The 11 Best Healthy Restaurants in Dallas in 2024
In a city where meat is king and there is a steakhouse on every corner, is it possible to find a healthy restaurant in Dallas? Yes! Dallas has a growing population of health-conscious eaters and an emerging healthy food scene, so every food neighborhood has its selection of salad spots and juice stops. It’s okay to indulge in a little strip or filet now and then, but it’s important to learn how to start eating healthy to get your nutritional balance.
What exactly defines a healthy restaurant in Dallas these days? In general, a diet focused on whole foods with less meat and more plants is better, so look for menus that offer plenty of greens and grains, locally sourced fish, organic vegetables and cooking methods that don’t involve a deep fryer.
Are you looking for the best local healthy restaurants in Dallas where you can get a power bowl? Starting a detox and need a good juice cleanse? Or do you want to impress that plant-based eater by showing them you know the difference between couscous and quinoa?
Even in your local steakhouse, you can find clean food or vegetarian options. And if you choose a healthy restaurant in Dallas over your standard Dallas foods like beef or Tex-Mex spots, you won’t have to worry about your steak-loving dinner date going hungry. Healthy food restaurants in Dallas recognize they’ll need to serve something more than tofu to appeal to both healthy eaters and their carnivorous friends.
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Find the Best Healthy Restaurants in Dallas
There is no better way to explore the culinary offerings of a city than with a local food tour. Food tours in Dallas can introduce you to the various culinary neighborhoods, and there are quite a few to explore. If healthy restaurants in Dallas are your preference, you’ll find the city to be modern and hip, so there is no shortage of spots where you can get your grain bowl on or get a fresh-pressed juice.
11 Best Healthy Restaurants in Dallas
1. Dive Coastal Cuisine
The name might be a bit misleading, but Dive Coastal Cuisine is the farthest thing from a dive you’ll find in Dallas. This fast-casual spot is the ideal healthy restaurant in Dallas both for the “foodie on the go” or a sit-down lunch. Owner, chef and creative director Franchesca Nor uses organic produce and seasonal seafood, carefully selected every day, as well as non-GMO, grass-fed and hormone-free foods whenever possible. You can also feel good about eating at Dive Coastal because they partner with a local composter to reduce landfill waste.
The Vibe
This healthy food restaurant in Dallas is fancier than your average takeout place, so it works for a quick lunch with friends or a business conversation. The décor is a clean mix of metals and whites with banquette, table or shared high-top seating.
What to Order
Check out the specials menu for the daily selection of grilled fish and homemade soups. A hearts of palm salad with sliced avocado, grapefruit and Hawaiian sea salt is a great starter. Follow it with a seared Ahi tuna wrap made with ginger slaw and coconut rice or their panko-crusted fish and chips.
Dive Coastal Cuisine | 3404 Rankin St., Dallas, TX 75205 | $$
2. Cava
You’re already obsessed with the Cava tzatziki, lemon tahini dressing and garlic hummus from the grocery store, so why would you expect the healthy restaurant in Dallas behind those cult faves to be any less fabulous? Don’t be turned off by the fact that Cava has grown into a food chain. This healthy restaurant in Dallas has a Mediterranean concept that checks both the healthy and delicious boxes.
The Vibe
Is it wrong to call Cava the Mediterranean version of Subway? It’s not really about the atmosphere because most people are grabbing and going at this healthy restaurant in Dallas.
What to Order
Their new Market Bowl features a spicy falafel and fiery broccoli, while the harissa avocado bowl layers hot honey chicken with a hot harissa vinaigrette and their addictive Crazy Feta sauce. Not feeling like a bowl? Then the spicy lamb meatball pita is your best bet at this healthy restaurant in Dallas.
Cava | Multiple Locations | $$
3. The Gem
How can a juice bar founded by disco soul sisters not be on the top of a healthy restaurant in Dallas list? Dallas’s first freestanding juice bar encourages you to “shine brighter” with their all-organic cold-pressed juices. The Gem Founders Mary Kathryn Bass and Leslie Needleman deliver the foundation of a clean, plant-based, anti-inflammatory diet with a full selection of juices and cleanses plus light bites.
The Vibe
This juice bar and health market combo is more of a takeout place than a full-service healthy restaurant in Dallas. They do have a few chairs because sometimes it just makes sense to grab a seat and enjoy that liquid health right on the spot.
What to Order
The juice menu at this healthy restaurant in Dallas has fun choices like the Ruby Slipper, Shine and Sparkle or Flawless to inspire your inner goddess, plus an easy-to-follow list of the health benefits in each sip. They also offer kids’ smoothies, bone broths, hummus, pestos and salads with everything from quinoa and kale to falafel.
The Gem | Multiple Locations | $$
4. Malibu Poke
Has your poke seen better days? When you’re tired of the same old seared tuna bowl, head to Malibu Poke for a poke reawakening. Malibu Poke is the California-inspired creation of Jon Alexis, owner of TJ’s Seafood Market & Grill, which is consistently voted “best seafood" by Dallas's D Magazine. This healthy restaurant in Dallas is where James Beard-nominated chef Matt McAllister has discovered the combinations and flavors that your poke game has been missing.
The Vibe
Clean, bright and cheerful. Very California considering it’s a healthy restaurant in Dallas. Order at the counter, then enjoy at the casual inside tables or outside on a picnic table.
What to Order
Change things up with a red miso salmon poke topped with jicama, furikake, micro herbs and crispy garlic. Or go for the mango lime salmon with edamame, mint, daikon and macadamia nuts. There’s a vegan garlic ginger tofu option with carrot, mango and a seaweed blend. Prefer to be in control? You can build your own at this healthy restaurant in Dallas.
Malibu Poke | 3888 Oak Lawn Ave., Dallas, TX 75219 | $$
5. Tribal All Day Café
The owners of Tribal All Day Café are not fully vegan or vegetarian, but their menu primarily is. That doesn’t mean meat, eggs and dairy won’t occasionally cross the menu of this healthy food restaurant in Dallas. This neighborhood space is as much about community as food. Tribal is a Chickasaw-Nation-owned and operated brand launched by their popular juices, which are now available in three states. Located in the Bishop Arts district of Dallas, Tribal invites you to come in and “nourish yourself, change the world.”
The Vibe
This healthy restaurant in Dallas has welcoming white subway tile walls, hanging (real) plants and lunch counter seating plus tables. It’s a comfortable backdrop for what’s about to come.
What to Order
This healthy restaurant in Dallas serves breakfast all day, which is good because you don’t want to miss the black bean and brown rice breakfast burrito with mozzarella and avocado if you slept too late. For a lighter bite, try the JCCC toast made with a house vegan jalapeño cashew cheese, cucumber, asparagus and local extra virgin olive oil. A kung pao cauliflower bowl or a hemp seed pesto wrap round things out if you’re more in the mood for lunch. Don’t forget this healthy restaurant in Dallas is known for its juice!
Tribal All Day Café | 263 N. Bishop Ave., Dallas, TX 75208 | $$
6. Slutty Vegan
This impossible-to-ignore healthy restaurant in Dallas is an outpost of restaurateur Pinky Cole’s Georgia brand. Cole wanted to bring awareness of veganism to the neighborhoods of East Atlanta. What started as an Instagram-fueled business out of her apartment has now grown to over 10 locations in Georgia plus this healthy restaurant in Dallas. Her mission is to start the conversation about vegan food in communities that are historically crippled by high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity — but without sacrificing taste.
The Vibe
With a name like that, you aren’t expecting flowers and chandeliers, right? Slutty Vegan looks more like a late-night New York pizza and burger joint, and you’ll be taking your Impossible Burger to go. But because it’s 100% vegan, it still counts as a healthy restaurant in Dallas.
What to Order
The Dancehall Queen features a plant-based patty topped with sweet jerk plantains, vegan cream cheese and caramelized onions on a Hawaiian bun. Get your steak and cheese fix with the Hollywood Hooker, and maybe add a side of Hawt Toddy vegan bean chili.
Slutty Vegan | 2707 Main St., Dallas, TX 75226 | $$
7. Original ChopShop
When you’re feeling creative and in the mood for a healthy bite, the Original ChopShop checks all the boxes. From açai, yogurt and pitaya bowls to your traditional protein bowls, there is a combo for every appetite. For those who have dietary restrictions like dairy, lactose, gluten or soy-free, you’ll have an easy time finding your fit at this healthy restaurant in Dallas, as will vegetarians and vegans.
The Vibe
Casual but clean and upscale bistro with plenty of seating options. They serve breakfast until 2 p.m. on weekends.
What to Order
Try the green curry tofu bowl with sesame seeds, cilantro and sugar snap peas or the raw vegetable salad with smoked almonds, broccoli, cauliflower and Parmesan. You’ll also find a full selection of fresh juices and protein shakes at this healthy restaurant in Dallas.
Original ChopShop | Multiple Locations | $$
8. HG Sply Co.
Can you combine cool vibes, a rooftop bar and healthy food all in the same place? Yes. Welcome to HG Sply Co., where you can get well-sourced, delicious and properly portioned food in a fun and social space.
The Vibe
There are three locations of this healthy restaurant in Dallas. All are slightly different, but what they have in common is that they’re the kind of place you want to go with a good group of friends for a happy hour that lingers into dinner. HG Sply Co. has a full inside bar and rooftop bar, low lighting and both indoor and outdoor table or counter seating.
What to Order
You’ll find a variety of options on their menu. Pick a protein like quinoa “meatballs,” grilled salmon or duck confit from the “Hunted” menu and pair it with one of their house bowls like the yellow curry or Forager, or build your own. The HG kale Caesar comes with garlic-chickpea croutons if you want something lighter. They also have a solid carnivore menu, making this a great date place and one of the most fun things to do in Dallas.
HG Sply Co. | Multiple Locations | $$$
9. Flower Child
It calls to you just by the name. And then you enter to find a healthy restaurant in Dallas that’s the perfect place for a girl’s lunch. This chain defies the laws of fast-ish food by being entirely made from scratch. “Whether you're vegan, vegetarian, paleo or just hungry,” Flower Child has got you covered with “healthy food for a happy world.”
The Vibe
Each location has that California-lunch-bistro vibe with curated lamps, garden colors and a variety of fabric and textures. It just beckons. Grab a lunch salad and stay awhile.
What to Order
Menus vary from location to location, but look for the organic strawberry and roasted beet salad on arugula with French feta and Marcona almonds, or try the Brussels sprout and organic kale salad with pink grapefruit, white cheddar and smoked almond. If you want something handheld, get the Thai Dye wrap made with spicy tofu and Thai basil, avocado, daikon, snap peas and cilantro.
Flower Child | Multiple Locations | $$
10. bellagreen
When you need that lunch place that satisfies the meat eater as well as the salad junkie, look no further than bellagreen. This popular spot boasts a wide variety of delicious choices at affordable prices.
The Vibe
A casual and healthy restaurant in Dallas that serves up a lively lunch. It’s always packed with casual business lunchers and groups of friends sharing laughs.
What to Order
The veggie wrap is a hearty portion. The honey-fried goat cheese and arugula salad is divine. Need something more substantial? Try the paleo spaghetti squash Bolognese.
bellagreen | Multiple Locations | $$
11. True Food Kitchen
It can be hard to find a healthy restaurant in Dallas that offers an upscale dinner menu and is date worthy. True Food Kitchen is the ideal spot for a birthday dinner in Dallas. It’s also just about the only place in Dallas where you can confidently take a vegan business guest for a fine dining experience.
The Vibe
Lively and modern dining space with an open-air kitchen concept. Full bar and craft cocktails are available. The menu includes many pick-your-own protein options plus pizzas, steaks and seafood entrées.
What to Order
Start with an order of the seasonal burrata and charred cauliflower for the table. The Forbidden poke bowl is a winner every time, and all of their bowls are unique and delicious. You also can’t go wrong by sharing one of their pizzas, but the chicken sausage pizza is a standout.
True Food Kitchen | Multiple Locations | $$$
After reading through some of the menus at healthy restaurants in Dallas, you might find yourself being more open-minded to plant-based or vegan eating. Dallas is a modern metropolis, and chefs are prepared to satisfy. Remember that healthy eating doesn’t mean having to sacrifice portions or flavor. It just has to make you feel good.
For even more fun ways to explore Dallas and beyond, check out other experiences happening on Cozymeal.
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