casa de luz

After a lot of anticipation, Casa de Luz finally opened in North Park. Located just blocks from my apartment, my friend Tim and I decided to go on a date one evening. The restaurant, which started in Austin, Texas [love] is all vegan and macrobiotic. Their menu changes three times per day to ensure the highest and freshest quality of ingredients and you can find it posted on their Facebook page. for an all natural, organic and vegan restaurant, the prices were very reasonable [about $15 a person for a salad and main course] and the atmosphere was laid back and enjoyable. The food was tasty and clearly fresh and healthy [though it was very apparent to my taste buds that I was eating vegan... which is neither a negative or a positive].

gorgeous interior

organic beer

salad bar

"sushi"

beets and other veggies

my most adorable date, tim

My advice? Whether you're into the organic, healthy eating movement or not, you should give this place a shot. The food is creative and delicious and at the very least, you'll have a filling and healthy meal at a reasonable price!

{plus, they compost all of the uneaten food!}

super stylish salad

Since the relocation of my internship, I've been forced to explore a new area of downtown San Diego, obviously searching for the best places to grab a quick lunch in the middle of a busy day. Salad Style, located just a few blocks from San Diego Magazine on F Street, creates some of the freshest and best salads I have ever tasted.

Besides this, there's usually reggae music playing and they have very cool light fixtures made from wine bottles.

I have ordered the caesar salad both times I've been there. Typically, there is absolutely nothing unique about a caesar salad. But at Salad Style, the caesar comes with crisp romaine, cojita cheese, avocado, hearts of palm, yellow corn, toasted croutons and the option to add grilled chicken. This "caesar with a twist" definitely hits the spot.

Today I sampled the couscous, which seemed to be infused with curry and had lots of currants throughout the dish.

But so far my favorite little treat from this hole in the wall is their tomato, pesto and garlic bruschetta. Crunchy tostini with a perfect layer of homemade pesto and topped with fresh and sweet tomatoes that had been marinated in garlic. Now that's a snack!
(Sorry for the poor quality, iPhone photos... it's all I had!)