People are always looking for the next new way to eat clean and healthy – lately, it’s the Paleo diet that’s grabbing everyone’s attention. The Paleo diet promotes eating similar to our cavemen ancestors – no grains, dairy or processed foods allowed. While eating out on a Paleo diet can be tricky, these restaurants offer dishes that will fit your needs.
Meat is truly the mecca for carnivores in Edmonton, Paleo eaters included. Whether you go for the barbecue ribs, beef brisket, pulled pork, smoked chicken or Andouille sausage, you’ll definitely end up in some sort of meat coma afterwards. It’s so good, you can’t stop eating – especially if you go for a platter with a little bit of everything. They also feature a daily smoked meat special, plus awesome sides dishes, including collard greens with bacon, coleslaw and Brussels sprouts.
The chefs here make everything from scratch, with locally sourced ingredients. They offer lots of gluten-free and vegetarian dishes, as well as some vegan items. Dishes like the seared Ahi tuna or the ceviche will please the Paleo-conscious, as will the super salad – a blend of marinated beets, vindaloo cauliflower, chickpeas, kale and chia croutons (with an option of adding a chicken breast or salmon). For entrees, try the seared salmon, striploin or porterhouse steak or the pollo mole poblano.
A chic, rustic restaurant with a cozy interior and seasonal menu, RGE RD pulls heavily from local producers for its meats and veggies, resulting in some amazing Paleo-friendly dishes. While the menu does change with the weather, they always offer some fantastic, protein-heavy dishes, like cured lake trout, bison from Pilatus Farms, Four Whistle Farms goose, Nature’s Green Acres pork and locally sourced, pasture-raised beef. And, their salads, such as the Edible Farm, feature fresh garden greens, heritage tomatoes and raw and pickled vegetables.
Eating Paleo doesn’t necessarily mean skipping dessert. Popbar offers gluten-free, lactose-free, vegan Popsorbetto popbars made from real fruit. Their creamy bars are free of preservatives, artificial ingredients and high fructose corn syrup, so you can feel good about having one (or three). Their dark chocolate dipping sauce is also lactose-free, plus there are tons of flavour options, including mixed berry, lemon, strawberry, passion fruit, peach, mandarin and blood orange.
This downtown Southern barbecue joint serves up everything from ribs and pulled pork to smoked beef brisket and Andouille sausage. If you simply can’t decide between all the meaty options, go for the Big Daddy combo, which allows you to choose multiple kinds of meat, plus sides. They make their own sauces and rubs from scratch, too.