With the #health trend dominating our millennial culture, Gainesville has been taking its own steps to hop on the bandwagon with the help of local restaurant, Daily Green. Daily Green is a hidden gem located in downtown Gainesville and has been serving up vegan, vegetarian, and meat dishes for the past five years. While the words vegan and vegetarian might have some of you running for the hills, fear not. The menu is full of aesthetic (peep photos below), tasty, and of course, healthy meals that will keep any of you meat-lovers satisfied.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
With any great restaurant comes a great story and great owners. I was lucky enough to meet one of the owners, John Arana, and get the inside scoop on the green genius behind Daily Green. John has been a local Gainesville resident for the past 30 years, getting both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree at UF; can I get a Go Gators? After studying agriculture and learning about the dark secrets of the meat industry, John began his personal journey of veganism and vegetarianism. Since his college years, John has found a love for cooking, juicing and clean eating.
Gainesville has an amazing food scene, don’t get me wrong, but in my past four years at UF I’ve always noticed a lack of variety in the healthy food department. Thankfully, John felt the same way and dreamed of opening a restaurant to fill the healthy niche. With a big dream, a big team, a big niche to fill, and a small storefront located in the suburban streets of downtown Gainesville, Daily Green was born. John and his co-owners Eddie Cromer and Adam Reinhard bought the property in 2011 and officially opened its doors in August 2013.
THE MENU
If you haven’t checked the menu out already, Daily Green has some of the most creative, inventive and healthy options. Most of the ingredients on the menu are sourced from local farms; shout out to locals helping locals. Some of the crowd favorites include the Raw Nachos (let me know how arugula cashew cream could make me forget about Felipe’s queso), Falafel Waffles (also, that’s really fun to say), Tempeh Tacos, Tempeh Reuben, Kale Salad and any of the freshly made juices and smoothies.
If that isn’t good enough, they make SAVORY WAFFLE CONES. Yes. That’s right. Homemade waffle cones stuffed with almost anything your leaf-loving heart desires. Make sure to keep your eyes open for the weekly specials on the menu too — you never know what you’re going to find.
And for the meat lovers out there, I told you we wouldn’t forget about you. Daily Green offers up a variety of meat options like pulled pork, chicken and bacon, JUST FOR YOU. True story: my roommate’s boyfriend was skeptical of going here, but after he tried the Slow Roasted Chopped Pork with mac n cheese and collard greens, he became a converted Daily Green lover.
Who’s the mastermind behind all of this crazy ingenuity you ask? Eddie Cromer. Ed has been part of the Gainesville food scene for a while now, working in the kitchen at some of Gainesville’s favorite eateries like Ivey’s Grill and The Jones. With Ed’s skills and creativity, you can get a taste of the ~trending~ health foods you find in NYC and LA right in your Gainesville backyard.
DON’T KNOCK IT UNTIL YOU TRY IT
John and co-owners Eddie Cromer and Adam Reinhard live by Daily Green’s motto of: don’t knock it until you try it. Being a new member of the health trend myself, I understand the scary connotation behind vegetarianism and veganism. But don’t let this hold you back from trying the unique creations at Daily Green. Remember, the menu offers meat so you can start with something like the Cuban Reuben. You can then move on to dishes that have more of a vegetarian/vegan appearance like the Walnut Lentil Burger.
John and co-owners Eddie Cromer and Adam Reinhard simply want you to walk in their door and give their food a try. Don’t knock it until you try it because who knows, you might love it (and if not, you know you at least got an aesthetically pleasing photo for your Insta story).