The 26 Best Healthy Restaurants in NYC Right Now
Look, we get it. You want to eat nutritious meals but you just don’t have time to chop vegetables, roast chicken, steam sweet potatoes, make salad dressing, and so on and so on. Especially when even after all that effort, you often end up with a dish that’s...kind of meh. Here’s an idea: Instead of spending your Sundays meal-prepping a week’s worth of recipes for your new diet of choice (paleo? Whole30? Japanese Paper Diet?), eat deliciously at these healthy restaurants in NYC—from grab-and-go lunch spots to date night dining—that will help you feel your best (while keeping your free time intact).
The Most Romantic Restaurants in NYC
1. Divya’s Kitchen
Divya’s Kitchen
Location: 25 First Ave, New York, NY 10003
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
Even non-vegetarians love Ayurvedic-inspired Divya’s Kitchen. While balance and food compatibility are the key ingredients on the menu, diners crave the seasonal kitchari, vegetable cashew curry, lasagna, dairy-free chai and carob coconut cake. Many ancient alt grains like house-milled sorghum, einkorn, and amaranth flours make appearances on the menu as well as natural sweeteners like dates and sucanat.
2. Le Botaniste
Le Botaniste
Location: multiple locations
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
Following a “food is thy medicine” motto, NYC-based Le Botaniste is 100 percent botanical (aka plant-based), 99 percent organic and gluten-free. Le Botantiste charms with savory “prescriptions” like the Tibetan Mama Rice Bowl (curry peanut butter curry sauce served over brown rice with steamed vegetables and kimchi) and the Pasta Bolo, a gluten-free fusilli with botanical bolognese, green herbal oil and superseed mix. Also, they are the first plant-based organic restaurant to be certified CO2 Neutral.
3. Bareburger
Bareburger
Location: multiple locations
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
The organic burgers at Bareburger definitely make the cut when it comes to staying on track. From lean grass-fed, antibiotic-free, and hormone-free proteins like beef, elk, bison, turkey (check out The Supreme, The Americana and The National), to sprouted grain buns and collard wraps, plant-based proteins like Impossible™ Burger, dairy-free alternatives, we’re not scratching hamburgers off our new diet plans.
4. Pure Grit BBQ
Pure Grit BBQ
Location: 36 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10010
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
Pure Grit BBQ is shaking up the barbecue game with its 100 percent vegan and gluten-free menu offering all that smoky, melt-in-your-mouth flavor, minus the meat. The fast food-meets-healthy restaurant offers up familiar BBQ staples like coleslaw, potato salad, baked beans and mac and cheese, plus a selection of mains. But the real star of the show is the smoked Impossible cut, a stand-in for brisket—it’s flavorful and soft, with just the right texture to pull it apart with a fork. Smothered in the restaurant’s signature BBQ sauce, the dish is tangy and sweet, and won’t make you miss the original one bit. Especially when you can enjoy feeling light and upbeat after your meal, rather than sluggish and lethargic like you usually do after a meat ‘cue.
5. Fields Good Chicken
Feel Good Chicken
Location: multiple locations
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
Before he became a restaurateur, Field was a finance guy with a dream to become a professional cyclist. When that failed, he channeled his passion for fitness into, well, chicken and started a wildly popular restaurant chain with locations all over the city. Fields Good Chicken is known for its mouthwatering rotisserie chicken, which is available with several different seasoning blends and served either a la carte or mixed into a nutritious rice bowl with a variety of healthy sides and sauces.
6. Little Beet Table
Front of House
Location: 333 Park Ave. South, New York, NY 10010
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
Little Beet Table is a 100 percent gluten-free restaurant. The menu includes nutrient-dense small plates, entreés and sides. Try the roasted shrimp salad, mushroom & black bean burger, crispy spirulina rice and baked beet falafel.
7. 12 Chairs Cafe
Location: multiple locations
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
The popular neighborhood Middle Eastern restaurant has two spots (Williamsburg and Soho)—both of which have more than 12 chairs. Some signatures include their hummus options that come topped with either mushrooms, falafel or mixed meat, as well as other dips like babaganoush. For mains, we love the whole baladi eggplant, their famous shakshuka or lightly fried schnitzel for a little indulgence (because what’s life without a little balance?).
8. Avant Garden
Location: 95 Avenue A, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10009
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
This all-vegan spot in the LES does not skimp on flavor, eschewing the notion that vegan food is any less layered and complex than meat- and dairy-laden meals. Highlights include the creamed corn tagliatelle, lobster mushroom and watercress risotto and “hen of the woods” entree, featuring mushroom puree, kohlrabi and pickled hon shimeji.
9. Beyond Sushi
Beyond Sushi
Location: multiple locations
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
Best known for its vegan sushi and dumplings, healthy fast-casual fave Beyond Sushi has multiple locations around the city. They’ve recently added many exciting new dishes to their menu, including jackfruit crab cakes, fried chick’n bao, and a mighty mushroom roll with black rice, shiitake and enoki mushrooms, tofu, micro arugula and shiitake truffle sauce. Their globally inspired plates are perfect for vegans and non-vegans alike.
10. Jajaja Plantas Mexicana
the social club
Location: multiple locations
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
Mexican, but make it vegan. Dishes at JaJaJa are all prepared with plant-based ingredients. A tribute to the Mayan cuisine which is traditionally plant-based, enjoy dishes like beet and pumpkin empanada, shredded palm carnitas and hearts of palm ceviche. The restaurant also serves over a dozen options to cater to all dietary restrictions and lifestyles. Open for take-out, delivery and indoor dining.
11. Honeybrains
Honeybrains
Location: multiple locations
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
Honeybrains might be the only restaurant in NYC dedicated to serving food and drink that’s beneficial to brain health. Fact: Each dish is vetted by a neurologist and a nutritionist to assure it’s nourishing for the brain. Feed your brain (and body) with their popular jerk salmon and pulled steak burrito brain bowls or keep it light and order a green goddess salad with kale, avocado, corn, chilies and labneh-anchovy dressing.
12. Oath Pizza
Courtesy of Oath's Pizza
Location: 1142 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10065
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
Known for its “feel-good” pizzas made on crust that’s grilled and seared in avocado oil, the Upper East Side’s Oath Pizza includes plant-based, dairy-free, vegan and gluten-free pizza offerings (as well as a new cauliflower crust option available with any pizza)! Favorite menu items include the Spicy Mother Clucker, and the Muffled Trushroom (that is not an error!), but you can also build your own. And don’t skip on the chocolate chip cookies—they are low-key some of the best we’ve ever had.
13. The Butcher’s Daughter
Jessica Nash
Location: multiple locations
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
The self-labeled “vegetable slaughterhouse” treats fruits and vegetables as a butcher would meat: chopping, fileting, and carving fresh produce into healthy vegetarian dishes. The seasonal, daily changing menu is 100 percent vegetarian with many vegan and gluten-free options. Faves at the West Village and Williamsburg eatery include the butcher’s (black bean) burger, burrata succotash and cacio e pepe cauliflower served with pecorino and butter.
14. Souen
Location: 326 East 6th Street, New York, NY 10003
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
Vegetarians, vegans and pescatarians alike will find something at this East Village Japanese eatery, which boasts a diverse menu of organic and macrobiotic fare that includes vegetable platters, ramen bowls, and supremely fresh seafood and sushi. The health conscious will also appreciate that everything on offer is free of preservatives, chemicals, refined ingredients, dairy and meat.
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15. Honeygrow
Location: 194 Joralemon Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
Check out the plant-based stir-fries at honeygrow, made from egg white or whole-wheat noodles alongside all-natural, antibiotic and hormone-free proteins. Sure to satisfy is the sweet soy five spice, a hefty brown rice and togarashi spiced turkey bowl with green beans, red onions and sesame seeds.
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16. Springbone
Location: multiple locations
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
A “paleo-inspired” eatery in the West Village, FiDi and Williamsburg, Springbone is famous for their amped up collagen-rich bone broths (get your hands on the signature Liquid Gold, a classic chicken broth with coconut milk and turmeric). While not strictly paleo, the mix-and-match nutrient dense menu is flexible so even the most hardcore paleo folks can modify as needed. The Mexican bowl is a fan fave.
17. Beatnic
Beatnic
Location: multiple locations
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
Whether you’re a longtime vegan or simple someone testing the plant-based waters and looking for a healthy lunch, Beatnic has got you covered. This vegan restaurant with locations around the city boasts an extensive menu that includes customizable bowls, guac burgers, pasta dishes, wraps and other plant-based options that will please any palate and fill you up fast.
18. Malibu Farm
Location: 89 South Street, New York, NY 10038
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
The quintessential farm-to-table dishes (with the best views in New York—hello, Brooklyn Bridge!) are made with organic produce, grass-fed beef, and freshly-caught fish sourced from small farmers close to the city. Enjoy cauliflower crust pizza, vegan chop salads, spaghetti squash lasagna and grilled salmon. The beverage menu features simple, handcrafted cocktails with infused organic agaves, fresh squeezed juices and local produce.
19. Bathhouse Kitchen
Location: 103 North 10th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11249
Available for delivery/takeout: no
Come for the body nourishing food, stay for the sweat sesh. Williamsburg’s Bathhouse is located in a renovated 1930s soda pop factory (very cool) and combines elements of Eastern European bathhouses with non-typical programming targeting athletes and fitness enthusiasts. Its restaurant arm, Bathhouse Kitchen, is attached to the spa and offers some of the best food you can eat in a bathrobe. Seriously: Bathhouse guests are given plush bathrobes of their choice to dine in. Executive Chef Anthony Sousa’s (EMP, Chez Ma Tante) menu is entirely free of grains and refined sugars. Highlights include black hummus toast, porchetta meatballs and Brooklyn borscht.
20. Playa Bowls
Location: multiple locations
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
No matter the freezing temps, we will always be up for an acai bowl. The Jersey Shore’s original acai bowl shop now has 15 New York City locations. Choose from their creative menu of bowls or custom design your own from a variety of bases made with superfoods including pure acai berry, pitaya fruit, chia seeds, coconuts, kale, bananas. Next, layer on your toppings like fresh fruit, seeds, nuts, granola, dried berries and nut butters. They also have oatmeal bowls, fresh juices, and smoothies. Bonus: Playa Bowls can be made vegan, gluten-free, and adapted to integrate into Whole 30, keto, and paleo diets if that’s your thing!
21. Café Kitsuné
Robert Bredvad
Location: 550 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
This Paris-meets-Tokyo eatery is a modernist reinterpretation of the classic Parisian café and wine bar, with two locations in the West Village and Boerum Hill. It’s a blend of Japanese flavors and ingredients prepared with French techniques (executive chef Yuji Tani was born and raised in Kyoto and began his culinary career at French restaurant Le Bellecour). The menu reflects chef Yuji's culinary style of taking French café must-haves and adding a light, healthy Japanese touch. Order the tamago sando or shrimp tartine and you’re in for a treat.
22. ABCV
Location: 38 East 19th Street, New York, NY 10003
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
Head to Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Flatiron ABC complex to dine at ABCV, the top chef’s first all-vegetarian restaurant. You won’t find any imitation meat or soy cheese on the menu at this elegant spot, and you won’t miss it, either: Chef de cuisine Neal Harden–himself a vegetarian and professed animal lover–pairs seasonal produce, farm fresh eggs and whole grains with bold flavors to swoon-worthy effect.
23. Loving Hut
Location: 76 Bushwick Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Available for delivery/takeout: tes
This vegan gem in Williamsburg boasts plenty of options. The size of the menu, which features everything from Asian-inspired dishes like Malaysian curry to mac and cheese burgers that have neither cheese nor meat, will blow your mind. Fortunately, the same can be said about the expertly prepared food. If you’re in the mood for vegan eats, you can count on Loving Hut to serve up something tasty from pretty much every continent.
24. Brodo
Location: 200 First Avenue, New York, NY 10009
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
Marco Canora was serving bone broth from this incredibly popular take-out window in the East Village before bone broth was on anyone’s radar. Now, the man at the forefront of this keto and paleo-friendly trend has upgraded Brodo (i.e., his brainchild) to a full-blown restaurant at which you can warm up with a bowl of frothy and nutritious broth, complete with a variety of healthy add-ons of your choosing.
25. Atla
Location: 373 Lafayette Street, NoHo, NY 10012
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
The Mexican and Central American cuisine at this NoHo hotspot is an ode to minimalism and culinary finesse. Indeed, folks don’t come to Atla to satisfy a late-night Tex-Mex craving; they come for the perfect marriage of fresh ingredients and authentic flavors. Expect innovative small plates like lobster burrito and potato and cheese flautas, as well as masterfully executed classics (think: tacos suadero).
26. Bunna Cafe
Location: 1084 Flushing Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11237
Available for delivery/takeout: yes
Gather a group of vegan friends and book it to this casual dining establishment in Bushwick, where you’ll be treated to a giant plate (or several) of fresh, plant-based Ethiopian food. Every dish arrives dripping with one exciting sauce or another, so grab your injera bread and don’t let a morsel go to waste.
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