Organic dining guide for Santa Cruz, part 2: Lunch & Dinner

I hope all you choosing health’ers love and appreciate this guide! I called restaurants every evening for weeks to compile this list. How great is it to know in a glance which restaurants in our town offer organic food?!

In case you missed Part 1, the reason for this endeavor was to make a tool to help us stick with healthier eating and reduce our toxic load when we dine out.

For lunch or dinner, use this guide to ensure you are getting the most health for your buck. Seasonal availability affects choices, so make sure you ask the waitstaff what is organic whenever you dine out.

Almost all organic:

1. 515 Kitchen & Cocktails
2. Aquarius
3. Asana
4. Backstage Lounge
5. Benten Sushi
6. Cafe Campesino
7. Cafe Cruz (beef not grass finished)
8. Cafe Mare (except chicken)
9. Caffe Lucio
10. Capitola Grille
11. Cellar Door
12. Center Street Grill
13. Charlie Hong Kong (beef and pork are hormone and antibiotic free, not organic)
14. Chocolate
15. Conscious Creations
16. Dharma’s
17. Gabriella Cafe
18. Haute Enchilada (free range chicken, wild fish, veggies usually organic)
19. Hoffman’s Bakery Cafe
20. India Joze
21. La Posta (almost everything is local and organic except beef is grain-fed, not grass-fed)
22. Las Olitas Cantina & Grill
23. Lemongrass (chicken isn’t free range)
24. Lillian’s Italian Kitchen (prawns are farmed, not wild)
25. Main Street Garden & Cafe
26. Malabar
27. Michael’s on Main
28. New Leaf New Beat Cafe
29. Oak Tree Ristorante
30. Oswald Restaurant
31. Pearl of the Ocean
32. Point Chop House & Lounge
33. Quail & Thistle Tearoom
34. Redwood Pizzeria (all organic)
35. Ristorante Avanti
36. River Cafe (all organic)
37. Rockers Pizza Kitchen (all)
38. Rosie McCann’s (chicken, beef, salads, veggies)
39. The Red Restaurant & Lounge
40. Samba Rock Acai Cafe
41. Soif
42. Sweet Peas Cafe & Catering (eggs aren’t)
43. Vivas
44. Windmill Cafe

More organic than not:

1. Au Midi
2. Bluewater Steakhouse (although, ironically, their beef isn’t grass-fed or organic)
3. Burger. (grass-fed beef, seasonal organic and local produce)
4. Chaminade (chicken breast, salmon, and ahi salad, always organic. other organic items are seasonal
5. Hindquarter (free range chicken, organic produce, beef is not)
6. Hollins House At Pasatiempo (about half of produce & most meats)
7. Mint (organic chicken, wild fish, beef is not. Menu changes often, but always try to incorporate a good selection of organic options)
8. Shadowbrook (free range chicken, mostly local organic produce, seasonal wild seafood)
9. Star Bene (salmon, salads, pasta, anything organic upon request if you call in advance)

Some organic options: