Thanks, I saw the question when it was first posted but I didn't know what to say. I wondered if the person knew the difference between healthful and unhealthful foods. Perhaps the person knows very little or knows more than I do. If you recommend a place to eat, it doesn't mean that everything they serve is healthy. So you'd have to start giving instructions on what not to eat. :)

I went into Crispers one time thinking that it would be a healthy experience. I ordered a large salad. How could I go wrong with that? Well, I don't eat out often enough to know what to watch out for. Between the cheese and the dressing it turned out to be much too salty and I was sorry I ever went in there.

When I make a salad at home, I use extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice as a dressing. And I don't use any salt. Is there any restaurant in the villages that will serve a salad like that, to my healthy specifications? The best I can think of is to go to Golden Corral and make up your own salad. Then get a bunch of lemon wedges and squeeze lemon juice on top of it. If I can find a small bottle, I'll bring my own olive oil. :) The problem with the Golden Corral is that they don't have salad bowls for salads. They only have flat dinner plates. Maybe I should bring my own salad bowl too. :-) The salad bowl I use at home probably holds at least 8 servings. No Mickey Mouse salads for me!

Restaurants are in business to make money. And, to make money, the food has to taste good to the average person who eats the Standard American Diet (SAD). If they eat the standard American diet at home, their taste buds are spoiled (as in spoiled child). :) That means it's very likely (more often than not) restaurant food will be starchy and gunked up with high sodium, sugar or fat.

So, find a buffet like the Golden Corral and learn to pick and choose healthy foods.

First Watch
 

Just had lunch at First Watch for the first time and it was excellent!!! The Pecan Dijon salad was so tasty and I had the Turkey sandwich with it. It has definitely become a favourite place for lunch for us. The freshness of the food is the clincher. Looking forward to trying the other salads and sandwiches. Can't beat the $6.89 for the 1/2 and 1/2. Thanks for mentioning it as we don't get up to Spanish Plaines often and would have missed it.


LW888

Good Healthy Restaurant
 

Hi all! I found the best healthy, gourmet, quaint, restaurant/coffee cafe ever. It is located in the heart of Belleview right between the Kangaroo & KFC. It is called B.D.Beans. They have special Homeade Quiche gourmet salads and homeade soups and desserts to die for (of course u dont have to indulge in the desserts). Such an intimate cafe for just hanging with a small group of friends. Mix and match arm chairs and quaint fun experience for lunch. And an outdoor patio garden with a water feature. Just serene and fun. I would recommend this place to everyone. Artsy decor and the price is extremely inexpensive. Just a nice place to meet for a great experience.

healthy food
 

i would love a "healthy restaurant" in the villages!! They are few and far in between but healthy to me is always good!!

I agree.

Our biggest challenge is sodium! We also have to watch sugar but that is ever so much easier than sodium. We are finding that most restaurants pile on the salt to achieve that SAD taste I would think. Just a little cheese adds loads of sodium! Forget gravy and almost any kind of soup! Bread is one of the biggest sources of sodium so you can almost forget a sandwich of any kind. Not that you'd be able to find a sandwich meat to put in it anyway! For now I'm mostly cooking at home but I don't like it one bit. After all, I'm retired! Hmmm - I'm wondering if one could start a HEALTHY restaurant chain that could be profitable? Probably not as we'd all be on here reviewing that everything tasted like cardboard! Oh well! :shrug:

Blame it on our caveman ancestors who had to eat lots of carbs and fat to survive. And sugar when they could get it.

healthy eating
 

I blame it on the Food Industry who is looking to make Money. It's about high profit margins, long shelf life, and getting us addicted to their products.

The ONLY thing we can control is what we put in our mouths!! I'd love to see more organics here.

I was in Tampa, found a small chain called "Happy Hut" you can get a franchise and open one here, it would make $$

You would not believe how good well made totally healthy food can taste at reasonable prices.