Healthy Dining Options in Columbus?

[Daz]

Jo and I are trying to not be fat. In the process, I have to figure out some places we can eat healthily.

What are your favorites? (Specific dishes at places that don’t have JUST healthy food work as well)

[InfiniteZr0]

I’d guess any place that serves fresh sushi.
Like Kaya or something

[Elizabeth Lessner]

Restaurants are learning that to stay competitive, they do need to offer more options. Heart-healthy, vegetarian, and vegan ding are among the fastest growing segments in dining nationwide. You will find more and more restaurants are more than willing to offer reasonable options when they are able to: grilling instead of frying, sauces/dressings on the side, no butter, no cheese, etc. Make your needs known, it influences how restaurant owners (locally anyway) design and plan our menus. Our most recent menu contains more veggie and vegan options as a direct result of customer feedback.

Looking forward to watching this thread. My favorite health(ier) fare lately comes from Diasparo on campus. Yum.

[joev]

Anywhere Middle Eastern or Indian. Aladdin’s, Cafe Shish Kebab, Lavash, Indian Oven, etc.

[deraj1013]

Yeah, Lavash is excellent. The fatayer, lentil soup and baba are delicious. Whole World Cafe always has some lovely specials, as does Benevolence. If the falafel sandwich at On the Fly isn’t good for you, I don’t care because it’s delicious anyway. Ms. Lizless’ establishments are accommodating to healthier eaters of all shapes and sizes (as she hinted). I greatly enjoyed the curry tofu at Royal Rasta Redemption despite what I will describe as the neighborhood’s subtle charms. My favoritest veggie sushi is at Blue Ginger. The Whole Foods lunch items with seitan (specifically seitan enchilada pie, when they make it) are awesome. The pasta dishes are tasty and fun at Wellness Forum Foods (if you can find the place amongst the Budweiser smog). Veggie paella at Old Mohawk is flavorful if not authentic. And that’s what I can come up with off the top of my head.

[Daz]

Thank you to those who have contributed so far, anybody have any good suggestions in the fish department?

[deraj1013]

Sorry…I’m in the “doesn’t eat sea creatures” category.

[Elizabeth Lessner]

Daz wrote >>
Thank you to those who have contributed so far, anybody have any good suggestions in the fish department?

lots of mexican places serve decent ceviche in town and the grilled fish tacos at cuco’s are wonderful and seem somewhat healthy. tandoori seafood at indian restaurants is always a good bet. there’s a ton of quality sushi in this town.

[citygal]

I find that all of the seafood preparation options for the daily catch at Columbus Fish Market to be healthier alternatives. You can’t go wrong with the Shanghai anything there.

[Anne Evans]

Isn’t Zpizza healthier pizza options?

[deraj1013]

Yes…if such a creature actually existed, it would be there.

[sugarplumclarey]

last night we went to Taste of Bali on bethel road and discovered the amazing jack fruit. true to its name, this is a fruit. but when prepared correctly, it has a distinctly pork-like consistency and flavor. no joke. i was instantly hooked; check it out. low price, low calories, high flavor. a sure win.

for fish, try the tilapia at el arepazo downtown. across the street is cafe brioso, rife with fresh breads and healthy deli fare. black creek bistro has wonderful salads, while vegetarian entrees @ northstar and dragonfly’s on the fly are as good-for-you as it gets. the tofu sloppy joe @ whole world is zingy, if that is a word. to end this tour, may i suggest a helping of hummus at benevolence bakery behind the north market.

surely i’ve missed a lot of establishments that deserve mention, but this should be enough to get you started.

[Manatee]

I always love Aladdin’s or sushi, as well, when I’m feeling “healthy”. Another one of my faves was the vegan turkey sandwich, already prepared and available out of the cooler at the Clintonville Co-op. I don’t normally go in for faux meat, but they doctor this one up with so much good stuff (sun-dried tomato pesto, onions, etc. etc.) that I crave it.

Not to toot our own horn, but I work at Omega bakery in the North market, and I make soups there. I don’t make things purposefully “healthy”, but I make the stock from scratch, and I tend to favor recipes that have some meat as well as greens, etc. It’s true what Campbell’s say– soup is good food…

[lisathewaitress]

some of the things at lindey’s in german village can be pretty healthy – I think they have a steak salad (a few meat/fish salads); flatiron also has quite a few healthy options on their menu.

I like to get the Betty’s best salad @ betty’s b/c it has so many good things on it you don’t need dressing (I usually go for cheese but no dressing because cheese has calcium, therefore nutritional content, while salad dressing really doesnt)

Benevolence near the Market is vegetarian and they have lots of great soups and salads.

I also like to get Thai beef salad at Tai Thai on King ave – the dressing is naturally fat free, so you aren’t missing anything.

The broken noodle/rice dishes @ lac viet are healthy, as are their fresh summer rolls.

I know it’s crazy, but a pintos/cheese and a hard taco or Mexican rice is a good 300ish calorie meal when you are *ahem* having a good time late at night and your defenses are down.

If you don’t mind the drive, Yoshi’s in Dublin is one of my favorite Japanese restaurants in Cbus; they have lots of traditional fare and tons of sushi. For lunch, you can get a piece of fish with a small bowl of rice and lots of pickled veggies and it’s very healthy.

Any restaurant worth their salt will make you something healthy. G. Michael’s in German Village is really, really great with fish. You could go there and ask for veggies only with no sauce. Ask for olive oil only – no butter; because it’s better for you than butter.

Alana’s usually has lots of healthy options.
MoJoe on the cap is good for lunch; they have really great fish tacos (and the fish isn’t fried); they also have a chicken skewer app which is light.

And my last piece of advice is: just say NO to the bread basket.

[lisathewaitress]

wow. that was really long. sorry.

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