Best Restaurants with Healthy Menus in Orlando

Ready to dive head-first into the joys of raw food? How about a taste of fresh-from-the-tap kombucha – an effervescent fermented tea (reportedly with all kinds of health benefits)? Whether you're all-in for the raw-foodie experience or prefer to roll conservative with one of Skyebird's delicious organic juice combinations, this East End market purveyor of all things fruit-and-veggie is worth a visit. Grab a seat at the bar, scope out the chalkboard menu and sample something traditional or go big and "experimental." Skyebird's kitchen was founded on the ideology of an evolving menu, fresh, seasonal produce and lots of vegetarian- and vegan-friendly options for all three meals.

Super Veggie, Holy Guacamole and the Big Tahuna are just some of the fun salads (make it a wrap, regular or gluten-free, it's your choice!) available at the Green Day Café, a healthy fast-food franchise with an outpost in North Orlando. Vegans and carnivores and everyone in between will find selections to suit their idiosyncratic palates and gluten-free diners will delight in a menu stocked with loaded potatoes, rice bowls and even GF quesadillas. What's more – you don't even need to get out of your car. The Green Day Cafe boasts a drive-through window for health-conscious eaters on the go.

Orlando is rife with outstanding options for Vietnamese food and so it's not surprising we've got one that caters exclusively to vegans! This isn't to say that meat eaters can't find a host of delicious options from which to choose. Rice- and rice noodle-based dishes, each loaded down with vegetables, herbs (and protein substitutes if you wish) are fragrant and flavorful. And the pho? Many diners here say they don't miss the meat at all! What's more, vegans often face higher price points at restaurants that cater exclusively to their needs. Not here. Veggie Garden's casual confines - they do take-out, as well – are reasonable, its portions ample.

Vegetarians and vegans will find much to crow about with their morning, afternoon or evening tea at Infusion Tea, a College Park favorite. Its menu runs the gamut – from rich burrito breakfasts to crisp, fresh salads, tea-sandwich snacks to Panini, pizza, even gooey grilled cheese (hey, you don't have to be THAT healthy....) Gluten-free bread is available, as well. A bright atmosphere and a vast organic tea selection that numbers more than 100 bring in all walks for friendly meals and business lunches, fresh fare – and probably the famous coconut cake, among other decadent desserts with which to pair it – keep them coming back.

This neighborhood stop in Audubon Park, known by many its many proponents more simply as "B3," was borne of a love of cycling – along with that of good food and community. It's part coffee shop and cafe, part beer and wine bar, a cozy little enclave where you order at the counter. They're well known in the community, not just for affable staffers and a great beer selection, but for lots of neighborhood involvement. It's not unusual to see customers out on lawn chairs in the parking lot, enjoying a little live music alongside a sandwich or a glass of wine. There's plenty of meat on the menu, but a nice selection of vegetarian and vegan options makes it a great venue for a mixed palate of palates.

There aren't many restaurants anywhere that can claim a 100 percent vegan menu, let alone in Orlando, but Ethos has been carrying the plant-based diet torch here in town since 2007. After several years building a devoted following, Ethos moved to an expansive, modern space in Winter Park and hasn't looked back. Stop in for lunch, dinner or their popular brunch and poll those waiting (there's often a wait on Sunday mornings...!) and you'll find more than a few regulars, though health-conscious, aren't even vegans. That speaks to something, of course. Most obviously the fact that tasty food – yes, even at brunch – need not be fraught with bacon.

Clean eaters, you have another outpost to call home in Orlando. Create Your Nature is a breakfast-and-lunch venue, loaded down with so many of the fruit-and-veggie-kingdom's rainbow of colors we're sure you could get in a couple days' worth of recommended daily allowances with careful curation of your salad, acai or oat bowl. Blueberries, raspberries, kiwi, pineapple, almonds, avocado, chia seeds.... The lists of nutritive ingredients goes on forever. "Kids" faves have a little junk in the trunk to get them going in the form of chocolate chips, but we vote you skip these and teach them the glories of granola and strawberry preserves over thick, cream Greek yogurt instead.

The Sanctum really does feel a little sacred in the way they do things; its beautiful plant-based plates are colorful and fresh and alluring. And while there are loads of options for the vegan members of the populace, this place isn't that strict – you'll also find eggs and cheese on the menu in places. Grain bowls and salads, sammies and pastas populate a menu that holistic practitioners would likely tout. Delicious juices and smoothies tempt those looking for goodness by the glass. Breakfast/brunch is exceptional, whether you like your avocado toast animal-free or feel like topping it off with a couple of organic eggs.

The dandelion, an edible flower that we're quick to call a weed, is a mascot of sorts for this quirky organic teahouse. You'll first be reminded of the café's namesake when you view the exterior (bright green with yellow shutters) and then again when reading the menu: vegetarian, sustainable and healthful. Plenty of vegan options, as well. And raw. In fact, generous salads piled high with fresh, snappy, many-colored ingredients make Dandelion something of a "live food" haven. "$6 Giddyup Monday" is a great intro for newbies, who can sample one of the most popular menu items (in salad or wrap form) for just five bucks. Be warned, its pleasantly crunchy confines may well have you inquiring about the next full moon drum circle.

There's absolutely no denying that the all-vegan, all-the-time fare at Market on South is decidedly healthy, from their phenomenal use of the versatile jackfruit in everything from tacos to sloppy joes to the delicious T.L.T. sandwich (where tempeh bacon subs in for the traditional variety) to a creamy baked mac n' "cheese" that will satisfy your comfort-food cravings. That said, they do a great job of proving that vegans know how to get their fatty on via the delicious sweets served up via local vegan bakers, Valhalla. The doughnuts are as massive as your head. Let the cruelty-free nature of their making soothe your guilt over the calories.