Just because you want to eat healthy, it doesn’t mean you can’t find delicious food, especially in California. Believe it or not, you can still eat out and stay healthy. You might have to skip places with drive-thrus and opt for a sit-down experience instead, but consider that a fun challenge. Here are six Carlsbad restaurants that offer healthy options worth sampling. 

Tin Leaf Fresh Kitchen

Courtesy of Tin Leaf Fresh Kitchen

At Tin Leaf Fresh Kitchen, you’ll not only find fresh food made from scratch (from sandwiches to salads to desserts), they also focus on regionally sourced ingredients and gluten-free options. 

Tin Leaf takes things a step further than the sit-down experience with their family-style meals to-go. If you leave a $40 deposit, they’ll give you a take-home dinner in a cast iron pot or pie dish that’s ready to heat and serve. Each day has a meal assigned: Monday is all-natural roasted turkey pot pie, Tuesday is chicken piccata with organic field green salad, Wednesday is meatloaf, Thursday has traditional French coq au vin, Friday is beef bourguignon, and Saturday and Sunday call for a boneless beef short rib. All meals are served with bread and a side of organic field green salad or garlic mashed potatoes. 

The Bushfire Kitchen

Courtesy of The Bushfire Kitchen

Local, family-owned restaurant Bushfire Kitchen makes everything from scratch using “top of shelf ingredients at an affordable price to local neighborhoods,” per their site.

Yes, they offer classic BBQ, but what you probably didn’t know is they also offer a healthy spin—they stay organic and only serve grass-fed beef. They can also accommodate vegetarians, paleo diets, and gluten-free preferences. Their Del Mar location also offers a breakfast menu served Saturday through Sunday. They also have a restaurant in Temecula. 

Urban Plates

Courtesy of Urban Plates

Though Urban Plates may have desserts, such as flourless chocolate cake, macaroons, cookies, and pudding, they also have farm-to-table cuisine on their menu full of vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options. Their hand-tossed salads are accompanied by char-grilled rustic bread and dressing made from scratch. Main dishes include proteins such as wild albacore, grass-fed steak, sustainable oven-baked salmon, and Australian grass-fed lamb.

Naked Café

Courtesy of the Naked Cafe

You’ll also find them in Encinitas, Solana Beach, and Point Loma

Though Naked Café offers no guarantees on nut-free, gluten-free, or other allergens for cross-contamination, they have health-oriented soups, sandwiches, and more. Per their site, they have “perfected the gentle art of balancing wholesome grains, robust herbs and spices, and the freshest produce, to create sensational flavors.” Their art of clean and natural food (or naked, as they call it) has allowed them to create hearty-yet-healthy dishes for every meal.

Choice Juicery

Courtesy of Choice Juicery

Choice Juicery believes in many things, including the idea that food is medicine and food can be “organically awesome.” Their menu includes smoothies, bowls, craft almond milks, surge shots, salads, sushi, superfood snacks, and of course, juices. Their menu is “organic, never processed, real food” and non-GMO. You can also find them in Solana Beach and Del Sur.

If you’d like to start with a juice, try the Hot Sunrise (coconut water, orange, pineapple, ginger, lime, and cayenne) or the Beauty Melon (organic watermelon, orange, lemon, and mint).

Swami’s Café

Courtesy of Swami's Cafe

Other Locations:  Encinitas, Escondido, La Mesa, North Park, Oceanside, Point Loma, and Poway

Swami’s Café offers healthy food made with local ingredients as well as responsibly grown produce. A family-owned restaurant, Swami’s prides themselves on serving fresh and authentic dishes from an extensive menu. For Swami’s wild card, they also offer smoothies, smoothie bowls, and juices. Give their piping papaya smoothie (pineapple juice, bananas, papaya, and peaches) or their pitaya bowl a try.