Best Bets for Healthy Takeout

The 6 best takeout options in Fort Worth for eating healthy on the go

The focus is healthy and delicious at Righteous Foods.

Photo courtesy of Righteous Foods

Getting good nutrition in a hurry isn’t the challenge it once was. Sure, healthy cooking at home takes planning and a commitment to proper shopping. But in our busy, who-has-time-to-think-about-that world, sometimes we just want quick but smart solutions.

When it comes to grab-and-go healthful meals in Fort Worth, the options are plentiful. Today’s menu of smart eating — whether you need foods specifically geared for low-calorie or low-carb intake, vegan or vegetarian, or diabetic or gluten-free diets — means there are services and storefronts ready to hand you meals to take home for dinner or eat on the fly.

Best of all, eating right tastes really good these days. Here are six of the best selections in Fort Worth for you to try now.

Righteous Foods
Lanny Lancarte II remade his Lanny’s Alta Cocina Mexicana into a concept of all-organic foods that better reflects his current healthy focus. Blue Zones-approved for its wealth of plant-based meals, Righteous nails the breakfast bowl with acai, house-made maple granola, bananas, and berries, and then there’s the flaxseed-dark chocolate waffle for a splurge.

At lunch and dinner, the toasted pistachio guacamole, yucca fries, and pumpkin-cauliflower soup are all just fab. Want some protein? Head for the shrimp tacos or the plate of toasted farro risotto with poached egg and Niman Ranch meatballs. Wash it all down with cold-press juices or grilled lavender lemonade that you can have spiked with organic booze. Best of all, everything is available for takeout (except the cocktails, of course).

Juice Junkies
Local former ballet star Hillary Biediger has fresh juices cold-pressed daily available in abundance at her West 7th-area shop. Fall in love with It’s Only Love, blending beet, carrot, cucumber, apple, kale, lemon, and ginger, or check out nut milks, super food smoothies, and a hefty selection of raw, vegan, gluten-free meals that include green lentil soup, kale salad with nuts and fruits, nori pesto chips, and kelp noodle salad with Thai dressing.

Look into Biediger’s cleanse programs, which can be tailored for beginners, intermediate, and advanced cleansers, for durations of three to seven days. Deliveries can be arranged on weekdays, and catering is also an option.

T Suz Cuisine
Fort Worth chef Susan Braddock paired her biochemistry background with her Louisiana family’s French and Southern culinary heritage to create a custom meal business that caters to specialized diet needs. If you’re into vegetarian dishes, her healthy Italian chopped salad, chile-garlic Brussels sprouts, and baked sweet potatoes with black beans will make you pleased as punch. If you’re hankering for something with protein, consider her fish Veracruz and her sous vide herb-crusted pork tenderloin with apple.

It’s easy to just look at the dishes online, choose the portion size, and click to order. Five-day nutritional resets are particularly popular today, with three new meals offered for each day. Everything’s made fresh in Suz’s Fort Worth kitchen and must be ordered on Monday for pickup on Tuesday, or pay a small extra delivery fee. Call 817-437-3077.

Snap Kitchen
Freshly arrived from Austin, this concept is spreading like wildfire in Texas and beyond. New shops in Colleyville and Southlake offer the concept’s grab-and-go refrigerated-case offerings for every wish — be that gluten-free, carb-minded, non-dairy, Paelo, plant-powered, or vegan. At breakfast, picks range from banana pancakes to a bison breakfast bowl to the chicken sausage-egg stack. Lunch and dinner can be ginger-glazed chicken, Scottish salmon, or Burgundy beef, with most dishes offered in two sizes.

Just want healthy snacks? Pick up roasted cashews, seed bars, gluten-free cookies, or whole wheat pita crisps plus hummus. Plenty of juices and salads are there for the taking too.

My Fit Foods
Begun in Houston in 2006, this company now has more than 50 locations in five states. Corporate chefs make nutrition tasty, with three meals a day. Meals come in small and medium sizes, and everything’s made fresh, so shelf life is about four days or so. The whole menu is gluten-free, and you can choose from vegetarian, dairy-free, and low-sodium options.

Bonus: There’s a nutrition coach on staff to help with meal planning, based on your wants, at no extra cost. Corporate wellness programs are also available. Order online and pick up at your convenience, or just pop in the store. Delivery is only offered on orders of $500 or more, but MFF works with Favor for your delivery request.

Simply Fit Meals
With eight locations now in the DFW area, and plans to expand to other cities and beyond Texas, this outfit is on the grow. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals are offered in two portion sizes each. Ingredients are all natural, with some organic ingredients incorporated. Everything’s cooked fresh daily; meal choices can comply with low-carb, low-sodium, Paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free or vegetarian diets.

Generally, a patron can eat three meals per day from SFM, plus a snack, for a little less than $30 daily. There’s no joining or membership fee — customers just stop in and buy the prepared meals — but there is the option to have a “house account,” in which you commit to $1,000 worth of meals and get an extra $125 or credit to put toward meals. Delivery isn’t offered, but SFM recommends using the delivery service Favor.

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Time For Some Tasty Tidbits

Lots of new dishes to check out in this Fort Worth restaurant news

Vickery Cafe

Shepherd's pie at Vickery Cafe

This roundup of restaurant news around Fort Worth has an exciting new opening, a sad closing, 2 high-profile relocations, and loads of new menus to check out.

Here's what's happening in Fort Worth restaurant news:

Japan House, a unique all-you-can-eat concept with full-serve table service, has opened a location in the Lake Worth area of Fort Worth at 5912 Quebec St., off 820 — joining two other locations already open in North Richland Hills and Irving. They feature an expansive menu of more than 170 items: appetizers, sushi rolls, sashimi, ramen, poke bowls, hibachi. They scrapped their previous buffet model and instead bring AYCE dishes to the table.

Vickery Cafe, the longtime favorite diner, has re-opened in its new location in the former Max’s Wine Dive location at 2421 W. 7th St. Owner Curtis James moved because his lease was not extended. It's known for its Southern and Tex-Mex fare.

Craft & Vine, the Roanoke taproom and eatery, closed its doors after seven years. They served craft beers, shared plates, and 3rd-floor patio offering views.

Always Cooking Nola, a family-owned concept serving Cajun and New Orleans-style food, previously located in a Chevron in River Oaks, has softly opened in a new location at 6301 Randol Mill Rd. where it's serving po'boys, gumbo, wings, and more. Hours are 11 am-6 pm.

Dog Haus is celebrating Thanksgiving all month with a twist on the Turducken: a turkey, duck, and chicken sausage topped with garlic aioli, turkey gravy, onions, and scallions, served on King’s Hawaiian rolls; and the Turducken burrito, a turkey, duck, and chicken sausage, three sunny side up eggs, white American cheese, sweet potato fries, caramelized onions, and spicy mayo in a toasted flour tortilla.

Carrabba’s Italian Grill has new menu items including Arancini, a risotto bite with fennel sausage, mozzarella, parmesan, & Romano cheese; rigatoni al forno, with tomato cream sauce, Italian sausage, Romano, parmesan, mozzarella and goat cheese; and short rib marsala, bone-in short rib over garlic mashed potatoes with Lombardo Marsala wine sauce. Dessert includes a triple chocolate bread pudding. New festive cocktails feature the merry berry martini and wood-fired old fashioned. Available through January 13.

Laredo Taco Company, 7-Eleven's in-house restaurant, has two holiday specials: Quesabirria, featuring shredded beef and melted cheese, available as a taco or bowl, paired with consommé dipping sauce; and tamales in choice of pork or chicken, in packs of three, six, or 12 or a family size with two dozen tamales and two sides.

Main Event has new frozen hot chocolate shakes in three flavors: Classic, a frozen hot chocolate with chocolate candy frosted rim, and a Little Debby Christmas tree cake; s’mores with marshmallow rim and graham crackers; and peppermint with peppermint frosted rim and a candy cane. Bailey’s Irish Cream or Caffè Borghetti can be added to any flavor for $3. Prices start at $11. Available through January 7.

Menchie's Frozen Yogurt is collaborating with candy brand Hi-Chew for a limited-edition Key lime pie flavor, inspired by Hi-Chew Dessert Mix’s Key Lime Pie. The flavor is available through November 30 at Menchie’s locations in Euless' Glade Park and Colleyville.

Rita’s Frozen Custard has two limited-time frozen treats: Frozen Hot Cocoa Gelati, which layers Rita’s Frozen Hot Cocoa Cream Ice with Vanilla Custard, blending the taste of hot cocoa with cool Italian Ice; and Frozen Hot Cocoa Gelati Blender with a crushed peppermint topping.

Dunkin' is bringing back holiday favorites and new menu items. Drinks include the cookie butter cold brew, peppermint mocha latte, toasted white chocolate latte, and white hazelnut bark coffee. New items include the cookie butter donut, holiday cookie latte, almond croissant, and hash brown brisket scramble bowl.

Barrilitos, the Mexican soda, has returned to Texas shelves. Originally produced nearly 100 years ago, the drink is available in four flavors: Mandarina, Manzana, Piña, and Ponche de Frutas in both 12-ounce and 1.5-liter bottles. The aguas frescas were sold until 2020-2021, and the sodas were sold until 2017. Now they're available at El Rancho, La Michoacana, and Fiesta stores.

P.F. Chang’s has added Asian fried chicken to the menu for the first time. It comes in two options, Korean fried chicken and Taiwanese popcorn chicken, with a choice of sauces, including sweet soy glaze, dynamite, hot honey, and chili crisp. Available as bone-in three-piece or six-piece and boneless four-piece or five-piece, eight-piece or 10-piece for shareables.

Wendy's has a new salted caramel Frosty. It can also be paired with the limited-time mushroom bacon cheeseburger, which features roasted mushrooms, bacon, Muenster cheese, and garlic spread. The Frosty is $3 and the burger is $6.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission has shut down two oyster harvest areas in the Gulf: the 14-acre Desperation Reef and the 529-acre Dollar Reef, both in Galveston Bay, to allow the oyster population to recover the reef is healthy enough that they can start harvesting oysters again. They'll reopen in November 2026.

Chipotle has launched a wacky new merchandise collection that includes a $10 cilantro soap, a nod to the small percentage of the population who are genetically wired to experience a soapy flavor when eating cilantro; the $28 “Water” Cup candle, a lemonade-scented candle; and $20 car napkin holder. The collection will be available for individual purchase, or as a bundle for $50.
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Raven Jordan contributed to this story.

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