Eating in NOLA:

If the three "Open" signs in the window didn't tip you off then let me be the first to let you know... Cabana Grill (no joke... that's the website printed on the menus) on St. Charles Uptown has opened up.  Its a nice place with a friendly staff and a island theme.  Thanks to the good people over at Cabana I can finally let you know about a place that is 1. healthy and 2. has some pretty decent food.

Kerry and I went after I picked her up at the airport and we were pretty impressed with the menu.  There were plenty of things I wanted to order and there really are plenty of pretty good healthy options.  They have around 7 or 8 salads and a number of lighter sandwiches.



 Kerry had the avocado egg-rolls.  I'm not sure how healthy they are but they were awesome and not only because they came with two different dipping sauces. 

It was a pretty good experience on the whole and a nice new option in the neighborhood.  Good menu, nice space, great lemonade and the staff was really helpful and very nice.  The only thing that was a little weird is it seconds as a oddly stocked convenience store.  Right in the middle of the restaurant they have shelves stocked with cans of soup, bags of sugar, and squeezable icing.  Don't believe me? 

 
Ha!  Don't believe that sucka.  All joking aside though, it wasn't a bad lunch and definitely had some healthy options.  It's worth a try.  So go try it already.

After yesterday's post, which highlighted a ham shop as a healthy dining option, I figured I better find a real healthy restaurant for today's post.  But don't thank me yet.

I had a meeting downtown yesterday so I figured it would be a good opportunity to try Back to the Garden in the CBD, which I had been told might fit the bill for this series.


Look I rarely say anything bad about a place.  That's because, quite honestly, I rarely come across a place that doesn't have at least a few redeeming qualities.  All I can think of, that's nice to say about Back to the Garden, is that the food was served quickly.  I wanted to say it was cheap too, but really what does that matter if you don't want to eat the food?


So I got the Veggie Stir-fry.  What you see above is actually the half order.  Its a medley of vegetables served over some brown rice.  I'll be honest even looking at the picture is making me a little queasy (for the full effect give the picture a click).  It just wasn't good.  It was pretty heavy on the garlic.  And I'm pretty sure it was the kind of garlic that comes out of a jar and not out of a clove.

And I don't know a lot about brown rice... I feel like it probably makes for a good substitute in a dish or a recipe, but when you are just serving it straight up its kinda like eating... well its kinda like eating brown rice I guess.

Now there are sandwiches and salads on the menu that might be better, but I saw a few of them on other tables and nothing looked too stellar.  So I wouldn't recommend Back to the Garden... even if you looking for a healthy option.  From my experience, chances are you will only eat a few bites and then grab a McDouble on the way to your meeting... and in the end how healthy is that really?

How was your Christmas?  Mine was... filling.  So this week we are going to look at four healthier eating options in the city.  Hopefully you all provide me with some good ideas on places to hit.  I've been here for a little more than a year and a half now and I can't think of any particularly healthy spots... which might be appernent in this post.  So comment please and let me know the places you think have some good healthy options.  So lets go...

Healthy Eating?  Heavenly Ham?  Hilarious.


Let me explain.  I had every intention of starting this series out with a place that was healthy and sounded healthy but things went awry.  First Il Posto was closed and then I was gonna go to Surrey's but it was just so far away and I was so hungry.  But believe it or not Heavenly Ham has some good healthy options.

Now don't get me wrong they have plenty of butter croissant stuffed with bacon and American cheese options too... but show a little self control and you can walk out of there with a fresh sandwich that doesn't sit like a brick in your stomach.



I went with the chicken salad.  Now normally it comes on a croissant but I got it on sliced wheat bead which is one of the healthiest of the sliced breads.  Now I planned on getting it without cheese, but just by looking at me they could tell I love cheese and put it on without me asking.  Nothing I can do about that.

I've just recently become a chicken salad convert so I'm by no means an expert, but I'm pretty sure they have pretty good chicken salad.  It would have been great with bacon on it.  I bet the bacon there is awesome.

So to wrap up.  Heavenly Ham - not my first choice of healthy spots but definitely can be healthy if you want it to be- and good sandwiches either way.  So go there... just don't get the ham... or do... either way.