All Raw, All The Time – The Remaning Raw Food Restaurants – West Coast, FL

NOTE: I’m not currently in Florida but in Texas. My blog posts are about eight weeks backlogged. Please check out Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (wtfveganfood) for more up-to-date news! :)

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There’s one thing that the state of Florida is not short on and THAT is raw food. I’d have to go through my list of Florida restaurants again but I’m willing to bet that at least a quarter of them are completely raw. Maybe it’s the whole, “oh we run around in bathings suits all year” thing, I’m not really sure. But I surely was grateful to run into so many. It made for a nice balance between the less-than-healthy vegan meals and these radiant, nutrient dense meals.

This post is comprised of the last three raw restaurants that Eric and I encountered while driving up the west coast of Florida.

Leafy Greens Cafe – 100% raw and vegan

1431 Central Ave
St. Petersburg, FL 33705

This restaurant is wonderful. It’s cozy, smells delicious, has great service, and the food is wonderful. I had a green smoothie (spinach, basil, parsley, orange, banana, and pineapple). I could have had the smoothie as a meal on its own, it was so filling. The texture of the green smoothie was just right (not too lumpy or too watery), and the orange and pineapple gave it a nice, non-greenie, refreshing kick after each sip. Soooo good!

For dinner I had the Tacos – two large romaine leaves spread with cashew hummus and guacamole, topped with raw walnut taco “meat” and shredded red and green cabbage, red bell pepper, cubes of grape tomato, and red onion; dressed with Leafy’s original chipotle cashew dressing. You get a little side of salsa to add on it and wah-bam! A super healthy, light, and incredibly tasty and filling dinner.

Eric had the Zucchini Spaghetti – a giant heap of spiralized raw zucchini on top of raw marinara, dressed with marinated sweet baby peppers, shallots, garlic, lemon juice, ginger, tomatoes, and herbs; with slices of grape tomatoes throughout, topped with raw pine nut parmesan. THIS dish was sooooo incredible. Well, both were equally amazing… hands down some of the best raw food I’ve been delighted to nosh on.

Next up is this jazzy little cafe inside a strip mall-like plaza. Not hard to miss, Rawk Star Cafe’s groovy, upbeat jive will have you itching to try everything on their menu.

Rawk Star Cafe – 100% raw and vegan

32522 Us Hwy 19N
Palm Harbor, FL 34684

Here we go with the lime green walls (I’ve noticed a pattern between vegan restaurants with lime green walls and super delicious food. This works out about 90% of the time. Odd, right?!). This restaurant is super clean, organized, and well run. After we scarfed down our RAWsome food stuffs, Eric and I had a great conversation with one of the co-owners, who I believe is the husband to the founder and head chef. Cool, cool!

Here we’ve got some healthy smoothie action followed by Rawghetti – spiralized zucchini mixed with kelp noodles, topped with a creamy green sauce and chopped red pepper. We also split a slice of Rawk’s raw pizza. It was toppling over with layers of delicious, raw, whole veggies. I’m  not even sure where to begin! :) Everything was SOOOOO delicious! So rich, crazy flavorful, and more filling than I ever expected. But we’re not done yet!

I had also ordered the Eggless Wrap – wow, wow, wowingly packed with flavor. With a non-overpowering eggy texture and taste, pulled together and hugged by a giant collard green leaf, this wrap was absolutely incredible. We followed our tastings, of the above dishes (couldn’t finish it all), by splitting Rawk’s raw, vegan jackfruit ice cream, sprinkled with mulberries. I’ve never had anything quite like it. **Magnifique!**

The last of the raw Florida area restaurants can be found in this adorable, old fashioned, airstream-style trailer. There were actually a few of these classic “food trucks” in a row, in a touristy part of Santa Rose Beach.

Raw & Juicy – 100% raw and vegan

2217 E County Hwy 30A
Santa Rosa Beach, FL 32459

We had a wonderfully light and filling meal here, to start our day. It included this raw, yellow watermelon gazpacho as well as a fruit, granola, and coconut-based yogurt parfait. We also each indulged in some freshly pressed juice. The gazpacho was extremely refreshing with a deep minty undertone and whole, bite sized morsels of cucumber and watermelon, it truly was a unique treat. And the parfait was simply magnificent. I’m not a big oats person but Raw & Juicy’s parfait brought all of the right elements together, layered with fresh strawberries, blueberries, and sliced banana, atop a layer of cinnamon infused oats, which rested on a bed of vegan yogurt. Get a scoop full of each layer, all at once and you’ll be in parfait heaven with the rest of us. ;)

Oh hi there little anties. Ommy nom noms to you.

I’ve got one more Florida post and then it’s on to Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky!