Hi friends!
Today I’m sharing another installment of my San Diego Spotlight series, when I talk about a local restaurant, bar, dessert spot, or winery that I love. Today we’re heading to the town of Encinitas to talk about Lotus Cafe & Juice Bar.
Lotus Cafe is one of my favorites eateries around here. When I’m out & about running errands or just don’t feel like cooking and want a healthy meal, I head to Lotus. Located in the heart of the action in Encinitas a block away from the beach, Lotus Cafe is a casual, affordable restaurant that serves fresh, healthy, natural food. It has lots of vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free options, but also offers fish, chicken and turkey items. Patrons place their orders at the counter, get a table number, and pick up water, utensils, and napkins themselves, pick a table, and wait for a food runner to bring them their food.
I’ve never met the owners, but they totally sound like my kind of people! They’re longtime vegetarians and yogis, which is indicative by the restaurant’s name – as the lotus flower holds a lot of symbolism in the practice of yoga.
(photo via the restaurant website)
A note from the cafe’s website concludes: Our hearts are here. We are closely involved in the operations of the cafe, and it is important to us that the quality of the food, the harmony of the staff, the happiness of the customers, and the energy of the cafe is of high vibration.
As you can tell, it’s a hippy dippy SoCal eatery with a lot of love put into it, and these types of places are one of the reasons that I love living here!
A Lotus Cafe Mexican salad
What I haven’t mentioned yet is how delicious the food is at Lotus Cafe (obviously!). The menu features a little bit of everything – from sandwiches, lasagna and daily soup specials, to stuffed baked potatoes, Indian curry and items with a Mexican flare. One of my favorite things to order is their black bean enchiladas. My hubby and I both love soup, so we usually order cups of whatever the special of the day is, or I get their veggie chili. Usually I then take 1/2 of my dinner home because I’m too full… which means leftovers for the next day!
The black bean enchiladas are my go-to dinner at Lotus Cafe!
Lotus also offers fresh juices, including organic carrot juice and their Daily Greens – which has spinach, kale, cucumber, parsley, celery and green apple. They also have a variety of smoothies and shakes to order from – like their PB&J smoothie, which contains peanut butter, strawberry, blueberry and organic almond milk. Lotus also makes vegan cupcakes and gluten free cupcakes and brownies in-house every morning. They also offer breakfast, which sounds awesome, but admittedly I haven’t visited there in the morning yet.
What I love about Lotus is that it’s mostly vegetarian, so I have lots to choose from, but it also has items to satisfy the carnivores in my life… so I can take anyone there, and we all wind up happy!
Tortilla veggie soup + tempeh tacos with beans & rice
A funny side note about that: When my father-in-law was in town a few weeks ago, we took him to Lotus for dinner one night. My hubby and I have dined at Lotus probably a dozen times together, and while I was explaining to my father-in-law that there are meat dishes along with lots of vegan options, my hubby said, “Wait what? It isn’t fake meat? This whole time I thought that when I order something with chicken here, it was vegan…”
Ha! My meat-eating hubby eats so much vegetarian food, apparently he can’t even tell the difference between tofu/tempeh/wheat gluten “meat” and actual meat. That gave me a good laugh! 
I know that I can always depend on Lotus Cafe to get great food made with local, fresh produce. I love eating there and knowing that I’m nourishing my body and that I’ll feel healthy and satisfied afterwards. My hubby and I love to grab a bite to eat at Lotus, sit outside on their patio, then go for a post-meal walk around the town and beach. To any locals that haven’t tried Lotus Cafe, I highly suggest that you do!
Tree posing on the beach with my father-in-law after our dinner at Lotus Cafe
Check out my other San Diego Spotlight posts:
Tell me… What are you more likely to order at a restaurant, soup or salad?
I love ordering either soup or salad as an appetizer, but lately I’ve been getting a lot of soup!
Those black bean enchiladas look totally ridiculously awesome! And how cute is your FIL!?
Ha, yes my FIL goes to yoga classes a few times a week so we talk about yoga poses a lot!
Yum everything looks so good! I wish that we had a Lotus Cafe near me.
There should be a Lotus Cafe in every town!! 🙂
That Mexican salad looks so great! I love a place that pours extra love into the vibes and ambiance.
Me too, I’m all about good vibes in places that I frequent!
I wish we had more places like this in the UK. We are seriously lacking in juice bars.
Interesting, and that’s a bummer! San Diego is definitely a hot spot for health centered places.
I can tell Lotus would be right up my alley — I need to hit it when I’m in San Diego!
Yes, you absolutely should visit there Marcie!