Situated in California’s San Bernardino county, Loma Linda is considered to be one of the healthiest communities in the United States. One of the reasons for this is because a large portion of the city’s residents are members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, which advocates healthy lifestyle choices – something that almost all of its members follow. When it comes to diet, the church recommends that this be plant-based, as this is much healthier, meaning that the city is packed with delicious vegetarian eateries.

Happy Family
While Happy Family may be quite a basic eatery, it serves up delicious and authentic-tasting vegan and vegetarian Chinese cuisine. The menu is filled with hundreds of traditional Chinese dishes, with the meat-free alternatives looking so much like the real thing that the restaurant is constantly assuring customers that they are indeed meat-free. While the faux meat dishes are tasty, the vegetarian dishes are the true standouts. From the spicy Szechuan Style Tofu to the Crispy Oyster Mushrooms to the Crispy Shitake Mushrooms with Beansprouts, Happy Family serves up such tasty vegetarian dishes that even the meat lovers won’t miss the meat.

Patio Pantry
Situated on the Loma Linda University campus, Patio Pantry is attached to the Loma Linda Market, and makes good use of its easy access to fresh and healthy vegetables. This cute café serves up mainly lacto-ovo vegetarian dishes, along with a good selection of vegan options. Their made-to-order sandwiches are popular with those seeking a quick and healthy lunch, while they also enjoy a steady crowd during breakfast hours for their pancakes, waffles, omelettes, and their one-of-a-kind Spanish Potato. Patio Pantry also puts together some of the tastiest fresh juices, ensuring that you have a healthy way to stay refreshed and hydrated. While Patio Pantry can often get rather busy, especially at lunch times, all of their meals have a take-out option, and, thanks to the cafe’s central location, can easily be enjoyed in one of the nearby parks.

Tess’ Place
Tess’ Place is run by a Loma Linda doctor, who wanted to provide the city’s residents with fresh gourmet soups, sandwiches and salads. The restaurant puts a strong emphasis on ensuring that everything that they serve up is fresh, from their pastries to their soups. The in-house bakers create fresh bread each and every day, and the menu features a great range of vegetarian options, from the vegetarian speciality sandwiches to the fresh vegetarian and vegan soups to the speciality salads that make us of some unique ingredients. Their daily specials are always highly anticipated by their regulars each morning, and they are also posted on the restaurant’s social media accounts, so that you can be sure not to miss out if they are cooking up one of your favorite dishes.

Plant-based diets have been proven, time and time again, to be beneficial to a person’s health, and this is why the residents of Loma Linda not only enjoy a longer lifespan than the average American, but also live their lives feeling much healthier and happier.