Raw Food Restaurants

[Analeah]

I am just wondering what raw food restaurants people have checked out and how much you liked or didn't like them etc. I have only been to two so far but I hope to check more out in the future. I went to Roxeannes in Larkspur a couple years ago I think shortly after the opened up but I have heard they are closed now except for the "Togo" section. I was in nyc last week and went to a raw food restaurant called Pure Food and Wine. I think they are pretty new but I was super impressed with everything I tried on the menu. It wasn't quite as expensive as Roxeannes but was pretty expensive even so in my opinion though probably not anymore than any other good restaurant in new york. So anyway I was just interested in other peoples experiences with different raw food restaurants (either in the US or anywhere else in the world).

[Mary Anne]

Hi Analeah!

I didn't get to Pure Wine & Spirits yet, but I frequent the other raw restaurants in NYC often, such as Quintessence (my favorite), Bonobos and Caravan of Dreams (which is raw and cooked vegan).

I love the experience of going into a restaurant and not worrying if there is sugar in something. I hate going to SAD restaurants, but sometimes I have no choice.

Raw restaurants are so superior, they make even the fanciest restaurants in New York City seem like cheap diners.

That's my two cents ;)

Glad you enjoyed Pure Wine & Spirits and your time in NYC -- you got all the nice weather, now it's freezing!

Love,
Mary Anne

[vegbaby]

I have a section of restaurant reviews on my website: http://www.vegetarianbaby.com/restaurants.shtml. I have reviewed Roxanne's (the ultimate!), Daily Juice in Austin, and the Tree of Life cafe. Anyone who wants to write a raw restaurant review for the site, let me know!

[Helen Of Tennessee]

Hi Melanie,

Your link didn't work :( It said you were either down, or moved, etc.

I'll try it later.

I have never been to a raw food restuarant. Maybe on one of my trips I can find one that isn't out of the way. I'm sure my family wouldn't be too happy to devert too far out of the way just for me to visit a raw food restuarant (Note: have a 1 year old grandson that travels with us. We try to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible, being strapped in a car seat gets old real quick).

<>< Helen of Tennessee

[Olive]

Roxanne's To Go has closed down. :( Though there is some talk of her starting up a new restaurant next year! She closed the old one due to divorce complications.

I've tried Alive! and Urban Forage in San Francisco. Both were really good, especially the quiche at Alive! and the "ice cream" at Urban Forage--tasted just like the real thing! Next week a coworker and I are going to check out Cafe Gratitude. I've heard the food was good, but portions are small. That's probably my only complaint about raw restaurants. I might be eating raw, but my appetite is quite intact! I also want to try Ital Cabash in Oakland.

[Ingunn]

Spiritland Bistro in Santa Barbara isn't a raw restaurant, but they have a lot of vegetarian, vegan and some raw choices (all marked clearly in the menu). I've only been there once so far, but I am SOOO going back - I had the Raw Italian Veggie Marinara and it was seriously the most delicious meal I have ever tasted!

[flutterfly]

Arnold's Way in Lansdale, PA. It was wonderful. He even let me work there for a few hours as a nice favor. The flavor of his food was the very best I have ever tasted.

[yeahbethany]

analeah,
out of curiosity, which menu items did you try at Pure Food and Wine? What did you think of them?
-Bethany

[vegbaby]

Your link didn't work :( It said you were either down, or moved, etc.

I fixed it above. Sorry about that.

Has Roxanne's To Go closed, too?! Roxanne's Raw closed but left Roxanne's To Go open last I'd heard...

[Jennalle1771]

I've been to organic garden in Beverly MA. and I thought it was fantastic. Their raw sushi is delicious, the pecan pie is to die for, their bbq sun garden burger was also good, they have amazing onion rings!!!! and mustard to dip in that is out of this world. The only thing I didn't like that I've tried there is their pizza.
I have also gone to mind body and soul in marblehead ma. They make the most amazing smoothies. Their raw falafel with hummas is delicious. they also make flax crackers which are really good as well.

[CherimoyaMel]

The raw food restaurants I've been to are as follows:

Roxanne's, Larkspur, CA -- INCREDIBLE. Best raw food I've ever had. I was really disappointed that it closed, although it was VERY pricy.

Juliano's Raw, Santa Monica, CA -- Good. Incredible smoothies. A lot of the entrees are too salty and spicy, IMO. Juliano almost tripled the prices about half a year ago. Bummer.

Au Lac, Fountain Valley, CA -- A Korean restaurant. Like it A LOT. They have a raw menu and a cooked menu, so you can go with your cooked friends. Yeah! Prices are reasonable.

Cilantro Live, Chula Vista, CA -- LOVE it. They have a mole enchilada which is incredible! I also love their banana split. The ice cream is made out of cashews. Yum. The prices are very reasonable.

[kinsamanee]

Ive been to Karyns Fresh Corner in Chicago...it was this past summer. The raw pizza was amazing...really. Went with my mom and brother so we had a little bit of everything. I had the sushi like rolls...some kind of nut pate I think...great. Mom had non pasta primavera with whipped macadamia nut sauce and ....great...and my bro had the pizza....Way way better than real pizza. I also took home a piece of chocolate dessert...oh my....way too good...she has a little take out/smoothie section too that has a salad bar...very nice. too bad I dont live in chicago
:rolleyes:

[Analeah]

Wow thanks everyone for sharing your experiences with raw food restaurants. I am definately going to save this link and I hope to check some of these out the next time I do some travelling. Is it true Roxeannes togo part closed down as well? I wish I could have made it to caravan of dreams, I have heard good things about this place and also the person I was staying with in nyc had some leftover hummus which was very good (and I don't even like hummus usually lol).


analeah,
out of curiosity, which menu items did you try at Pure Food and Wine? What did you think of them?
-Bethany

I went with a few other people and was lucky enough to try more than one thing on the menu. From the 1st course section I tried the artichoke (I forget what it was called but it was kind of like a quiche or something) which was very good and also the marinated sea veggies which were so yummy. For the main course I tried both the lasagna (no words to describe how good this was) and tamale which I think was my favorite. The lasagna was very thinly sliced zucchini with I think an almond ricotta filling and marinara sauce which was then topped with pistachio pesto and sliced heirloom tomatoe. I am not sure how the tamale was made but it was incredible and had a delicious real chocolate mole sauce. For dessert I tried the mint chocolate cake and poached pear with ice cream with some kind of alcohol (I forget what it was called). I wasn't crazy about the poached pear but the ice cream was good. The chocolate mint cake was extremely delicious and so was the ice cream that came with it. I pretty much liked everything I tried there (except maybe the pear dessert) and I thought it was better than Roxeannes (just a little). I went with a raw food chef and he really enjoyed the meal though he though Roxeannes was better and his only complaint with the restaurant was the service.

[FEELIN'GOOD]

This was a great thread! I live about 45 minutes north of Chula Vista... I will have to try Cilantro Live soon... Alissa has also mentioned Au Lac as one of her favorites too. My husband and I got tickets to Alissa's dinner in Huntington Beach next weekend.. I can't wait to try her food and meet her! I will be sure to take pictures and post them afterward... It will be fun to share how the evening went with all of you! I wish we could all be there... wouldn't that be awesome?????

[glad_2beme]

Have a great time!!! I am currently trying to make plans to visit a friend in PA in Jan. We are trying to get our schedules together so that we can go to Alissa's seminar in NH (about 5 hrs away from my friend) and the dinner in Maine!!!! Oh I pray this will all work out, I have to make the reservations soon, or be out of luck on the idea....

[Sharon in Colorado]

Back when we lived in California, we also attended Au Lac in Westminster.

It was a special raw dinner with a raw support group. We had several courses, starting off with young coconut water straight out of the coconut through a straw, a juice drink, then a soup, which had a thermometer in it so we could blow out the flame when it got hot enough, then salad and many other dishes, followed by fancy shaped cookies and as the grand finale the chef coming out with a big bowl of gloopy durian. I've tried durian twice and not quite used to it yet.

Here's the website with lots of pictures of their raw food: http://www.aulac.com/

[Olive]

Yeah, Roxanne's To Go has closed down as well. I'm pretty bummed because I never got to try it! I'll post if she opens another restaurant again!

[Mary Anne]

Does Pure Wine & Spirits have a Web site?

Thanks,
Mary Anne

[qetta]

Here's the website for Pure Food & Wine - is that what you mean?

http://www.purefoodandwine.com/ Cool website and looks like a neat place.

-Lisa

[rawal]

Hi Sharon in Colorado!

I'm in Co also and was wondering if you know of any raw restaurants around the front range? How long have you been raw-sorry if you've already talked about this. I've been too embarrassed to come back here because I have jumped off the raw wagon ( I can't honestly say that I fell-I believe I jumped-uggh....) I have lost total motivation right now. Trying to figure out what to do to get back on. Thanks. :)

[GoingRAW]

Hi rawal,
I am also in Colorado...just south of Denver. No raw restaurants yet, but I would love to see that happen. There are Rawlucks in Denver and Boulder. Let me know if you need info on those. This is a great forum for support, so don't shy away if you are struggling w/ raw. A lot of people here can relate.
Good luck to you,
GR

[rawal]

Hi goingRAW!
I would love info on rawlucks! I'm near Loveland/Ft Collins. I haven't met anyone here who are familiar with raw. That would be great to have a raw restaurant! I would think Boulder or Ft Collins would be a great place for one! Is there a thread about struggling with raw? If not, maybe I should start one. Thanks for the post! How long have you been raw? Sorry this is off topic...feel free anyone to redirect me. :)

[Sharon in Colorado]

I'm in Colorado Springs. There's a raw support group called

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/coloradorawmoms/

and we have a local group that gets together 1-2 x a month called Rawkies

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rawkies/

Please feel free to join them. Many of us are on and off the raw wagon, me included!

The only place I know close to raw is this Vegan place in Manitou Springs. But it's a lot of pseudo meats and soy. However they do have salads and smoothies and juices. I think it's called the Organic Earth Cafe and it's right on the main street. There's also Adam's mountain cafe, which serves a lot of natural type foods, I'm too certain about raw. But they do have salads.

[rawal]

Hey Sharon,

Thanks for the info-I probably won't make it too soon to Manitou Springs-I'm pretty far away for that but it sounds good. :) Thanks for the support groups info too! I will check into that. By the way, "Rawkies" is a great name!! I lived in the Springs for a summer working at Penrose Hospital-beautiful city!

[FEELIN'GOOD]

Thank you Sharon for the Au Lac website info... I couldn't find it in the yellow pages, so that was a great help to get the address and phone number- and the menu looks great!

[FEELIN'GOOD]

Have a great time!!! I am currently trying to make plans to visit a friend in PA in Jan. We are trying to get our schedules together so that we can go to Alissa's seminar in NH (about 5 hrs away from my friend) and the dinner in Maine!!!! Oh I pray this will all work out, I have to make the reservations soon, or be out of luck on the idea....

Wow! I hope you can make it to the dinner in NH! I am so excited! After watching Alissa's DVD's, her style just makes the food look delicious- It will be a treat to eat food made from the master! (Now I will have something to compare it to!) I just hope my hubby can stomach the evening... he is a bit skeptical- :confused: I'll keep you in my prayers! :D

[smasty]

I thought there was a raw restaurant in Boulder? I remember reading a review on it...maybe it closed by now.

I didn't see any mention of Ecopolitan (Minneapolis) in this thread...we've got the othe Mpls thread that covers it, but just thought I'd mention it here....

Excellent!!! Large portions. I had taco chips with guac...5 star, Lasagne...5 star, Pad Thai...4 star, spicy vegetable stew...5 star, apricot/pecan pie with ice cream...5 star.

[qetta]

I had the lasagne at Ecopolitan in Minneapolis, and it was sooooo good.

[GoingRAW]

Rawal,
I sent you a private message, b/c I didn't want to get too far off topic on this discussion.

Smasty,
The restaurant in Boulder must of closed. :( I would love to see another one open!

[glad_2beme]

OH SHARON...I miss the springs sooooooooooooo bad. I lived there for several yrs, want to come back but I feel obligated to stay here in the south near my aging parents....

[qetta]

I had Ecopolitan again last night. I met greengirl there and we had a lot of fun! We both had burgers (lentils, mushrooms & wild rice) w/ greens and cole slaw (all totally delish) and then we split the berry parfait dessert which was just so heavenly I won't even attempt to describe it.

Ecopolitan makes me wish (a little bit) that I hadn't moved out to the country. I used to live less than a block away from where Ecopolitan is now - how cool would it have been to have a fantastic raw food restaurant so close?! Ah, well...

[Analeah]

Wow that is great you guys got to meet there this week and enjoyed the food so much! I think that restaurant definately has it down and I am still enjoying the dried mango, cherries and pink salt I bought there and they are sooo good. The burgers sound super good and so does the dessert. I almost ordered that one but then the waitress said there was the special pineapple pina colada cake so I went for that which was REALLY amazing but I can't compare the two lol. Lisa, maybe it is a good thing you don't live too close lol you might end up going there every day and spending all your money hehe. Thanks again for a wonderful meal last week!

[qetta]

Ha! I know - if I still lived up the street from there I'd have to get a job there and just work for food, no wages. Actually - that doesn't sound like such a bad deal ...

[Analeah]

Hey Rawkinlocs (I just noticed you are from Detroit) or anyone else is there any raw restaurants in Detroit?

[THX-1138]

I'm in the process of moving down near Ecopolitan (1 block away on Garfield, right behind the Wedge). I'm there every Tuesday night for Dr. T's lectures and if anyone wants to come. This week's topic is about electrical pollution.

[Andrew]

THX--that is EXACTLY where I live: on Garfield right behind the Wedge. We must be neighbors! Dang it is a small world...

[THX-1138]

I think my new address is 2215 Garfield, but I may be wrong.

[THX-1138]

I'm heading down there tomorrow, do you go to the lectures? If you frequent Ecopolitan alot, you've probably seen me there.

[Amethyst_Rain]

once again, you guys are sooooooo lucky that you have raw food restaurants...we have two vegan restaurants and that's it...i think we used to have one but raw doesn't seem to be popular here :(

[THX-1138]

And they have a wireless internet access for laptop users... so there really isn't any reason to leave... :D

This is what I'm having tomorrow during the lecture... :p

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v86/THX-1138/15.jpg

[Andrew]

I have thought about attending tomorrow's lecture, THX. Do you know what the topic is? Wondering why they don't post the topics on their website...

[THX-1138]

The topic is on electrical pollution.

[Mike]

I love raw restaurants!

There are two restaurants serving raw
gourmet here in Portland, OR. The first
one is amazing, but they aren't an official
restaurant. The serve dinners every
wednesday, and they have an excellent
recipe book, the website is
http://www.smartmonkeyfoods.com

The second restaurant we have is 100%
vegan and organic, and they serve a few
raw items, such as soup, appetiser, and
one or two entrees. It's called Calendula
Cafe.
http://www.calendula-cafe.com

[swingbolder]

I live in upstate NY and a new raw restaurant just opened called In The Raw in Woodstock.

I haven't tried it yet but the woman who owns it is holding a raw food preparation class a the local adult education center in a few weeks. It seems like a bargain too -- $70 for four two-hour classes.

[Wendy]

I've been to Karyn's, in Chicago, started going there before she even had a restaurant. The food was great, a little expensive.

I've been to Juliano's, and didn't much care for the food or the service.

I'm in Michigan now and I don't even think there is a raw restaurant here!

[Punky]

Here in Dallas we are eagerly awaiting the opening of "PURE" raw cafe,
Texas' 1st Raw restaurant. I've been a customer of Cynthia Beaver's
off and on over the past couple of years. Her food is amazing.
She does a weekly meal service. The food is very very fresh
and really delicious; albeit kinda expensive. She gives good portions though. Hopefully the price will come
down a bit when the restaurant opens .... although I know all those organic foods cost a lot though since she uses the best ingredients available.
How much was it on average for a meal at those other raw restaurants???

Just curious.
Punky

[lvg4him]

I know that they have the vegetarian guide to resturants, but is there one for raw? It would be great for those of us who travel often to be able to pop over to the site and click on where we will be visiting and find a list of raw or raw-friendly resturants. And to see reviews on them as well! :)

We will be visiting Disneyland --- any raw or raw-friendly resturants in the area? I noticed a lot listed in CA, but am CA illiterate and don't know where cities are in revelation to one another.

Thanks!

[THX-1138]

They had a 4 course meal special at the Ecopolitan for VDay... Cashew cheese log, salad (maccadamia, pinneapple, arugula and spinach w/ balsamic vinegarette), almond cheese raviole with marinara sauce, and choice of pie, cake, and the berry parfait, all for $28 or $50 a pair. And they changing the menu soon. The cheese log and the raviole are being added permaneantly.