It can be hard to find a restaurant that serves great tasting food that is actually good for you. Well, search no further, because Organika Kitchen in Southport is the place where healthy meets delicious. If you haven’t tried it yet, you really should check it out. Located on the Post Road just past Soccer & Rugby, Organika offers a plant-based menu using organic, vegan, gluten-free and non-GMO ingredients.

It is a relatively small space, but that doesn’t keep the restaurant from having a cool layout. They have some couch seating in the back and two long tables with high stools for a casual dining experience. The front of the restaurant is nearly entirely windows that are fully open when the weather is nice.

You might think that when you hear things like “gluten-free” and “vegan” that it won’t taste very good, but it is actually the complete opposite. It feels so good to eat all natural without any chemicals or artificial ingredients; you can really taste every flavor. Every bite is delicious; you don’t even miss the refined sugar.

For a main course, I suggest the barbeque “Pull Pork” burger. It is prepared with jackfruit, shiitake mushrooms, caramelized onions, cabbage slaw served on a seven grain bun. It tastes even better than it sounds. It is such a good concoction of ingredients, working perfectly together. And one of the best-sellers is the California Burger with a main ingredient of sweet potatoes. It is amazing. When you’re not in the mood for a burger, I suggest the Mac and Cheese because it won’t be like anything you’ve ever tasted. It is sweet and creamy from the combo of the sweet potato and the cheese. Also, their locally-sourced salad bar is not to be missed with a very large selection.

For dessert, the most popular treat is the avocado chocolate mousse. It is deliciously full of rich chocolate of course, but you can also taste the avocado in there which makes it really unique. You also can’t go wrong with the cookies that Organika bakes. I’ve tried all four flavors and each has something interesting. They are made with unique ingredients that you wouldn’t think go well together, but it makes a really good flavor.

The idea for the restaurant was to provide clean food that is good for your body – from proteins for energy to probiotics for digestion. “Our goal is to give our customers the opportunity to be able to have food that is healthy for our bodies”, said owner Cathy Riccio. She wants to make healthy food, but is excited about bringing this to the younger generations so they can be the change agents for the way food is produced in the future.

Thea Petta ’17 has been there many times since it opened in late August. “I’m really into organic and healthy food and I think the food is awesome. They have good alternatives for meat and it still tastes great.”