For those seeking healthy food options in Redding, CA, the choices are expanding and evolving. Driven by a growing awareness of the importance of clean, nutritious food and a desire to support local businesses, Redding's culinary scene is embracing farm-to-table concepts and organic ingredients. This article explores some of the restaurants and businesses in Redding that cater to health-conscious consumers.
What to Look for in a Restaurant
Many people are now looking for restaurants that prioritize clean food. This includes vegetables with minimal pesticide use, a commitment to avoiding flavor enhancers and preservatives, and meat raised without added growth hormones. There is also a growing preference for meat that contains healthy fats and nutrients derived from traditional grazing methods.
Restaurants Prioritizing Healthy Options
Norm's Farm-to-Table Restaurant
The newest addition to the Redding area's healthy dining scene is Norm's farm-to-table restaurant in Palo Cedro. It features grass-fed Belcampo beef sourced from Siskiyou County.
Le Testimony
Located in the Holiday Market Shopping Center on Placer Street and Buenaventura in west Redding, Le Testimony is a new organic restaurant. It prides itself on its crepes, salads, and breakfasts. They can also adapt recipes to accommodate special needs or food allergies.
Roots Juice Bar
With two locations in Redding, Roots Juice Bar focuses on organic food and juices. Their menu includes smoothies, bowls, wraps, and fresh-squeezed juice combinations. The downtown location offers a convenient drive-thru.
Read also: Healthy food access with Highmark Wholecare explained.
Fresh Fire Grill
Fresh Fire Grill has locations in Palo Cedro and on Lake Boulevard in Redding. It features organic chicken, Prather Ranch beef burgers, organic salads, and fresh juice options, such as "the rainbow" juice made from beet, celery, kale, cucumber, apple, lemon, and ginger.
Cafe Paradisio
Located on Butte Street in downtown Redding, Cafe Paradisio offers several organic salad options, along with wild Alaskan salmon, organic chicken, beef, and duck.
Moonstone Bistro
Moonstone Bistro, on Placer Street in west Redding, makes homemade soup stock and carries both Prather Ranch beef and special cuts of grass-fed beef. Alongside Mary’s Organic chicken, they offer many organic and local vegetables, including the "big salad" with organic vegetables and house-made dressing.
Country Organics (Cashew)
Country Organics, located on Bechelli Lane in east Redding, continues to operate its restaurant named Cashew. It offers organic wraps, salads, and bowls and is known for its great-tasting sauces.
View 202
View 202, located on Hemsted off Cypress Avenue in Redding, offers Prather Ranch burgers, grass-fed Niman Ranch steak, and uses Mary’s Organic poultry in some of its dishes. On Friday and Saturday, it features hickory-smoked Niman Ranch prime rib. The restaurant also offers a farm-to-table salad with local fruits and vegetables.
Read also: Healthy Eating on the Run
Mosaic Restaurant at Turtle Bay
Mosaic Restaurant at Turtle Bay, on Sundial Bridge Drive, offers organic eggs in some of its dishes. Customers can also substitute organic eggs if they are not offered in their desired dish.
Asis Juicery
Asis Juicery, located on Hilltop Drive, now offers organic salads. They are known for their juice combinations, smoothies, and sweet treats.
Sweet Spot
Sweet Spot, on Hilltop Drive next to Cicada Cantina, offers a sixteen-hour bone broth with ramen and vegetables. The broth is made in the traditional way to increase the nutrition of the soup.
Orchard Nutrition
Orchard Nutrition, on Athens Avenue in Redding, has a deli counter with organic "grab and go" options, fresh juices, and pre-juiced options.
The Woodside Grill at the Gaia Hotel
The Woodside Grill at the Gaia Hotel boasts Hat Creek Grown beef, buffalo from Bison Rock Ranch, sprouts from Little Sprouts Organic Micro Farm, pork and heirloom beans from Rancho Llano Seco, and poultry and rabbit from Brush Arbor Farmstead.
Read also: Mobile Dining Revolution
Supporting Local and Reducing Waste
Redding's community is increasingly focused on utilizing the local food system to revitalize the downtown area, support local entrepreneurs, and increase access to local and healthy foods for residents.
If consumers in the six-county region surrounding Shasta County (Shasta, Trinity, Siskiyou, Modoc, Lassen, Tehama) bought $5 of their food from local farms each week, farms would earn $89 million annually.
Reducing Ecological Impact
Many people are attempting to change their lifestyle to reduce their ecological impact.
Here are some ways to reduce your consumption:
- If you don’t need it, don’t take it.
- Review your lifestyle to find ways to reduce your consumption.
- Shop with purpose and avoid unnecessary purchases.
- Use reusables.
- Switch out your disposable items for more permanent or reusable alternatives.
- Reusing also means buying secondhand or repairing broken items.
- Recycle.
- Compost and turn your food scraps and other organic waste into a nutrient-rich soil additive for your garden. By composting your food scraps, you are also helping to reduce the amount of methane produced by organic waste in our landfills.