Every new year begins with champagne and sweets, while the next morning often inspires a wave of change. Staying social and sticking to resolutions can seem impossible, especially when it comes to eating out.
For those looking to be a little healthier without having to stay home and cook, here are some options.
Elusive Cow Cafe
Elusive Cow Cafe in the heart of Bellevue’s booming Fairfield Avenue offers a great variety for those wanting healthy choices in a casual classic Americana atmosphere. There’s always the classic burgers and fries, but their healthy choices go beyond a boring side salad.
Start with their house-made hummus plate served with pita and fresh veggies instead of the usual fried appetizers.
For flavorful and not fried dinner choices, Elusive Cow offers several options: vegetable stir fry, grilled salmon, cod dinner and tacos, all of which can be customized to best fit guests’ own needs. For sides, skip the fries and opt for their cucumber salad, kale slaw or sauteed broccoli.
The bulk of Elusive Cow’s menu consists of their famous sandwiches. Of the 13 options you can choose from, nearly half are either vegetarian, vegan or pescatarian. As a person who rarely eats meat, it was amazing to have choices beyond a salad!
Cuisines from across the world inspire Elusive Cow’s sandwiches: You can try the caprese for a taste of Italy; the falafel pita with lettuce, tomatoes, onion, pickles, artichoke hearts, black olives and vegan tzatziki if you’re feeling more Mediterranean; or you can go with the classic veggie wrap or grilled chicken sandwich if you’re feeling less adventurous.
Elusive Cow offers a casual hometown restaurant ambiance and is a great spot for a weeknight dinner with friends – where no one has to compromise their diet.
Bouquet
For a more elevated experience, Bouquet offers a quiet retreat from Mainstrasse’s electric atmosphere with fresh farm-to-table cuisine. Bouquet’s menu focuses on seasonal cuisine and sources local farms for their dishes.
Start with one of their boards, which range from simple accouterments like a pickle platter with a plethora of pickled items or go all in with their motherboard featuring five cheeses, four cured or smoked meats and pickled accouterments. \
Bouquet’s first course features seasonal salads and vegetables.For fall and winter, nothing is cozier than Bouquet’s marinated squash featuring cous cous, plum goat cheese spread, radish and jalapeno melange and spiced pepitas.
Second and third courses offer heartier options including smoked tandoori salmon with saffron risotto, mushrooms, bok choy, cranberries in a garlic and onion vinaigrette.
Press on Monmouth
This breakfast and lunch spot has a line out the door every day for a reason. Press is part bistro, part cafe, part market and all parts amazing.
Breakfast has options for all diets and preferences. As “basic” as avocado toast may be, I am a millennial and we stan avocado toast. Topped with strawberries, pistachios, an egg and honey, even if you’re not usually a fan, you’ll love this toast. Or opt for their Fresh Start Breakfast served with two eggs, choice or wheat or rye toast, blueberry and fig jam, smashed avocado and fruit.
Press’ menu only begins with breakfast. They also offer waffles and breakfast sandwiches that are good anytime of the day, as well as soups, salads, sandwiches and bowls.
Those wanting a more filling dish should opt for the bowls, which can have a base of tater tots, quinoa and rice or sweet potatoes. This is ideal for guests to ensure they are creating a meal that fits their health preferences. Press’ salads are just as flavorful as their bowls – just swap the base for lettuce to lower the calories.
The coffee menu covers all the basics, but those wanting an extra pep in their step can also add a shot of liquor for a boozy breakfast. Bloody Marys and Mimosas round out their drink menu.
Their interior has a small market in the front and in warmer months they have ample outdoor seating along a bustling Monmouth.
The Block Deli
For casual breakfast and brunch that’s healthy, hearty and delicious, there are few places better than The Block Deli.
Nestled in the corner of the Buttermilk Crossing town center, The Block Deli is an excellent spot for grab and go meals or for a quick lunch meeting. Their menu standout is their housemade chicken salad which can be ordered classic or flavor: Jamaican, jalapeno, buffalo or cajun for those wanting an added spice.
Guests can’t go wrong with ordering the reuben, turkey club, BLT or classic Italian. Soup is another hot commodity that rotates daily, with fan favorites bean and chili offered daily.
Wraps and salads round out The Block’s offerings, with almost everything costing $10 or less.
Deli delight sandwiches are a great option for convenience and cost – guests choose their bread, meat and cheese to build their own sandwich. It’s served with pickles and chips.
The Block offers both indoor and outdoor seating and has a secluded side patio ideal to spend the final warm days of the year. Those in a time crunch can call ahead to order, so there’s no excuse for having to stop for mediocre drive-through food.
Clean Eatz
The beginning of the year often inspires new healthy habits (or reinvigorates forgotten ones).
Time – or lack thereof – is often the reason for unhealthy eating, but Clean Eatz has eliminated that excuse. The restaurant doubles as a cafe and meal plan prep. It’s an easy on the go option that doesn’t compromise those counting calories.
The cafe menu includes bowls, which you can customize, flatbreads, wraps and even burgers. Burgers options include bison, black bean, turkey or salmon.
Clean Eatz’s menu covers options for those wanting high protein like the Big Boy Wrap with chicken, brown rice, lettuce, corn and amp, black bean, mozzarella cheese and Clean Eatz sweet chili sauce in a whole wheat wrap. Vegetarians can opt for their vegetarian wrap with a superfood blend, pineapple salsa, green chickpeas and zucchini in a tomato basil wrap.
Meal plan options change weekly and guests can choose the number of meals to best suit their needs.
Yuca/Cedar
This restaurant duo may be different in menu and location, but both came to NKY from the same founders.
Yuca and Cedar are equally delicious with a variety of fresh, healthy choices, so they both deserve a shout out.
Yuca in Bellevue is primarily influenced by Latin cuisine, where Cedar in Covington is more classic American comfort food. Many of their menu items cross over or are slightly altered to better match the cuisine.
In the way of healthier options, Yuca offers Yuca toast, a Sixteen Bricks eleven grain bread topped with housemade guacamole, fire roasted corn pico, spiced garlic aioli, pistachios and black Hawaiian sea salt served with a side of fruit.
Another fresh and healthy option is Yuca’s greens and camarones with arugula, pineapple vinaigrette, diced mango, red onion, spiced rubbed Tiger shrimp, chopped pistachios and queso fresco.
Cedar offers a Mediterranean toast also on Sixteen Bricks eleven grain bread topped with housemade hummus, sliced cucumbers, pickled red onion, cilantro lime vinaigrette, pistachios, black sesame seeds and served with fruit.
Or opt for Cedar’s West Indies Omelette, a spinach and tomato omelette with shrimp curry cream sauce.
Both Cedar and Yuca have a large breakfast cocktail menu to pair with their meals, including an extensive Bloody Mary menu at both restaurants. Who says you can’t stay healthy while enjoying an adult beverage, and what better drink is there for that than a classic Bloody Mary?
The Farmstand Market and Cafe
The Farmstand Market and Cafe serves freshly made farm to table meals for lunch, dinner and to go.
Salads, sandwiches, wraps and burgers make up their lunch menu, and their sandwiches, which are called farmwiches, come in a variety of choices. Create your own farmwich menu with meats, cheeses, veggies and bread options for a fully customized sandwich.
Or you can go with the grilled cheeses and hot sandwiches. Some mouthwatering options are: a grilled turkey and brie cheese sandwich with apple butter; a French dip sandwich with provolone on a french roll with au jus for dipping; and a chicken caprese wrap with grilled chicken, basil pesto, spinach, tomato, fresh mozzarella, balsamic vinegar drizzle in a spinach wrap.
Other healthy choices include grilled salmon topped with sweet chili sauce and served with saffron currant rice and veggies of the day. Farmstand’s vegan rice bowl is another flavorful option that even nonvegans will enjoy. It has basmati saffron rice, grilled vegetables, roasted red pepper, spinach, caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms.
Along with their farm to table meals, Farmstand doubles as a market, where guests can buy local goods. Their atmosphere is casual, cozy and country: everything one wants from a farm-to-table establishment.
What to Know If You Go
Elusive Cow Cafe
Location: 519 Fairfield Avenue, Bellevue
Hours: Monday-Tuesday closed, Wednesday-Sunday 11:30 a.m.-8 p.m.
Website: theelusivecow.com
Phone: 859-291-0269
Bouquet
Location: 519 Main Street, Covington
Hours: Sunday- Monday closed, Tuesday-Saturday 4-10 p.m.
Website: bouquetbistro.com
Phone: 859-491-7777
Press on Monmouth
Location: 421 Monmouth Street, Newport
Hours: Sunday-Saturday 8 a.m.-3 p.m.
Website: pressonmonmouthnky.com
Phone: 859-261-3397
The Block Deli
Location: 2343 Buttermilk Crossing, Crescent Springs
Hours: Sunday closed, Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday 9:30 a.m.- 4 p.m.
Website: theblockdeli.net
Phone: 859-344-9777
Clean Eatz
Location: 1759 Monmouth Street, Newport
Hours: Sunday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Website: cleaneatz.com
Phone: 859-291-3289
Yuca
Location: 700 Fairfield Ave, Bellevue
Hours: Monday closed, Tuesday-Thursday 8:30 a.m.- 2 p.m., Friday-Sunday 9 a.m.- 3p.m.
Website: yucabycedar.com
Phone: 859-360-0110
Cedar
Location: 701 Main Street, Covington
Hours: Monday closed, Tuesday-Thursday 8:30 a.m.- 2 p.m., Friday-Sunday 9 a.m.- 3p.m.
Website: cedarculinary.com
Phone: 859-360-1187
Farmstand Market and Cafe
Location: 9914 Old Union Road, Union
Hours: Sunday-Monday closed, Tuesday-Friday 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., 4-8 p.m., Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Website: thefarmstandmarket.com
Phone: 859-817-1134