18 Places to Eat Healthy in 2015: Juice Bars, Restaurants, Organic Markets, Food Trucks & More!

After six weeks of overdoing the bubbly and those cheesy hors d’oeuvres (sooo good), ‘tis time to turn that calendar page and welcome all things cleaner and leaner. 2015 is here, with new delights to entice us and healthy flavors and dishes to keep our immune systems fueled, our skin glowing, and our bellies from bulging. This year, as you treat your body well, will cauliflower be the new kale? Will that little green nut, the pistachio, reign supreme with its antioxidants, vitamins and protein? There are so many ways to treat our bodies well and, luckily, we have found a great offering of area resources that will satisfy our tastebuds and help keep our bodies healthy. Happy New Year!

Here are 18 Places to Eat Healthy in Connecticut for 2015: Juice Bars, Restaurants, Organic Markets, Food Trucks & More!

The Stand Juice Company

87 Mill Plain Rd., Fairfield

1 North Water St., Norwalk

www.thestandjuice.com

Stop by The Stand’s new location in South Norwalk, and you enter a space that is at once both earthy and modern. The sleekness speaks to the clean and healthy items they create, while the farm table and the shiny wood counters give off a fabulously homey vibe. Stay a while, have a sip of a something healthy, they seem to say. Juices of all combos (or create your own), wheatgrass and ginger shots, hot beverages, smoothies (again, their combo or yours), sandwiches, salads, vegan desserts...there is not a single animal product used in any of it. Much of the produce is, in fact, grown on The Stand’s own 15 acre Hideaway Farm in East Haddam. They also offer a Detox Cleanse Program (3, 4, or 5 days) that is designed to bring your body from an acidic state to an alkaline state via the 6 drinks that are consumed daily. Take a Stand and get healthy. Start your new year in a great way.

Green and Tonic

Cos Cob, Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan

www.greenandtonic.com

Healthy resolutions mean something different to everyone and the approach at Green & Tonic is to meet people where they are on their journey- instead of forcing them into extreme and unsustainable practices, says Jamie McKeown, Nutrition and Wellness Director. “We don’t want health to be synonymous with just a hard core juice cleanse that invokes suffering and deprivation and has you cursing those extra Christmas cookies you indulged in.”, Jamie adds. Green & Tonic's chefs create delicious, healthy foods and cold-pressedjuice everyday and are committed to serving the highest quality food, and sourcing organic, non-GMO, local and sustainably-produced ingredients whenever possible. They offer a variety of cleanse and meal plans that will help you launch into new healthy habits...a 10-Day Reset, All-Green Juice Feast, 5-Day Purify, G&T All Day and G&T ‘til Dinner (meal plans). So many to choose from, there will be absolutely no excuses!

Embody 

545 Westport Ave., Westport

72 Heights Rd., Darien (@ Equinox Fitness Club of Darien)

2420 Boston Post Rd., Darien (@YMCA of Darien)

www.embodyfitnessgourmet.com

Embody fitness gourmet combines functional nutrition and gourmet taste. “We 'Embody' great tasting foods made with consciously sourced ingredients that enhance fitness and vitality,”, says founder Gillen Bryan. Embody's large menu includes organic juices, a Blend Bar (high-protein fruit and veggie blends), salads, soups, breakfast, and its own-made gourmet granola, bars, and almond butter. A highlight of their juice bar is its customizable organic green juice that is juiced on demand and is flavored with a choice of accents, such as lemon, ginger and apple (a must try). The signature drink is the “GT Surge” – brewed green tea, pressed lemon, fresh mint, light agave, blended with ice. Or might you feel a cold coming on? Try the Orange Sighter juice – orange, carrot, ginger, apple. Custom full-day juice cleanses  and meal plans (“Thrive Five”) are also available to help you Embody a healthy lifestyle this new year!

Green Goddess Juices

www.facebook.com/greengoddessjuices

Ashley Kenney started Green Goddess Juices in early 2014 as a way to get back in shape after having two children. When friends started asking her what she was doing after she lost thirty-five pounds she realized that her juices could be helpful not just to lose weight but also as a bridge to sustainable, healthy living for anyone looking to make smart diet choices. With two deliveries of fresh juices to your home or office every week, Green Goddess makes it easy and affordable to make a change towards a healthier lifestyle. Deliveries are available every Sunday and Wednesday. Each delivery includes six different juices (The Oompa Loompa and Beets Me, to name a few) sourced from local farms. Ashley recommends drinking two juices with a protein rich main meal in conjunction with healthy snacks to round out your day. Let Ashley and Green Goddess help you get started on your way to a healthier 2015! Please call or text (203) 722-4732.

Freshii

1 Main Street, Westport

www.freshii.com

Freshii’s aim is to provide fresh and nutritious meal choices that energize people on the go. Sounds like something that would work for you, doesn’t it? With a diverse breakfast, lunch and dinner menu consisting of salads, wraps, burritos, bowls, soups, juices and smoothies, you will find all that you need to integrate more veggies, healthy grains and proteins into your daily eating. Catering to almost every food preference and dietary restriction, including specific gluten-free designed items, everything is made fresh to order from non-GMO ingredients. All entrees begin as vegetarian, with the option to add hormone and antibiotic-free proteins. Starting on January 5th, they will now be offering 1, 3, or 5 day cleanses. And for the month of January, there is a Kids Eat Free program at Freshii to encourage healthy eating...kids under the age of 10 get a free entree from the kids’ menu on Saturdays and Sundays when their meal is accompanied by an adult entree (one free kids’ meal per adult entree).

Bloodroot Restaurant

85 Ferris Street, Bridgeport

www.bloodroot.com

Alongside the water, there is a beloved little restaurant in Bridgeport. The atmosphere is casual and communal, antique portraits of women cover the walls, woven linens hang from the rafters. This is a feminist bookstore and a restaurant, where you can dine on homey, healthy, and ethnically diverse food. Organic and seasonal foods, with the vegan and vegetarian tastes of Hungary, Asia, Greece and Mexico (to point out a few), will tempt your palate and leave you feeling satiated and health-ified (Is that a word? We just made it one). Girl-power and good food abounds at this unique dining spot.

B Natural! Cafe 

97 Orange St., and 1044 Chapel Street, New Haven

www.bnaturalcafe.com

Formerly the Woodland Coffee and Tea cafe, this boutique-y, cozy spot now houses an eatery and juice bar. Serving loose leaf teas, coffees, smoothies, salads, and wraps using organic fruit and veggies, they support local farmers to bring you some healthy and tasty sips and bites. For convenience, if you work in the area or are traveling through, you can even order online and pick up at your choice of location (within 20 minutes). Sweet! New to BNatural is their Design your Own Salad bar, so now there is absolutely no excuse for not liking chickpeas or hummus on your greens...put something else there! They have about 10 different juice combos to choose from (immunity! detox! body cleanser!) and their Vegan Power Bowl also sounds like a good way to start a new year of treating your body well. Superhero not included. 

Catch A Healthy Habit

39 Unquowa Road, Fairfield

www.catchahealthyhabit.com

Just the name alone makes it a perfect destination for your New Year...it’s what we all want to catch, isn’t it? This raw food restaurant stresses the health benefits of unadulterated (ie heated) ingredients. With their inventive soups, salads and sandwiches, you will be excited to try their vegan (except for honey), wheat-free, gluten- free, organic, and soy-free creations. Try “lasagna” like you’ve never had it before, as well as juices and cleanses that refresh and revive your system. Their cleanses are offered each month, just stop by or call to arrange. As an added bonus, CAHH also hosts documentary screenings, talks by noted speakers in the fields of health and nutrition and raw food prep classes. When you teach a man to fish....

Chamomile Natural Foods 

Route 6 Plaza, 58-60 Newtown Road, Danbury

www.chamomile-natural-foods.com

For over thirty years, Nancy and Barry Sherr have run Danbury’s oldest independent natural food store. When you don’t want to head to a health-market giant, head here. There is a great assortment of organics and locally sourced items, and at affordable prices, which is always refreshing. You will find foods, supplements, a large variety of gluten-free products, body care items and loose herbs and spices. There is also an organic juice bar (with a variety of combos or “make your own”) and nutritional counseling with Barry Sherr, co-owner and licensed herbalist, for adults, children and seniors. 

Claire's Corner Copia 

1000 Chapel Street, New Haven

www.clairescornercopia.com

A young married couple wanted to spend more time together, so they decided to work together and what resulted is Claire’s Corner Copia, now a staple of New Haven since 1975. Sharing their Italian-American upbringings of good food and good eating, they offer a wealth of organic, sustainable, kosher, vegan, and gluten-free delights...a cornucopia of them, if you will. As they like to say, there is “No minimum on credit cards and no maximum on love.” How adorable is that? Choose from breakfasts, sandwiches, salads, mexican entrees, flatbreads, burgers, smoothies, juices, and desserts (many are vegan and gluten-free!). This establishment dots all of their environmental “i’s”, even making sure that the receipts from your healthy purchases are BPA-free.

G. Zen Restaurant & G Monkey Mobile Food Truck (“Farm 2 Street”)

2 East Main Street, Branford, CT

www.g-zen.com

The “G” is for green and sustainable. The “Zen” is for living mindfully. Put them together and you have this zero-waste restaurant, which was named Connecticut’s Most Sustainable Restaurant in 2013 by Nature’s Conservancy. The plant-based cuisine here is uncooked and unprocessed and served with enthusiasm, and is everything that their name states. Anything they use is derived from plant sources...no animals whatsoever! They grow the ingredients, serve them fresh and even compost at their sustainable farm. You really can’t get much more eco than that. Owners Mark and Ami Shadle strive to give their customers the tastiest, healthiest and most appealing food, all the while doing their best to help the planet. The G Monkey Mobile Food Truck is the nation’s first all-vegetarian/eco food truck. Go to www.gmonkeymobile.com to track its whereabouts...follow those veggies!

Juice Barre

16 P.T. Barnum Square, Bethel

www.juicebarrect.com

Head to this juice, smoothie and munchie bar for great foods to get you through your day in a deliciously healthful way. Whether you like their concoctions of sandwiches, snacks and juices or want to dream up and customize your own, there is something for you here. How about a peanut butter sandwich with green apple, cranberries, and granola? Or gluten-free granola with flax seeds, honey, and apricot? So much better than a hum-drum snack. Juice cleanses, from a single day to 30 days are also available. If you sign up now for a 3 day cleanse, you will receive the 4th day half off. And what was your excuse again for not snacking smartly?

Kure Spa

430 Main Ave., Norwalk

www.kure-spa.com

857-1500

One place, four modes of becoming a healthier version of your wonderful self. Kure Spa  offers yoga classes, massages, fresh libations at their juice bar and Vibrosaun sessions. Haven’t heard of that (we hadn’t)? A Vibrosaun looks like a large pod that you lie in...then, it vibrates (the “vibro” part) and heats up like a sauna (the “saun” part). It claims to be helpful for chronic pain, weight loss and injuries. Kure Spa also has an on-site chiropractor for those in need and their spa mantra is Detoxification+Fitness+Relaxation+Organic nourishment=Optimum Health. We’ll have what they’re having!

The Lime Restaurant

168 Main Ave., Norwalk

www.limerestaurant.com

Since the late 1970s, The Lime has been a healthy-eating destination. Serving a great variety of satiating meals for vegetarians, carnivores and pescatarians alike, there is something on their menu for anyone wanting a homestyle, healthy meal. Simple and fresh, their falafel (delish!), hummus, salads, wraps and generous entrees (zucchini loaf!) are a great compromise to eating out but still wanting to eat healthily. Try one of their organic wines or beer to accompany your meal and there is even an online ordering feature (for take-out)...type it in, pick it up! 

Makis Food

2540 Summer Street, Stamford

www.makisfood.com

Healthy, affordable, fresh food-that’s the name of the game at Makis. Breakfast items, salads and sandwiches are all prepared with a wide range of fresh ingredients from the vegetarian to the non-vegetarian. Their website boasts their “Thursday Special” and the “Smoothie of the Week” to entice you (this week is was Ceviche and the Makis Green Smoothie). Check out their 3-day juice cleanse, along with tips on their site for a successful cleanse. Fifteen freshly made juices will set you on the track to a healthier and juicier new year. 

Meli Melo

362 Greenwich Ave, Greenwich

www.melimelogreenwich.com

Creperie and Juice Bar

From first site of their brightly-colored logo with its jaunty letters, you know you are going to encounter a sunny, bright, fresh, and upbeat establishment. French for “hodge-podge”, Meli Melo gives its customers a little bit of everything...from soups, salads, sandwiches, sorbets, crepes, and gluten-free and vegetarian items. Since 1993, they have given their customers fresh food at affordable prices in a homey, happy atmosphere. Even the artwork on the walls (inquire to display if you are an artist!) speaks to their positive attitude. One thing to note..their juice bar menu is huge! Quite the “meli-melo” of combinations (in a great way), some of which have been created by a holistic health and detox specialist...cleanse menu, detox menu, healing helper juices, red juices, wheat grass. All made fresh and right in front of you. Nourishment for the soul and the body.

The Organic Market

Playhouse Square Shopping Center

285 Post Road East, Westport

Despite the appearance of *big* healthy food stores in the area, this little store has stood the test of time and is considered by many to be a hidden gem in Westport. The front of the store stocks vitamins, books, and ingredients for your next healthy meal...but the back of the store is really where the action is! Their juice bar is hopping, cranking out fresh juices before your eyes. The Hot Bar brims with new items each day (not just lunch-y offerings, either, you can take home entree-like items for dinner). The fridge stocks many to-go foods and they also offer prepared soups, salads, wraps, and sandwiches for take-away, as well. There is seating, but it is very limited. Thirty years and they just keep chugging along, powering people with good, healthy food...