If you’re like many of today’s parents, you’re more focused than ever on providing your family with healthy meals. These choices can have a profound effect on your child’s health, growth, and development. Here are the top five healthy eateries around East Cobb, Georgia, where you can fill up and feel good.
1. Roots PBC
Image via Flickr by KayOne73
Whether they’re preschoolers or in their teens, children prefer foods that taste good. How do you make nutritious choices more appealing? No one does that better than Roots PBC. Located inside Xtractions Smoothies on Canton Road in Marietta, this Louisiana-style kitchen serves up vegan versions of homestyle Southern favorites with a welcoming vibe.
PBC stands for “plant-based cafe,” and you can get a chickin or fysh sandwich for 10 bucks. They also serve vings that will make your mouth water with dipping sauces like barbecue, garlic parmesan, and classic Buffalo. Your kids will never guess these wholesome nuggets are meatless. Get a glass of fresh ginger lemonade to wash it all down.
Check Roots PBC’s Instagram to see what’s cooking throughout the week because this cafe has no standing menu. The dishes on its menu end up being whatever the chef feels like making that day, such as her popular vegan boudin balls. Support this awesome local business and feed your family delicious plant-based meals that don’t compromise on taste.
2. Good Kitchen and Market
Image via Flickr by KayOne73
To encourage healthy eating habits, dine and shop at the Good Kitchen and Market, set in a charming 1930s house on Margaret Avenue Northeast. Whether you eat in or take it home, everything on the menu is good for you. Their definition of nutritious food includes using fresh vegetables, responsibly sourced protein, quality grains, and no refined sugar. You’ll never find ingredients you can’t pronounce, GMOs, or antibiotics in food from this kitchen.
They even have a kids menu that features a fun, multi-sectional tray. Fill up each spot with a portion of protein, veggies, fresh fruit, and a hot side like sweet potato fries. After the kids turn in their trays, they’ll get a dessert.
For mom and dad, there are tons of yummy options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, such as hearty two-egg bowls with avocado and bacon. Grab a Mediterranean kale salad or a grass-fed burger with crumbled bleu cheese. When you’re really hungry, get the Thai plate with seasoned salmon drizzled with sesame ginger sauce and served with riced cauliflower and seasonal vegetables.
3. Kale Me Crazy
Image via Flickr by wuestenigel
Kale Me Crazy on Roswell Road is more than just your average eatery. This delightful wellness kitchen features a juice bar and cafe with its own line of organic cold-pressed juices, like the Go Green, which is a blend of kale, spinach, chard, cucumber, and celery. Ask for the lip-smacking watermelon flavor for the kids, or order a creamy smoothie made with non-dairy milk. If you’re sore from a tough workout, try the Recovery smoothie, which is made with bananas, cherries, cashews, coconut yogurt, almond milk, and a scoop of vegan protein.
The cafe’s light fare menu is filled with fresh wraps, salads, toast, soup, and bowls that are all served in a sleek, upscale environment. Support your healthy lifestyle with a poke bowl filled to the brim with wild-caught tuna, avocado, veggies, and spicy vegan mayonnaise on a bed of jasmine rice.
Running behind? Grab a grilled breakfast wrap for everyone in the family. Start the day right with organic hard-boiled eggs, feta, spinach, and arugula wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla. Need a quick pick-me-up? Opt for one of seven “shots” that help with pain relief, focus, and wellness.
4. Peace Love and Pizza
Image via Flickr by Brocco Lee
Who said pizza couldn’t be healthy? At this hippie-themed pizzeria, the expanded menu offers a variety of wholesome dishes, including vegan calzones, salads, sandwiches, and munchies like tofu dippers. This family-friendly joint has several locations in the area, and the closest one to East Cobb is on East Piedmont Road. Gather the kids around the table and indulge, thanks to their full vegan menu and plenty of gluten-free options.
Peace Love and Pizza’s long list of creative pies includes the Peaceful Garden, which comes with your choice of mozzarella or vegan cheese, banana peppers, fresh spinach, and artichoke hearts. The oven-baked Tofu Italiano sandwich is loaded with roasted tofu and red peppers and is covered with melted vegan cheese and the house special sauce. Get a Hipster salad that’s packed with goodness, like spinach, romaine, Roma tomatoes, mushrooms, Kalamata olives, and tofu. You can even get a boxed lunch to go, so busy days won’t derail your healthy eating plan.
5. Aspens
Image via Flickr by Al404
Sometimes parents need to venture out without the kids. Next time you and your better half want to indulge in a date night, step into Aspens on Shallowford Road. Aspens offers guests an extraordinarily cozy, rustic-lodge feel with exposed wooden beams, leather-upholstered booths, and fireside seating. Take a sip of wine and relax, then peruse the menu for perfectly cooked steaks, creative takes on seafood, and innovative appetizers.
Start with a chopped salad that’s piled high with avocado, egg, palm hearts, tomatoes, and gorgonzola with a lemon basil dressing. Move on to the main course, like the seared North Georgia trout that shares a plate with baby kale, cauliflower, and rich hazelnuts, or get the juicy prime rib. It’s a 12-ounce cut of certified Angus beef. Make it a surf-and-turf delight with six grilled shrimp or a broiled lobster tail. While dessert isn’t necessarily considered a healthy choice, the fresh peach cobbler will satisfy your sweet craving with real fruit.
East Cobb families who are looking to eat right have a bunch of local options. Use this guide to narrow down your search, and don’t forget to let us know at Creme de la Creme in East Cobb, GA if we missed your favorite eatery, and we just might add it to our list.