They seem to be popping up at a much higher rate than I have ever seen before. Does anyone here go to raw restaurants? How do you like them?

Check out my raw food review blog at rawfoodland.com!

Well i wish they were popping up my way - there are a couple in London I believe but I've never seen one myself - there's nothing in the south west oof england that I know of.

What do you think of them?

flipperjan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well i wish they were popping up my way - there
> are a couple in London I believe but I've never
> seen one myself - there's nothing in the south
> west oof england that I know of.
>
> What do you think of them?


I think they're great! Although my experience with them is limited, I love being able to eat out without having to worry about if what I'm eating is raw. It also let's others get introduced to raw foods in an easy way. I really hope the trend continues and even more raw restaurants open up. They're just a positive thing for us and they expand our options. I definitely plan on trying them out more.

Check out my raw food review blog at rawfoodland.com!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2012 07:30AM by nrothgarden.

Toronto is a MECCA for raw food restaurants. My lifestyle there was amazing. Even corner stores sold fresh-squeezed orange juice by the liter (they squeeze it for you). SIGH.

There's a few raw food restaurants on the west coast, but they don't stack up to anything I was accustomed to back east. One I literally cannot even stand going into because the service is SO HORRIBLE, EVERY SINGLE TIME... (I've worked in restaurants for nearly a decade and religiously overtip, generally even when things are bad, so for me to say something like that is...)

But most of what is incredible in Toronto happened very quickly, in 5-10 years. I'm hoping in another 5-10 years, the west coast, too, will be paradise.

Or, in 10 years, I'll finally have enough money for a road trip, so I can drive back east and eat myself stupid.

JUST. IMAGINE. what Earth would look like, if in place of every McDonald's, stood a raw food restaurant. That's my vision.

It is expensive to eat at a raw restaurant, comparatively, but it's also participating in the transformation of the economy. All of the places I've ever seen only use non-toxic cleaners, compostable takeouts, etc. I don't believe back to the stone age is the answer. But if we want to progress WITH technological comfort, it HAS to be green and congruent with the earth. This is what the future looks like.

EAT IT!!

I think the raw restaurant trend is a generally good sign. There's a popular one in midtown Detroit, right in the hub of the gigantic Detroit Medical Center and a university, and a lot of the patrons are hospital personnel and students, which is great. I think every raw foods restaurant should be within walking distance of a hospital, as if to say, "Yoo hoo! There's something y'all are forgetting about!"

There was supposed to be one opening up near me in Hanover Pa,but it never did.In fact it was open already and slated to move into Hanover,but it went out of business.
Folks just love their meat and patatoes too much in these parts.

You know, I hate to be a dissenting voice here, but I have not had the best experiences with them. I have been to two sit-down places. One of them ended badly when I tried to present one of those Internet coupons ($50 worth of food for $25) and was rejected because of the "fine print." Oh was I pissed! The server even called the owner and the owner argued with us over the phone! SO crappy customer service! I mean, we weren't trying to scam them. We just wanted to be able to partake fully in their offerings within our budget! So haven't been back there. (One side note with this one: I couldn't eat raw veggies for ten days after going there! Something turned my stomach about whatever I ate.)

The other place just didn't have the vibes. The food was delicious but the man was wearing a tie-dyed shirt and seemed glum, as if he was out of weed or something. LOL

The bottom line is that I don't like so much gourmet stuff based on nuts. Not just fat content but the fact that they are not that easy to digest. It's like any gourmet place.

What I found pretty fun was Karyn's on Halsted. Someone on here is from the Chicago area, so s/he might back me on this. There is a restaurant also, but Karyn has a deli type of store where rejuvalec is in the case and raw corn chips, nut cheezecake...I might even go by there over the weekend!

A funny aside: my partner and his boss went to a raw restaurant and ate at the buffet. Afterwards, his boss said he needed a burger and they went to White Castle!

i love them! even though they rarely actually have truly raw food for a true 100% raw foodist. I don't eat cashews, agave, or soy sauce and that eliminates 90% of most raw food at local restaurants. I live in northern california, so we go to lydias cafe now. our local cafe gratitude closed down due to a lawsuit. its also annoying that most raw places i've been to also sell cooked food. someday, someday.......

Rawlion, one of my concerns was the use of cooked ingredients (or pasteurized nuts) instead of 100% raw. I would imagine the temptation to do so would be great, given the cost of raw stuff.

I just found it too rich and it really didn't make much sense to me. I mean, eating raw should be LIGHT. But I just saw a place Downtown (Chicago) called protein bar and the sign on the window said "raw juice." They also have salads so it looks to be a raw cafe type of thing.

Do you happen to know what that lawsuit was about regarding the raw place in CA? I thought they had more than one location, too?

cafe gratitude had to close down at least 4 or 5 locations to defeat the lawsuit. it is based around an ex employee being a mean person. acting like they deserve a piece of the action. only ones staying open i think are the LA location, and one other one not near me. its a cashew and agave type restaurant. and if it doesn't have those in the recipe than it probably has tamari in it, which I stray from.

That's horrible, Cafe Gratitude had the most AMAZING raw dessert books.

It's not hard to sub out the agave for liquid coconut nectar, soy sauce for Braggs/coconut aminos/whatever, if you're doing it yourself.

These places are iconic... They are proof that you can still have ANYTHING you want (burgers, cheesecake, you name it) and do it in a way that is totally congruent with the environment. It's cultural-jamming at its finest.

Sure, it's not PERFECT. There are atrocities happening like the irradiation of North American almonds. But you know what? If these restaurants turn on X number of people to raw/organic/natural food, the demand for a purer food supply is only going to INCREASE, and we will all reap the benefits full circle. It's in its infancy. It's sprouting! <3

That's too bad about Cafe Gratitude. I've never been but planned on going. I guess that means the Portland location is gone too?

It seems the hardest part for Raw Cafe's is keeping it fresh. I have known of many cafe's that have day-old food. Over-prepping, brown guacamole, Nama shoyu, Agave, Liquid Aminos. I think they still cater to SAD customers. Personally I think they should keep it more simple.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/2012 06:42PM by clank72.

Zia's in Baltimore is really good - they have raw and cooked. Very reasonably priced raw dishes, sit down or take out. I like the Zucchini Puttanesca, Zucchini Alfredo and Lasagna the best. I wish there were more raw restaurants around.

[ziascafe.com]

of the 5 cafe gratitudes slated to close, 3 are already closed, and the SF and San Rafael locations are for sale, but remain open.

I visited what I think is about the only raw food restaurant in India - its in auroville. The food was delicious but we paid quite a high price, got a fixed price plate for lunch and were still so hungry after - my husband immediately wanted to go somewhere else to fill up - this is not good advertising for raw lifestyle...

It really depends on the restaurant, like any other establishment. Some are great and some make you wonder why you didn't just stay home and eat some berries

[fresherthanlife.com]