Clean eats in Pensacola: 11 Pensacola restaurants that offer healthy meals in a pinch
If you want a healthy meal in a hurry, it often feels like you have to choose between what's quick and what's good for you.
Luckily, there are plenty of Pensacola restaurants where you don't have to choose one over the other.
Eating healthful foods is a trend that many local restaurants have embraced. And there are even a few meal prep companies that have popped up over the years that will help you stay on top of your weekly goals.
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While you won't be pulling through a drive-thru to order at any of these restaurants, many provide online ordering. And you can always call ahead to order for pick up.
Primal Nosh
Where: 3810 Barrancas Ave.
Primal Nosh is less restaurant and more meal prep. It serves the Pensacola area and provides a weekly menu patrons can use to order meals starting at about $7.29 for a small breakfast meal and going up to about $12.29 for lunch and dinner options. Prices are about a dollar cheaper with a subscription. New menus are posted every Friday morning and are available to order until 11:59 p.m. the following Thursday. If you’re looking for a one-time meal, you can visit one of the two grab-and-go locations at 3810 Barrancas Ave. in Pensacola and 4851 W. Spencer Field Road (inside Fixed on Fitness) in Pace.
Ever’man Cooperative Grocery & Cafe
Where: 315 W. Garden St. and 1000 E. Nine Mile Road
Ever’man doubles as a grocery store that specializes in healthful foods and as a café that provides a constantly-changing menu of options that will fit into any meal plan. Both locations have hot bars where they post weekly menus broken into main foods, vegan foods and vegetarian foods. You can find things like beef taco casserole, spicy kale, easy macaroni and cheese and more.
First Watch
Where: 1670 E. Nine Mile Road, Suite A
First Watch is an award-winning restaurant that specializes in traditional and innovative foods that are freshly prepared to order. The menu features breakfast in brunch options with rotating seasonal dishes. There are organic, gluten-free and vegetarian options to work with any diet. The seasonal menu now includes a modern croque madame, brisket corned beef hash, pomegranate pear punch and plenty more.
South Market
Where: 905 E. Gregory St.
A lot has changed for South Market since it made its move to Gregory Street — a new chef, new menu and new space — but the quality patrons have come to know and love is all still there. South Market previously offered a lot of menu items that were allergy-friendly, and the new menu sticks to that idea but expands a bit more when it comes to steak and seafood. South Market is a great healthy dinner option thanks to its lean-meat offerings, hearty salads and more.
Clean Eatz
Where: 800 N. Navy Blvd.
Clean Eatz is a restaurant and meal prep business similar to Primal Nosh, though it’s not locally owned. There are, however, a ton of ways to customize your experience with Clean Eatz to get the most out of it. There are weekly meal plans that you can sign up for, and all of the nutrition information is found right on the website. There is a dine-in café if you’d like to just grab lunch, and there are grab-and-go meals and snacks and smoothies offered, too. The pricing model is based on five-meal increments with the most expensive offering being about $8.20 a meal.
End of the Line
Where: 610 E. Wright St.
End of the Line Cafe is Pensacola’s most popular vegan café. Meals are focused on being fresh, healthy and homemade. In addition to the food, there is a full coffee bar that also serves specialty drinks. End of the Line sources its ingredients locally and focuses on those that are as organic and genetically modified organism-free as possible. Those with gluten allergies can also find plenty of options on the menu.
Jo’s...as always
Where: 501 N. Ninth Ave.
You might know Duh as one of Pensacola’s local interior design stores, but did you know it has a café, too? Jo’s…as always is a quaint and cozy café located on the same grounds as Duh and offers a lot of light sandwiches and salads. You can find things like muffaletta rendition (a New Orleans favorite), California BLT, chicken tortilla salad and more.
Cottage Café
Where: 203 W. Gregory St.
Staying on the theme of quaint and cozy brings us to Cottage Café, a small café that is located right next to the Pensacola Victorian Bed and Breakfast in the original carriage house. The menu is full of freshly prepared salads, sandwiches, wraps and quiche. Homemade chili can be purchased from Oct. 1 to March 1.
Carmen’s Lunch Bar & Tapas
Where: 407 S. Palafox St. B
Located right next to Bodacious, Carmen’s Lunch Bar & Tapas is a transparent lunch bar that offers quite a few gluten-free options and lists each meal’s allergens just underneath it. Lunch menu items include chicken tikka masala, stracotto slow-roasted beef and more.
Nomadic Eats
Where: 9 E. Gregory St.
Rice bowls and tacos. Nomadic Eats is a food truck that keeps its menu simple but impresses with its flavor. Rice bowls include coconut jasmine rice, black beans, pickled onion, salsa roja, lime verde, fried shallot and your choice of protein or vegan substitute. Hot chicken tacos with similar ingredients are also available.
Bodacious Café
Where: 407 S. Palafox St.
The Bodacious Shops is a culinary enthusiast's dream, with a coffee shop and café on the bottom floor and a kitchen wares store and event space for classes on the second. The café has a pretty large selection between breakfast bowls, wraps and sandwiches in the morning and flatbread pizzas, salads, acai bowls and wraps for lunch.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: 11 healthy Pensacola restaurants that offer clean eats in a pinch
