I knew Beets Cafe boasted a gluten-free menu but what I didn't know is that EVERYTHING in the restaurant is gluten-free (except the oatmeal)!!!
Also as we were walking in I noticed the sign said "living foods" and I immediately thought, "Raw?" Yep, this is an entirely raw food restaurant.
If you've ever been curious about raw food, I'd say this is the place to start. The restaurant is open, airy and clean with a friendly waitstaff. There is even information on each table about raw foods and ionized water that you can read while you wait.
The menu selection is great and has a wide array of very appealing entrees with full descriptions so you know exactly what you're getting. With everything except the one breakfast item being gluten-free you can truly order without worry. While the smoothies and juice blends were tempting we stuck to basic herbal tea.
As for the meal, I had the E.L.T. while my husband had the pizza rustica.
E.L.T.
The E.L.T. is a version of the classic B.L.T. but with crispy slices of paper thin eggplant sitting in for the bacon. In addition to the lettuce there is creamy avocado, sprouts, tomatoes of course, and a delicious dijonaise sauce. The bread is a gluten-free sprouted almond sunflower flatbread that is surprisingly sturdy and holds up very well. I'd like to say it's almost cardboard like in its sturdiness and of course I mean that in the very best way, but it's actually very similar to pita bread: thick, pliable, and sturdy, very thoroughly edible and not at all dry. I'm actually very curious to know how to make it!
The E.L.T. comes with a side of tasty, crunchy veggie chips.
Pizza Rustica
My husband ordered the pizza rustica, which tasted very pizza like (that impressed me so I think it's worth noting.) The pizza rustica is almond nut cheese and tomato sauce, along with a few other finely chopped toppings, on the sprouted sunflower crust. Now I don't exactly know what almond nut cheese is or how close in flavor it is to real cheese but it got the job done deliciously. Also as far as we could tell the pizza crust and the flatbread were very similar.
The pizza rustica comes with a Caesar salad.
The portions were perfectly filling; we left feeling fully satisfied and sated yet not over stuffed.
If you think raw food won't be filling or delicious, think again. We both cleaned our plate and were curious enough to consider a nice slice of cheesecake for dessert (but ultimately decided to pass.) As for filling I didn't begin to feel hungry again until a good six hours later, my husband a little earlier than that, so for us it was definitely filling.
The prices were also moderate. For me cheap is under $5, moderate is under $10. For two entrees and two teas the total came to about $30.
All in all a great place!
Beets Cafe
Location:
5th Street Commons
1611 W 5th Street Suite 165
Austin, Tx 78703
Website: BeetsCafe.com
Menu, hours of operation and directions all available on the website.
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On a subsequent visit to Beets Cafe, I had another very good and very filling experience.
This time I was in a burger-and-shake kinda mood so I got the Just A Good Burger with a Shakin' Berry Smoothie.
The burger can be served open faces or between two slices of flat bread and comes with coleslaw, pickles and veggie chips.
The delicious Shakin' Berry smoothie blends almond milk, strawberries, dates and a hint of vanilla.
This time I left literally stuffed. I couldn't finish the burger let alone the veggie chips.
While this burger is very filling, mine got kind of soggy. I kept trying to find the culprit but I could figure out if the source of the sogginess was from the sprouts in the burger or from the cabbage slaw on the side. Next time I'll either skip the shake or skip the flatbread.
The hubby got the chalupas comes with your choice of one of two side salads. This is the Tex-Mex cabbage side salad but it kind of looks like shredded chicken in person. This was also very filling.
The chalupas were washed down with a refreshing and fragrant herbal tea with flavors of cinnamon, clove and mint.
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