You’ve got a hankering for an organic meal in the Dallas area so what are you going to do? Fortunately, these days there are options. While many local restaurants tout farm to table and the use of fresh and local ingredients, here are a few eateries that offer fresh organic choices in a sustainable environment that you can enjoy.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary Snappy Salads just opened its 10th location last week in Plano at the southeast corner of Parkwood and State Highway 121.
“Growth is an outcome of doing things right,” said Chris Dahlander, founder and CEO. “We believe that not only serving our guests transformative salads, but also providing a healthy dose of hospitality in an earth-conscious environment will continue to give us the ability to grow.”
Like other locations, Snappy Salads’ standard sustainable business practice includes the wood for the long gathering tables and chairs that have been salvaged from Booker T. Washington School that was built in Gainesville, Texas during the WPA in 1939. The countertops are made by a Dallas-based company from recycled porcelain, beer bottles, and wine bottles. Snappy Salads also offers guests paper straws, corn-based packaging and utensils and reusable bags for takeout orders.
Urban Acres on West Davis Street in the Oak Cliff area is just as the name appear, a bit of an urban paradise. The place began when a couple of friends took to the roads of Texas in an effort to find the best locally sourced food. Urban Acres scours Texas farms and artisans and offers customers a “co-op-type” situation where produce is picked up at various locations in the Dallas area on certain days. The meat and dairy that Urban Acres offers is from sustainable farms and the owners are committed to no animal cruelty. They also use products that have not been contaminated with pesticides, hormones, artificial flavors or MSG.
If juicing is your thing then the Elixir Juice Bar by Juice Supply on Park Lane in Dallas is the first standalone store from the brand. In addition to an elixir menu that will have you coming back for different variations, there is a full menu of sandwiches, salads and desserts with gluten free and vegan options. Take a look at the living wall of plants with over 200 live plants to give off that zen feeling while you sip and enjoy.
The Dallas Farmers Market area has a lot to offer and for health food junkies Mudhen is the go to for a healthy menu.
“We spent a lot of time at the drawing board really fine tuning our direction,” said Chef Jennifer "Suki" Otsuki who graduated from the Texas Culinary Academy and holds a Certificate in Patisserie and Baking from Le Cordon Bleu. At Mudhen expect low-carb items on the menu along with pastured meats, ocean-raised fish and organic and GMO-free ingredients on a regular basis. This place encourages a healthy dining experience and uses fresh vegetables and clean meats from local growers and farmers. Even better, the owners thought green before the menu was even created by housing Mudhen in a green facility that repurposed the steel and concrete that was already there.
Who would have thought that a fast food restaurant could be green and tasty. Start Real Food Fast is an idea that took off by owner Erin McKool with locations on Greenville Avenue and McKinney Avenue. Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner using pure ingredients, McKool said last year when the second location on McKinney Avenue opened “Our menu will be the same as the Greenville Avenue location, focused on pure, all natural and many locally sourced ingredients.”
A crowd pleaser is the sweet potato cinnamon roll and the restaurant offers 100% grass-fed hamburgers, from local favorite, Burgundy Pastures. Bakery items are made with whole-wheat flour and there are also gluten-free baked goods.