Some people might be fooled by the all the Tacos, Tex-Mex, and BBQ, but Austin has been called one of the fittest and healthiest cities in America. Running/biking on Ladybird Lake, cycling, laps at Deep Eddy Pool, Crux Climbing Center, hiking around Hamilton Pool, and paddle boarding are the epicenter of the city. Honestly, the only way to actually be 100% sure you are eating healthy is to eat at home, but get real, going out is all the fun! Here are my top picks and how I edit some restaurants for Healthy Eats in Austin.
Best Healthy Restaurants in Austin
Casa de Luz – This macrobiotic, ayurvedic, vegan, “safe place,” gives you the same feelings after letting it all out at a yoga class. It’s peaceful, healthful, communal, and has the best deal in town. $16 for soup, salad, and the entreé of the day which always includes some sort of kale with almond sauce, beans, rice, and main event. My favorite is the guacamole taco or butternut squash.
Swedish Hill – The rotisserie chicken, cold salads in their refrigerated case, or the Clarksville Crunch Salad with Kale, Cauliflower, Almonds, Seeds, and Tahini are exactly what I’m looking for in a light lunch. I do like to grab their Salted Chocolate Chip Cookie on my way out because it’s me!
FoodHeads – This place feels very “Old Austin,” and is just one of those places where everyone is there to enjoy their lunch. The Chicken & Eggplant Sandwich is delicious, and I love that they have a half sandwich + half soup or half salad combo on the menu. I recommend the dairy-free sweet potato soup — despite being dairy free, it’s creamy and perfect for a casual lunch.
Two Hands – One of the only spots to grab an easy lunch on SoCo, Two Hands has pastries, salads, and various bowls. Some standouts are the Salmon Quinoa Bowl or the Brassicas Salad with charred broccolini, Brussels sprouts, kale, hummus, jammy egg, avocado, pickled shallots, buzz chili, and seeds.
The Well – If you’re looking for a healthy downtown or Bouldin Creek spot, I love coming to The Well for the locally-sourced ingredients. I actually prefer the design and easier parking at the newer Bouldin location. I recommend the Salmon Tartare with avocado, lemon, garlic chili oil crisp, caper, and jicama, which is served with Tozi Chips, and the Organic Pasture-Raised Chicken with quinoa, pickled fennel, spring onion, bell pepper, snap peas, spinach, lemon vinaigrette, and herb coconut yogurt. The salads are always good, too! I say skip dessert here, and head to Thai Fresh instead for their gluten-free baked goods.
Soupleaf – Soupleaf offers an all-you-can-eat hot pot lunch for $25.50 and dinner for $36, and it’s exciting and extremely overwhelming at the same time to see the options. Choose from five different types of broths, but I’d recommend the Miso Dashi, which they poured out of a teapot-like spout. After receiving your broth, head to the buffet tables full of vegetables, greens, sauces, rice, and noodles, plus a table of seafood and a buffet of desserts. Pick your protein from your waiter, and they bring it to you on a tower, but the meat was actually the least tasty part because the vegetables were so much better. I scooped a bowl of rice from the rice maker, and topped my bowl of soup after letting the root veggies cook in the broth before adding spinach and bean sprouts. I will happily go back any time, whoever wants to come with me!
Bouldin Creek Cafe – Everything here is vegetarian, and I find myself coming here multiple days a week when I get the craving. I love the special salad bowl in the fall when it has butternut squash and chickpeas, but my favorite dish is the Zucchini Migas with real eggs and vegan cheese, whole wheat tortillas, and the refried black beans. I often come here just because I want those silky black beans! The Breakfast Scramwich is also a good order. Weekend brunch looks like a long wait so I’d go for weekday lunch or dinner.
Fresa’s Chicken al Carbon – This is the only Mexican restaurant that has sides chockfull of dressed up veggies instead of rice and refried beans. Stick to the sweet potatoes and beets over the flash fried, sweet brussels sprouts (if you want to be healthier! Otherwise, these sprouts are awesome). The Mixta Salad with power greens, quinoa, grilled red cabbage, harissa carrots, sunflower seeds, tomato, and cucumber is my go-to salad. Because I’m me, I have to say the Rice Krispie Treat ice cream is one of the best flavors and texture in town.
Josephine House – The farm to table cottage in historic Clarksville is full of vegetable salads freshly placed on the marble in front of the kitchen window. They change seasonally, and there is always a big chopped salad on the menu filled with sweet treats like dates, dried cherries, nuts, and seeds.
Tancho – I’m always looking for great sushi that is casual and available at lunchtime, and one with an affordable omakase available for less than $30 like this is CRAZY. With four different offerings at both lunch and dinner from $29 to $59 AND at this high of quality, this really is a steal for everyone! The signature is $35 at lunch and $39 at dinner with the Suomono Cucumber Salad, Tuna Sashimi, and nigiri such as Yellowtail, Salmon, Albacore, Akami, which is my favorite tuna, and then two open handrolls. I loved it all except the salmon handroll, which was too sweet.
Veracruz Fonda and Bar – Everyone talks about Veracruz’s breakfast tacos, but at their sit-down restaurant in Mueller — which won a Bib Gourmand award from Michelin — they’re expanding on their fresh, Veracruz cuisine with larger plates like the head-on Camarones al Mojo de Ajo, the fresh Shrimp Ceviche, and I can’t stop thinking about their flavorful rice and black beans that comes with the Calabacitas con Queso! They have the best healthy-ish Agua Frescas, and I love the Cantaloupe flavor. If you think you don’t like cantaloupe, get this and you’ll change your mind.
Wow Poke – I’ve been mourning Malibu Poke since it quietly closed, and I haven’t felt any other poké place was worthy of my raw fish cravings until I finally tried Wow Poke at Cosmic Pickle Road. I love how many options there are, but more importantly, it’s the freshness and flavor of the fish that gets me on a poké bowl’s team or not. I crafted my own with a base of part-brown rice and part-salad, and obviously went for the tuna and ginger galore. The portion was huge and probably enough for a medium-size lunch, plus a snack later. Go for the tuna and crab salad, ponzu and ginger dressing, furikake, sesame seeds, and load it up.
Uroko – Truthfully, I’ve never been a big fan of handrolls because the seaweed is hard to bite into or the roll falls apart in my hand. However, the temaki here were unlike any I’ve had, so much so that I felt a whole change in my spirit and attitude. The Bluefin Tuna Taku held bluefin tuna, cucumber, takuan, wasabi butter, and shiso for $8, and I absolutely loved the sour, vinegary flavor mixed with the tuna in a warm and comforting roll with every ingredient in each bite. I also tried the Marfa Roll with tuna, hamachi, avocado, yuzu kosho, cucumber, and shiso, and the Spicy Tuna, which almost tasted like sriracha, but I would go back just to get a bunch of the Bluefin rolls. It’s counter-service, open for lunch every day, and I can’t wait to eat there again.
Loro – Since Uchi and Uchiko are closed for lunch and Franklin’s BBQ is too long of a wait to have it be considered “lunch,” get the hybrid between the two at Loro. Brisket sandwiches, Malaysian Chicken, Salads, Coconut Rice Bowls…
Local Foods – Originally started in Houston, Local Foods’ 2nd Street District location earned its way onto this list because of its amazing Salmon Poke Powl, although I did sub the salmon for tuna – duh! With jasmine rice and quinoa, watermelon, napa cabbage, cucumbers, nori aioli, shaved radish, radish sprouts, spicy broccoli-miso crunch, and black sesame seeds, the bowl is SO fresh and filling. I also love their desserts, particularly the vegan Carrot Cake and Cowboy Cookie.
MezzeMe – When you really want Mediterranean food for lunch, like I often do, walk into this easy Turkish place. I loved the bountiful Shrimp Skewers and Mediterranean Salmon plates, which both come with salad and rice. The nutritious fare arrived in a timely manner, and I love that you can get proteins, vegetables, rice, pita, and hummus all together. It’s enough food that you can make multiple meals out of one dish too! This counter-service spot boasts plenty of parking, generous portions, and you won’t feel like you splurged too much after eating.
Rogue Radish – For an easy and healthy to-go option downtown, Rogue Radish offers a number of bowls with fresh ingredients like purple rice, golden turmeric chickpeas, living lettuces and sprouts, and homemade fermented pickles. Choose from responsibly-sourced proteins including Mary’s Organic Chicken, Peeler Ranch Wagyu, Bluefin Tuna and Ruby King Salmon. I went for the King Salmon Poke and loved the jammy tamari egg and chewy rice.
ATX Food Co. – I’m biased towards a healthy lunch since I eat out for dinner and dessert so much! You can find that at this food truck with their extensive selection of smoothies, elixirs, power bowls, and tacos. Get anything with the butternut squash.
Vinaigrette – These might be the most expensive salads in Austin, but it’s one of the only salad friendly places with an endless list of options and a lovely outdoor patio. Go for The Omega with leafy greens, corn, bell pepper, tomato, avocado, red onion, toasted pine nuts, chicken. It’s huge!
The Soup Peddler – If you’re feeling sick, too hot to eat anything, or just need a smoothie, I’m down with this joint! I like the Earth Shaker with mango, pomegranate, beet, carrot, spinach, lemon, parsley. Also, grab a to-go Kneel Before Kale Salad with golden raisins and sunflower seeds.