It’s Only Natural Restaurant

Once I had made my decision to move to Connecticut, I immediately switched my city from Seattle to Hartford on Groupon and Living Social so that I could start receiving emails with deals around the Connecticut area. It only took a few days before a Living Social deal popped up that I was swayed into buying. For $20, I could get a $40 gift card to eat at It’s Only Natural Restaurant.

It’s Only Natural is an all vegetarian restaurant and is described on their website as:

Once a humble, hippie deli counter in the North end, I.O.N.® has grown organically through the years (thanks to a handful of hard working Vegetarians) into an award-winning Restaurant. Our Bread is baked every morning, before we open to the public. Our Vegan Cakes and Cupcakes are a constant source of Joy for us to present. We have a delicious selection of Organic Wine and Beer, and hope to represent LOCAL wineries soon. The entire menu is prepared here using the best available ingredients. It’s Only Natural® has been voted “Best Vegetarian Restaurant” in the Hartford Advocate’s readers poll since 1992, thanks to the hard-working staff, and because of loyal customers like you.

I knew immediately that my lovely (vegetarian) cousin would happily accompany me to dinner, so it was only a matter of setting a date once I moved to Connecticut.

The inside of the restaurant was decorated very eclectically with tons of local art on the walls. For being a restaurant, I was impressed that they managed to keep a small, local vibe to it – almost like your neighborhood coffee shop.

My favorite thing about the restaurant, however, was that the tabletops were painted to be a chalkboard! Each table had a small cup of colored chalk on it that made for perfect self-entertainment while waiting for our food.

There were so many wonderful choices on the menu, that I really struggled with trying to select only one for dinner. I had stalked out the menu online ahead of time, and thought that I was going to order their Pierogis, but was instead tempted by one of the daily specials, the Heirloom Tomato Quinoa Salad.

The Tomato Quinoa Salad came with plenty of mini heirloom tomatoes, quinoa, sunflower seeds, and tofu and was lightly dressed in a balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

It was so delicious and very satisfying! This was my first time having tofu that wasn’t in miso soup, and I have to say, I’m a fan. My cousin ordered the tomato and onion quesadilla and also gave it rave reviews.

I really enjoyed my experience at It’s Only Natural and would definitely recommend it to any vegetarians in the Connecticut area. Heck, I would even recommend it to any meat eaters who might be looking for something a bit on the lighter side. They also serve fresh juices and have a bakery, so it could also be a fun place to go and sit during the day and get some work done. Of course, your dining experience is only as good as your dining company, so make sure to bring a friend!

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