By; Sarah Kotzman

Honestly, I’m not much of a health nut, but I do have occasional urges to improve my quality of life. So when Good ‘n’ Raw hung their banner a few weeks ago, I had to check them out in the hopes they could turn my dietary habits around, one delicious smoothie at a time. 

Upon walking in, I almost walked out. White lobby, slightly medicinal aroma of Eucalyptus, smiling woman in scrubs – was I being tricked? The nurse immediately recognized my confusion, and assured me I was in the right place, explaining that Good ‘n’ Raw was part of the Optimal Wellness Center. Sensory-Deprivation Tanks & Massages downstairs, food upstairs. Ah, ok, I’ll just go upst—nope, carryout only until they’re wheelchair accessible or relocated. Bummer. Well, at least they’re Good ‘n’ Honest.

She promised me that the quality of their food would make up for the lack of seating, then offered me an anomaly to chew on. Literally. A kale chip. It was crunchy and soft at the same time – like chewing on dried flowers that taste like sesame and garlic, except it wasn’t gross at all. Ok, Good ‘Nuff for me, let’s do this.

So there I was. Sippin’ on kale and juice. Laid back, with my mind on my smoothie and my smoothie on my mind – a Berry Rejuvenating Smoothie, blended with almond mylk made from almonds, coconut, dates and vanilla beans. The mylk was hard to distinguish amongst the robust flavors of strawberries, blueberries and bananas, so next time I’ll try it on the rocks. Any mylk spelled with a “y” deserves to be tasted in full, don’t you think?

If you’re a burger fan, I’m going to be honest here: Good ‘n’ Raw is probably gonna freak you out. There are no meats. And uhm, there are no stoves. Because at Good ‘n’ Raw, everything is, well… raw. Nothing is cooked above 115 degrees; a process claiming to sustain fifty-percent more vitamins and protein. But before you turn up your nose, I have to admit – they do a really good job of mocking flavors and texture.

I ordered a “Tuna Salad” Pita, which had absolutely no tuna in it. However, I think it should steal Lucky Charm’s “magically delicious” catch phrase because it was just that. Somehow, it tasted like a damn tuna salad. Maybe my taste buds were overwhelmed by the crunchy bits of celery and hearty flavor of sunflower seeds, but the texture was identical. Or perhaps I was distracted by the fact that I was eating living pickle. That helpless little pickle was scrumptious – way better than the dead kind.

So here’s the dish: Good ‘n’ Raw is an uber healthy, super flavorful alternative to carry-out. And until they muster up a new turf, you’ll just have to take a side of massotherapy with your goji berries.