Whew, we made it to Friday! As Shelby mentioned earlier this week, we’ve both been fighting off jet lag. I turned right around and headed back out of town on a work trip so I’m especially looking forward to a low key weekend. We shared our LA travel diary on Wednesday, but today we wanted to share some of the places we ate. Los Angeles (and California in general) is known for it’s healthy lifestyle including healthy eats, and we definitely discovered some yummy restaurants during our trip.
This might have been my favorite meal of the trip. This is a 100% organic plant-based restaurant with a menu that had this vegetarian struggling to pick just one thing to order, and brimming with inspiration of menu items I want to re-create at home. If you enjoy a most plant-based diet (and even if you don’t) this is a great choice. And as a bonus, the decor is super cute. There are 5 locations in southern California. Try the Glorious wrap or the Grateful bowl.
2. Urth Cafe
We headed to Urth Cafe for breakfast one morning. First of all, I had HANDS DOWN the BEST almond milk latte I’ve EVER had. That alone, is a reason to go. But they had an extensive breakfast menu filled with many healthy options. I went with scrambled eggs which came with a simply dressed green salad and some fresh homemade salsa I generously topped my eggs with. Shelby ordered a chicken pesto omelet that she enjoyed. We went to the location on Melrose, but there are 6 locations. We sat at a little table outside on the sidewalk and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast while people watching (one of my favorite activities).
3. Au Fudge
This is actually Jessica Biel’s restaurant, and we had to laugh when we walked up and could hear a Justin Timberlake song playing from the speakers :). This is the most kid-friendly restaurant I’ve ever been to outside of a McDonald’s. Seriously, if you have kid’s but want to enjoy a gown up brunch, bring your kid’s and drop them off in the creative space where they will be watched by au pairs while you enjoy a meal. How cool is that?! While what I ordered (a vegan cesar salad) was healthy, Shelby didn’t exactly make the healthy choice with blueberry pancakes. But it was my idea to order the truffle fries, so there’s that. I loved the ceramic french fry holder! Then we saw they had s’mores dip on the dessert menu and well…… we didn’t exactly make healthy choices but they were definitely available should you make better choices than us.
4. Lemonade
Lemonade is a chain with multiple locations throughout northern and southern California. They serve seasonal foods in a cafeteria type setting. Each item is a la cart allowing you to pick and choose a meal exactly to your liking. And of course, they have lemonade! I opted for original and Shelby went for the blood orange lemonade. Both were yummy! The menu of healthy options was packed with flavor. I particularly enjoyed the tomato and avocado salad. This is a great place to grab a quick healthy lunch.
Grand Central Market is a foodie’s dream in downtown LA. It’s filled with local food vendors offering every type of cuisine you could imagine. It’s similar to Smorgasburg or Gotham West Market in New York. We went one night after our conference just wanting to grab something quick. We both ended up deciding that Thai food sounded good, and headed to a stall selling Thai fried rice. It was packed with flavor, had a little heat, and delicious fresh vegetables accompanied the fried rice.
6. Pressed
When we stopped briefly at The Grove, we were hot and wanted a snack to help us cool off. We love Pressed juices, and this outpost was selling Pressed Freeze. This is essentially their version of frozen yogurt, but it’s their juice in a frozen version. We got the fruit one topped with almond butter, strawberries, and chocolate chips. It was SO good. We shared a small and it was the perfect snack.
What are your favorite healthy restaurants in your city? Let us know so we can add them to our to try list!
-Ash xx