5 South Charlotte places to get your health food fix (and what to order)
Health food and smoothies are like crack to women in South Charlotte. Ask any mom watching her kid play at William Davies Park where to get a decent kale salad and then prepare yourself, because you’re going to be chatting for a while.
But ladies, there should be no shame in your game. Today’s healthy restaurant options are a far cry from the naked spinach salads of yesteryear, and when you find a decent quinoa bowl, you need to shout it from the rooftops. Uptown dwellers can head to Living Kitchen or Yafo, but where should you go if you live farther south than SouthPark?
Here are five places in South Charlotte where you can get your health food fix:
(1) Best place to take your kids (or your health-food hating significant other)
b.good: This concept by founders Jon Olinto and Anthony Ackil is simple: fresh, locally sourced food that tastes good and is good for you.
People in Ballantyne are raving about b.good, which has opened two locations there in the past 60 days. One draw is the ability to get healthy fare like kale and grain bowls alongside more traditional fare like burgers, fries and milkshakes.
Need help deciding what to order? Olinto told us the spicy avocado and lime bowl is a best-seller across all markets. If you can’t kick your burger habit, grab the Elizel burger with seared asparagus, red pepper aoli, cheddar and grilled red onions. You can pick your protein — a turkey patty or a guilt-free veggie burger patty.
Find it: 14825 Ballantyne Village Way, 7926 Rea Road, opening Uptown in June
A post shared by B.GOOD (@b.goodofficial) on Mar 22, 2017 at 10:29am PDT
(2) Best place to take your girlfriends
Chopt: Chopt’s menu has a few staples like the Kebab Cobb with grilled chicken, feta and more topped with Greek yogurt tzatziki dressing, as well as a constantly changing “destination” menu.
Right now, try the beekeeper’s quinoa bowl, which comes with tri-color quinoa, aged cheddar, roasted chickpeas and rainbow cauliflower on a kale mix, all topped with bee pollen and wildflower honey dijon dressing.
Find it: 4125 Park Road, 9844 Rea Road, coming soon to the Arboretum
The flavors of the Pacific Northwest in salad form. #ChoptDestinationxPNW
A post shared by Chopt Creative Salad Co. (@choptsalad) on Mar 22, 2017 at 4:15pm PDT
(3) Best place for breakfast
Grabbagreen: Grabbagreen’s menu is free of gluten, preservatives and GMO, and uses only hormone-and-antibiotic-free proteins. Spokeswoman Morgan Vanderwall said the mango bowl is a hugely popular breakfast item filled with bananas, brown rice, chia seeds, coconut, mangos, quinoa, almond milk and granola. But you don’t have to wait until morning to get it. Any item on Grabbagreen’s breakfast menu is available all day long.
For lunch or dinner, she recommends the Southwest bowl loaded with quinoa, chicken, corn, black beans, tomato, avocado, cheese and yogurt agave barbecue.
Grabbagreen also offers fresh-pressed juices like the “Heal” formula that features apple, carrot, turmeric and watermelon.
Find it: 2439 Toringdon Way, Dilworth/Myers Park, SouthPark and Steele Creek locations opening soon
(4) Best place for grabbing lunch for the whole office
Crunch Bistro: Crunch’s catering menu means your office can get out of the pizza-or-subs rut whenever there’s a big meeting. Instead, grab a tray of wraps in varieties like turkey bacon ranch and portobello, or a salad option with flavors like Asian crunch or Greek Isles.
If it’s just you going in for lunch, Crunch has just about anything you could hope for, from warm quinoa bows and lavash flatbreads to soups and salads.
Pescatarians will love the tilapia wrap, which comes with parmesan encrusted tilapia, basil, parmesan, onion straws and sweet and spicy honey mustard. Salad purists can go for the Waldorf salad, which comes with craisins, walnuts, Granny Smith apples, celery, shredded coconut, goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette.
Find it: 6414 Rea Road
A post shared by Crunch Bistro (@crunchbistro) on Mar 15, 2017 at 6:43am PDT
(5) Best iconic Charlotte spot
Viva Chicken: People are obsessed with Viva Chicken because of its unique menu offerings and super-quick service. You can’t talk about Viva Chicken without mentioning the quinoa-stuffed avocado that’s topped with organic quinoa, avocado, red pepper, rocoto mayo and balsamic vinaigrette.
Those addictive avocados and all the restaurant’s salads come with the option to add tasty pulled rotisserie chicken as well. If you’re taking a break from the green stuff, just grab the free range rotisserie chicken, which is marinated 24 hours before being slow-roasted over an open fire.
Find it: 4500 Park Road, Suite 100; The Shops at Toringdon in Ballantyne
All the sides! Which ones are your favorites?
A post shared by Viva Chicken (@vivachicken) on Mar 15, 2017 at 8:24am PDT
Where else in South Charlotte do you love to grab healthy, fresh food? Let us know in the comments.
Photos: Courtesy of B.good, Grabbagreen
This story was originally published March 28, 2017 at 11:00 PM with the headline "5 South Charlotte places to get your health food fix (and what to order)."