Eating out is fun- and when you live in a city as big as ours there are endless options for your daily cuisine.

The downside is most commercially prepared food is created to please your taste buds- which often means tons of additives such as unhealthy fats, sugar and/or salt. Thankfully the city also boasts a number of vegetarian, vegan, and health conscious omnivore restaurants. Whether your meal is raw, vegan or a high end Italian- the key is to be conscious of what is going into it.

Contrary to what we may think, a salad doesn’t always fit the bill as the healthiest option. What is in your salad? On one end of the spectrum, a bland iceberg lettuce salad may leave you hungry and lacking nutrients. On the other end, a salad filled with hidden fats or processed ingredients such as cheese, bacon, croutons and pre-packaged creamy dressing, will send the calories through the roof and your health down the drain! Meanwhile a burrito can actually be the better option. The deciding factor is the actual contents of your salad, burrito or soup or whatever you order. So be aware of what you’re eating, and don’t be afraid to ask questions or substitute healthier options to your meal. It’s okay to indulge every so often, but make sure you know when you are. The worst surprise is finding out that your go-to lunchtime choice is actually enough to feed 2 people or contains a days worth of sodium. A great place to start is by going to restaurants in the first place, which will offer healthy and filling meals, without sacrificing your taste buds. Here are 3 great dine-in restaurants to get you started. Stay tuned later this week for my top 3 take-out joint options.

LIVE Organic Food Bar

One of the few Raw restaurants in the city, LIVE has a line of juices and raw foods that they sell in health stores and two restaurants. Their menu boasts 95% of ingredients are either local or organic, making it a very environmentally friendly choice.  Try some of their raw meals like zucchini noodles, and remember that with a lot of their nut based dishes, nuts are very high in healthy fats and calories- a little goes a long way. They have an awesome “raw vegan salmon” wrap that incorporates a lot of plant based sea foods into one delicious wrap.

Lolas Kitchen

This gem is nestled in the Village on Church St and is the perfect compromise restaurant for vegetarians and meat lovers alike. All of their salads and grain bowls can be customized with grilled tofu, chicken or shrimp.  I’d recommend the Roasted Beet salad and the California Bowl, which are both highly nutritious and freaking delicious.

Fresh

We talked about Fresh’s Juice Bar last week, so now on to the main course. The food at Fresh is delicious- and ranges from comfort food to super healthy options. Don’t be fooled by names like “Quinoa Onion Rings”- they are still deep friend onion rings, and French fries are still French fries. The bowls and salads are generally good options. A good tip is to ask for dressings and sauces on the side. Also, one of my favorite substitutions is to turn any of the rice/noodle bowls into just a big bowl of veggies. You can also ask for any rice/noodle bowl more vegetables  Apparently some of the bowls come with as much as 2 cups of Brown Basmati rice, which is around 1,000 calories by itself and WAY more that a single serving. Remember that a large amount of healthy food is still a lot of food- and don’t be afraid to ask your servers for details and substitutions.

What are your favorite healthy restaurants in the city? As always, I love hearing from you. Feel free to share your dining suggestions on my Twitter or Facebook pages.

Bonne appétit! 
Justine