Leafy Greens Cafe – A Vegan Cafe in St. Petersburg, Florida

Leafy Greens Cafe, located in downtown St. Petersburg, features non-GMO “made from scratch” healthy food that happens to also be vegan, raw and gluten-free. Fitting in quite well with the slow food movement, Leafy Greens Cafe is a place to unwind while enjoying a healthy meal that is claimed to be made with “an extra helping of love”.

Atmosphere

The inside dining area has high ceilings with an open-concept style floor plan so you can see the two chefs preparing your meal if you’d like.  The decor features framed artwork as well as items, such as teas, for sale. The outside seating area is in front of the cafe and it split by the sidewalk, which could spark some interesting conversations when passersby spot the food.

Menu

The menu consists of gluten-free, raw, vegan dishes, including soups, salads and six hearty entrees as well as an assortment of teas, juices and smoothies. Specials and desserts change daily and are posted on a board in the dining area.

We tried both starters: the Pineapple-Cucumber Gazpacho and the Thai Curry Soup. We enjoyed the gazpacho for its subtle and smooth flavors (you may need to add some salt to it) and the Thai soup for its rich, bold flavors, reminiscent of our time in northern Thailand.

For the entree we enjoyed both the Mediterranean pizza, topped with cashew hummus, olives, cucumber, grape tomatoes and even zattar and raw tacos, which uses romaine lettuce as the taco shell. We were most impressed with the amount of flavor of this dish, which combined cashew hummus, guacamole, walnuts, cabbage, red peppers, carrots, grape tomatoes and red onions. In our opinion, it’s the chipotle cashew dressing that really makes this dish a must-try.

Service and Prices

The friendly waitress knew the menu quite well and would always ask if she wasn’t sure about specific ingredients. She was also able to give very good recommendations; we even overheard her helping a woman with a tomato allergy navigate the meal selections. The service tends to be a bit slow, especially when it is busy (we went on a Saturday afternoon), but this was expected given the promise of “made from scratch”.

We found the prices quite reasonable, ranging between $7 and $16, and accurately reflected the quality of the ingredients and the care that goes into every meal.

Logistics

The Leafy Greens Cafe is located at 1626 Central Avenue in St. Petersburg, Florida, which can be easily reached from US19 or 275 South.

The cafe opens daily at 11am and stays open until 8pm from Monday through Thursday, 9pm on Friday and Saturday and 6pm on Sundays. Ample street parking is available right out front and across the street.

Update October 2018: since the time of writing, Leafy Greens menu has changed to include some cooked items.