As much as I love cooking, eating out is my favorite. I love to go to a restaurant, eat a delicious meal and not have to worry about doing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen afterwards. It’s worth every penny of not having to do those minuscule chores.
The one issue I have with eating out is how bad the food is for you. I am not a health freak but I am aware of what I put in my body. I believe balance is key to all things in life so I’m not against having a cheeseburger or all the tacos and enjoying the finer things in life. I complain to my husband often about how I wish there were more healthy food options while dining out. I’m not talking about restaurants that offer salads but a restaurant that I can eat anything on the menu and not feel guilty about it. 
Now let me introduce you to Start Restaurant.
Start Restaurant is a fast casual restaurant that focuses pure, organic and all-natural menu items. The concept was created by Erin McKool, who has always been health conscious and cooked whole food for her family. After many years of cooking whole, organic foods for her family, she brought the concept to life with Start. Organic and all natural ingredients are critical components to Start. Eggs, milk, sugar and many other items are always organic. Start only uses meats and eggs from humanely raised animals and will never use products that are raised on hormones and antibiotics, or treated with nitrites. 
Now, this is the type of restaurant that I can get behind and exactly what I’ve been looking for. Not only is it a fast casual restaurant with multiple locations, Start has a drive thru! That means when you are on the go and don’t have time to sit down for lunch, you can grab it while on the go.
As much as I love having the option of a drive thru, I love the interior of Start. The restaurant has tons of great lighting with a natural feel. There is seating on their patio which is great to soak in some sun or if you need to bring your little ones with you, they have a children’s play area with games and books.
Me and some of my favorite local bloggers gathered for lunch mid week and were blown away by our meals. Not only was it interesting to see us all choose such different meals from salads to sweet potato stuffed with chicken to a BLT, it was refreshing to know everything we were eating was healthy.
I meet with this blogger group monthly and we are always looking for a space to stretch out with our computers and notebooks to do a little work and brainstorm. I love that Start had a long table that worked perfect for us. It had optimal space for us to both eat and get some work done. Now let’s get to the main reason we came, the delicious food.
McKool explains, “What’s more, ‘healthy’ doesn’t always equate to ‘tasty’. Our focus is not on diet food; rather, we are offering our guests their favorite foods, only smarter: artisan, local and responsibly grown and roasted coffee blended with only organic milk (or organic soy or almond milk); burgers made with local, grass-fed beef, salads with house-made dressings instead of squeeze pouches; house-made mayo made with organic, cage-free eggs; wraps in locally baked, whole wheat tortillas; kids’ favorites made with clean, wholesome ingredients; several gluten-free options and plenty of vegetarian options as well.” Check their whole list of items they use and don’t use here.
I can attest that every single item on the menu that I’ve tasted is full of flavor. The best part is that it doesn’t taste healthy. I hate eating food that is healthy for you but lacks flavor, Start is the complete opposite.
Start squeezes all of their juices fresh every day. Right now there are two offerings, Carrot Pine-Apple and Go Go Juice. Carrot Pine-Apple consists of carrot, pineapple, and green apple pressed together. Go Go Juice is spinach, carrot, apple and ginger pressed together. Both are full of flavor and under 250 calories. This is a great option for breakfast or a pick me up during the middle of the day.
For lunch, I chose a delicious BLT and sweet potato tator tots.
Who would have ever thought I would be eating tator tots at a healthy restaurant? Not only was I excited for the option but they were so good and the perfect side. 
Even though we were stuffed, we had to try the desserts. Since they were healthy, we had no problems divulging in the sweets. If you’re curious of the nutrition facts for each item, check them here. 
Start is on the top of my list of favorite restaurants in Dallas. If you’re looking for a restaurant that provides whole, healthy food, give them a try. Currently Start has two locations in Dallas and one location coming to North Dallas.
Start (Greenville Ave. location)
4814 Greenville Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75206
214.265.1411
Start (Lemmon Ave. location)
4023 Lemmon Avenue
Dallas, Texas 75219
214.599.7873
Website: www.startrestaurant.net
Hours of operation: Open daily 7am – 9pm
Leave a Reply