So you've finally got that summer bod and now you're wondering how to keep it. Sadly, with summer comes temptation.
Cravings for frozen treats and a nice night out on a restaurant patio can make keeping your plate healthy a little difficult. But we're here to help.
Check out our list of places that have menus full of food that's good for you. If we left off one of your favorite healthy hot spots, let us know by leaving a comment below.
Healthy eats in Columbus 
Take at look at our picks for healthy hot spots in town
Metromix
May 19, 2009Benevolence Cafe
41 W. Swan St. - Columbus614-221-9330
Benevolence Cafe is a vegetarian's paradise. The restaurant's well-known Benevolence Salad is piled with a smorgasbord of veggie goodness, including faux bacon. Tofu is always on hand, but the menu also includes a smattering of homemade beans and soups to add a little substance to the meal.
Northstar Cafe
4241 N High St - Columbus614-784-2233
This clean and cozy cafe is known for its commitment to buying mostly local and organic ingredients. The Northstar Burger is recognized as one of the best burgers in Columbus, even though it's vegetarian. The weekend brunch offers great twists on breakfast favorites. Try the Big Burrito made with roasted sweet potatoes or the Cloud 9 Ricotta Pancakes. On warmer days you can enjoy a mojito on the patio and browse through the restaurant's wide variety of magazines.
Aladdin's Eatery
1309 Stoneridge Dr - Columbus614-472-2500
Specializing in fresh, healthy Middle Eastern dishes, Aladdin's isnt your typical neighborhood restaurant. It serves pitas and salad pockets instead of burgers and chicken fingers, but it does have the laid-back, casual atmosphere that's so appealing in other small restaurants. Almost every item on the menu is less than $10. And with items such as lamb salad and hummus chicken, that means you get a lot of flavor for your buck.
Pattycake Vegan Bakery
3009 N High St - Columbus614-784-2253
Whoever said vegan food doesnt measure up has not tried Pattycake Bakery. The Clintonville bakery only sells goods that are free of animal products and hydrogenated oils, and it also can prepare treats that are gluten-free and/or soy-free for special orders. The bakery is a delightful place to drop in on, or look for Pattycake deliciousness at all Cup-O-Joe locations, the Bexley and Clintonville Co-Ops, Cafe Apropos and Kafe Kerouac, to name a few.
Zpizza
945 N. High St. - Columbus614-299-3289
Zpizza, located in the Short North Arts District, serves contemporary cuisine with a health-conscious mindset that any pizza lover can appreciate. This chain restaurant launched in Laguna Beach, Calif., in 1986 "to create a pizza that was lighter (and) healthier." It's a motto that has fit nicely in their one and only Ohio location. The pies at Zpizza have a crisp, flaky crust (available in regular and wheat varieties) that is smothered in 100 percent certified organic tomato sauce, sprinkled with award-winning Wisconsin low-fat mozzarella and dripping with fresh and natural ingredients ranging from button mushrooms to bell peppers. They also serve an array of salads, pastas, rustica pizzas and sandwiches, all for a reasonable price.
Lemongrass Fusion Bistro
641 N High St Ste 103 - Columbus614-224-1414
A classy Asian menu in an intimate, laidback atmosphere. That's a quick way to describe Lemongrass Fusion Bistro, tucked away in the Short North Arts District. The small bar/restaurant sports a full bar and what they call fusion cuisine—a mix of American contemporary, Thai and Asian fare. The menu includes your usual Southern-baked chicken alongside its Mediterranean salmon. Taking a 2.0 approach to the Columbus dining scene, Lemongrass caters to everyone from the suit-laden to the jean wearing, and everything in between.
Whole World Natural Bakery and Restaurant
3269 N. High St - Columbus614-268-5751
It's a whole world of veggies! Whole World, Columbus' oldest vegetarian restaurant, boasts a diverse and healthy menu entirely vegetarian and made from fresh ingredients. Daily specials and soups change daily, and most dishes can be made vegan, too. Vegetables, cheese, nuts and homemade breads and dressings make Whole World's sandwiches, platters and entrees tasty and fulfilling. Even meat-eaters can find delicious substitutes such as tofu sloppy joes, "meatball" subs and burgers made of beans or broccoli.
Udipi Cafe
2001 E Dublin Granville Rd - Columbus614-885-7446
Non-meat eaters will appreciate this entirely vegetarian, South Indian restaurant. Eat from the weekday lunch buffet table, or order directly from the menu. Entrees include masala dosai, onion hot chili uthappa, channa batura and sauteed gobi Manchurian. End your meal with one of the special treat dishes such as gulab jaman (fried cottage cheese-and-milk balls dipped in syrup) or badam halwa with ice cream.
Cafe Corner
1105 Pennsylvania Ave - Columbus614-294-2233
Cafe Corner is proof that good things do come in small packages. Perched on a corner in a residential neighborhood in Harrison West, Cafe Corner is a quintessential neighborhood favorite. Although the dining area is only large enough to seat a dozen or so people, its outdoor patio is a great place to enjoy breakfast (served all day!) or lunch. Locals flock to the small cafe on weekend mornings for its French toast and the Country Egg Sandwich: eggs, roasted garlic, walnut pesto, cheddar cheese and proscuitto piled on Old World bread. It also has eclectic vegetarian offerings and soups, salads and desserts.
Anatolia Café
1097 Worthington Woods Blvd. - Columbus614-781-0700
For authentic Turkish food, buy a ticket to Turkey. Can't afford the trip? Anatolia Caf is the next best thing. The menu offers Turkish delights like shish kebabs (cubes of lamb marinated and chargrilled) and hunkar begendi (mashed smoked eggplant with heavy cream and mozzarella cheese topped with marinated lamb, chicken or gyro and tomato sauce). There are also plenty of appetizers everything from hummus to chicken fingers. Finish it all off with a dessert like baklava or rice pudding.
What other people are saying...
FanofFletch from Columbus - May 20, 2009 at 8:48 PM
The Beechwold salad at Northstar is my favorite thing to eat in the summer. It's light and refreshing. Chicken, legumes, avacado, goat cheese and...
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