke Bowl and Grass-fed Steak Tacos, along with appetizers like the kale guacamole, herb hummus, and black olive dip.
New York City: A Diverse Culinary Landscape
New York City boasts a diverse range of healthy eating spots.
- sweetgreen: This fast-food concept offers farm-fresh, locally sourced ingredients in seasonal salads and warm grain bowls.
- Juice Press: This spot is known for its organic smoothies, with options like "Nurse Ginger Greene" and "Harvey Wallbanger."
- Beyond Sushi: This restaurant offers creative vegan sushi, soups like coconut curry and miso, and black rice bed bowls.
- Hu Kitchen: This spot features a pick-your-own-adventure food bar with soups, paleo kale Caesar salad, and almond-crusted chicken nuggets.
- Little Choc Apothecary: This Brooklyn cafe offers gluten-free crepes and medicinal blends like Golden Power.
- Inday: This restaurant offers a modern, gluten-free twist on Indian cuisine, allowing customers to build their own bowls with options like shredded cauliflower "rice," vegetables, and chickpea curry or salmon.
- Bluestone Lane Collective: This Aussie-inspired cafe is known for its coffee and avocado toast.
- Egg Shop: This trendy Nolita spot offers avocado toast and the "Spandex" bowl with poached egg, miso quinoa, avocado, pickled carrot, and greens.
- The Butcher’s Daughter: This restaurant features a plant-based menu with options like kale Caesar salad with almond parmesan and sandwiches with avocado and farm eggs.
- Matcha Bar and Cha Cha Matcha: These spots offer the best matcha in town.
- Pressed Juicery: This juice bar offers Freeze, a juice and nut milk-based ice cream soft serve with toppings.
- Dig Inn and The Little Beet: These restaurants provide warm, nourishing casual farm fare.
- Le Pain Quotidien: This bakery offers delicious gluten-free bread.
- Peacefood Cafe: This cafe offers plant-based sandwiches, soups, and baked goods.
- Nourish Kitchen & Table: This restaurant features flavorful fish and veggie platters in an intimate atmosphere.
San Francisco: Fresh, Local, and Sustainable
San Francisco is a mecca for healthy food, emphasizing local farmers, no preservatives, and naturally sourced ingredients.
- Mariposa: Located in the Ferry Building Marketplace, Mariposa is a gluten-free bakery offering everything from chicken pot pies to sweets.
- Jane: This spot offers breakfast all day, with options like granolas, chia puddings, toasts, eggs, quiches, quinoa, smoothies, and a breakfast salad.
- Nourish Cafe: This cafe offers salads, soups, sandwiches, wraps, drinks, and coffees.
- Seed + Salt: This restaurant offers a menu with fresh and clean options, including the 50/50 Wonderbowl with organic mixed greens, whole grain brown rice, roasted yams, pickled cabbage, jicama, fresh avocado, black beans, green peas, and cashew dill dressing.
- Roam: This burger joint uses quality meats from humanely-raised animals and sources ingredients from local farmers.
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