Boston was recently named one of the healthiest cities in America according to BetterDoctor.com. Yes, many different publications and websites make their own rankings but Boston is always in the top. The criteria used for this list included:
- Population data about physical fitness (exercise rates, eating habits, chronic health problems and disease rates, access to parks and recreational activities, and more.)
- The percentage of doctors in the state that are highly rated according to BetterDoctor’s comprehensive, seven-variable algorithm.
- The percentage of residents with health insurance coverage to assess how feasible it is for residents to get medical care.
I also tried dairy free chia yogurt and raw avocado cucumber soup from Kreation Kafe, which has many locations.
At the pool in Palm Springs, I had a kombucha instead of an alcoholic beverage! No, Palm Springs is not LA but still – kombucha on tap is rare in Boston, the “healthiest city.” Thank you Life Alive and the few that do.
On ClassPass, there were so many fitness studios to choose from in LA I was totally overwhelmed. It seems like NYC has more fitness studios than taxis these days. Boston is catching up, we are a much smaller city though.
Boston has very few restaurants that are dedicated to people who want to eat clean. If you are a gluten free vegan, good luck! In LA, you have so many options in my opinion. Same with other cities like New York and San Francisco. I’ve found Miami is pretty friendly for health weirdos like me too. Listing healthy cities means nothing to me unless I can benefit from their offerings. Doctors, hospitals and insurance I cannot unless I get hurt while traveling!
If you are visiting Boston any time soon – lucky you, our snow is awesome – and are looking for a healthy meal, here are a few of my favorite places – note many sound like juice bars but ALL have food too. Depending on what neighborhood you are in, there is usually only one show in town. There is little competition. One neighborhood missing from this list is mine!
- sweetgreen (Back Bay & Seaport) Salads…
- Life Alive (Cambridge) Vegetarian…
- CocoBeet (Gov’t Center) Juices, smoothies and raw vegan foods. Try their chia pudding!
- Jugos (Back Bay) I don’t love this place but it’s super conveniently located…
- Root (Allston) Vegetarians rejoice! Not the lowest calorie place but delicious with gfree & dairy free options.
- Mother Juice (Kendall Square) I actually haven’t been yet because Kendall is not convenient for me but their food truck juices were good and the menu looks awesome!
- Thirst Juice Company (Downtown along Freedom Trail for tourists!) In addition to juice, serves oatmeal in the AM, acai bowls and soup!
- Pret A Manger (Back Bay & Downtown) Few places in Boston give calorie content and offer this many vegetarian options!
- Whole Foods Market… sort of a joke but not really. WFM won best salad a few years ago in Boston Magazine lol.
- Pressed (Beacon Hill)… The newest to open on the list. I haven’t been yet but can’t wait!
- B.Good (Downtown, Back Bay and more!)… I originally forgot to add b.Good. I don’t know why. Their kale and quinoa bowls are amazing!
*None of the above places have waiter service. You order at the counter. There are other places I like, but literally I have 1 or 2 favorite dishes on the menu that I would consider healthy. Flour is a great example. They have a delicious sandwich you can get as a salad with jicama, avocado and roasted chicken!
Sadly we don’t have many sit down healthy places to eat like LA or NYC. When they finally arrive, then I will proclaim Boston is the healthiest but until then, I just think we are a running city with good hospitals and mandatory health insurance laws.
Did I miss your favorite healthy spot in the city?
New Orleans gets a bad rep for being sooo unhealthy, but we have a few good juice bars, vegan restaurants, and a few sit down healthy restaurant options. We are sorely lacking in studios, and if you don’t live in a certain neighborhood (Uptown), you really don’t have a lot of options. Thankfully, my neighborhood has a great fitness center, healthy food options, and a park nearby (River Ridge). We’re getting there, but I doubt we will ever be like any of the major cities in the country in terms of studios and restaurants.
There is a new juice bar called Kwench opening on Congress Street in Boston (not sure when). I am looking forward to seeing how it is!
I’m in San Francisco, and this is by far the healthiest and most active place I’ve ever lived. We have a ton of fresh juice places and so many salad and veggie spots. I love it all! 🙂
This is spot on. We really need some more healthy food places, especially sit down restaurants! Whenever I travel to LA or NYC all I want to do is eat because I want to try every juice bar and healthy restaurant in town haha. Can’t wait to try Pressed -- their food sounds amazing!
B.Good has some decent healthy offerings but doesn’t hold a flame to places like the Protein Bar in Chicago. There’s also
Oh my gosh -- I LOVE B.GOOD! I can’t believe I forgot to add them. Adding them now.
Sounds like there are some delicious options, but I definitely agree- NYC has so many healthy restaurants to offer, it’s amazing!
Thanks for the share! I’m super pumped to try Thirst Juice Co. I’ve been looking for a place like that in the Back Bay area for a while.
My city is most definitely NOT a healthy city. In fact it has been named the most alcoholic, uneducated city in USA. Pretty sad but I will say that I have met a great group of friends that love to work out and some really good healthy restaurants. I will say that when I visited Boston I was super impressed at how active everyone was. I just love that city!
For vegetarians/vegans, there’s also Veggie Galaxy in Central Square and the Red Lentil in Watertown!
Sarah -- I am visiting Boston next weekend (from Portland ME) with a friend from Seattle. This is a fabulous list of places to grab a quick eat and stay on track with healthy eating. Thank you! I’m having a hard time finding (via Google) restaurants for dinner that will please both the meat eater and the vegan and be fun for girls night out (fun atmosphere, great drinks, etc). Am I being too picky? I have plenty of recommendations in Portland for this type of place. Any in Boston? (We will be in Back Bay.) Thank you!
Vegan dinners in Boston (back bay) is gonna be hard but not impossible. I’ve never been for dinner but friendly toast has vegan options. Barcelona in south end is close and a good option likely as well. I feel like Lolita (Mexican) probably has a few options and fun atmosphere. I love Kava neo taverna in south end and think they have good options too as it’s Greek. South end buttery too has a few good options. Check out those menus!
Thank you SO much for your time and ideas!!!