• Home
  • popular
  • Events
  • Submit New Event
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • News
  • Restaurants + Bars
  • City Life
  • Entertainment
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Arts
  • Society
  • Home + Design
  • Fashion + Beauty
  • Innovation
  • Sports
  • Charity Guide
  • children
  • education
  • health
  • veterans
  • SOCIAL SERVICES
  • ARTS + CULTURE
  • animals
  • lgbtq
  • New Charity
  • Series
  • Delivery Limited
  • DTX Giveaway 2012
  • DTX Ski Magic
  • dtx woodford reserve manhattans
  • Your Home in the Sky
  • DTX Best of 2013
  • DTX Trailblazers
  • Tastemakers Dallas 2017
  • Healthy Perspectives
  • Neighborhood Eats 2015
  • The Art of Making Whiskey
  • DTX International Film Festival
  • DTX Tatum Brown
  • Tastemaker Awards 2016 Dallas
  • DTX McCurley 2014
  • DTX Cars in Lifestyle
  • DTX Beyond presents Party Perfect
  • DTX Texas Health Resources
  • DART 2018
  • Alexan Central
  • State Fair 2018
  • Formula 1 Giveaway
  • Zatar
  • CityLine
  • Vision Veritas
  • Okay to Say
  • Hearts on the Trinity
  • DFW Auto Show 2015
  • Northpark 50
  • Anteks Curated
  • Red Bull Cliff Diving
  • Maggie Louise Confections Dallas
  • Gaia
  • Red Bull Global Rally Cross
  • NorthPark Holiday 2015
  • Ethan's View Dallas
  • DTX City Centre 2013
  • Galleria Dallas
  • Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty Luxury Homes in Dallas Texas
  • DTX Island Time
  • Simpson Property Group SkyHouse
  • DIFFA
  • Lotus Shop
  • Holiday Pop Up Shop Dallas
  • Clothes Circuit
  • DTX Tastemakers 2014
  • Elite Dental
  • Elan City Lights
  • Dallas Charity Guide
  • DTX Music Scene 2013
  • One Arts Party at the Plaza
  • J.R. Ewing
  • AMLI Design District Vibrant Living
  • Crest at Oak Park
  • Braun Enterprises Dallas
  • NorthPark
  • Victory Park
  • DTX Common Desk
  • DTX Osborne Advisors
  • DTX Comforts of Home 2012
  • DFW Showcase Tour of Homes
  • DTX Neighborhood Eats
  • DTX Comforts of Home 2013
  • DTX Auto Awards
  • Cottonwood Art Festival 2017
  • Nasher Store
  • Guardian of The Glenlivet
  • Zyn22
  • Dallas Rx
  • Yellow Rose Gala
  • Opendoor
  • DTX Sun and Ski
  • Crow Collection
  • DTX Tastes of the Season
  • Skye of Turtle Creek Dallas
  • Cottonwood Art Festival
  • DTX Charity Challenge
  • DTX Culture Motive
  • DTX Good Eats 2012
  • DTX_15Winks
  • St. Bernard Sports
  • Jose
  • DTX SMU 2014
  • DTX Up to Speed
  • st bernard
  • Ardan West Village
  • DTX New York Fashion Week spring 2016
  • Taste the Difference
  • Parktoberfest 2016
  • Bob's Steak and Chop House
  • DTX Smart Luxury
  • DTX Earth Day
  • DTX_Gaylord_Promoted_Series
  • IIDA Lavish
  • Huffhines Art Trails 2017
  • Red Bull Flying Bach Dallas
  • Y+A Real Estate
  • Beauty Basics
  • DTX Pet of the Week
  • Long Cove
  • Charity Challenge 2014
  • Legacy West
  • Wildflower
  • Stillwater Capital
  • Tulum
  • DTX Texas Traveler
  • Dallas DART
  • Soldiers' Angels
  • Alexan Riveredge
  • Ebby Halliday Realtors
  • Zephyr Gin
  • Sixty Five Hundred Scene
  • Christy Berry
  • Entertainment Destination
  • Dallas Art Fair 2015
  • St. Bernard Sports Duck Head
  • Jameson DTX
  • Alara Uptown Dallas
  • Cottonwood Art Festival fall 2017
  • DTX Tastemakers 2015
  • Cottonwood Arts Festival
  • The Taylor
  • Decks in the Park
  • Alexan Henderson
  • Gallery at Turtle Creek
  • Omni Hotel DTX
  • Red on the Runway
  • Whole Foods Dallas 2018
  • Artizone Essential Eats
  • Galleria Dallas Runway Revue
  • State Fair 2016 Promoted
  • Trigger's Toys Ultimate Cocktail Experience
  • Dean's Texas Cuisine
  • Real Weddings Dallas
  • Real Housewives of Dallas
  • Jan Barboglio
  • Wildflower Arts and Music Festival
  • Hearts for Hounds
  • Okay to Say Dallas
  • Indochino Dallas
  • Old Forester Dallas
  • Dallas Apartment Locators
  • Dallas Summer Musicals
  • PSW Real Estate Dallas
  • Paintzen
  • DTX Dave Perry-Miller
  • DTX Reliant
  • Get in the Spirit
  • Bachendorf's
  • Holiday Wonder
  • Village on the Parkway
  • City Lifestyle
  • opportunity knox villa-o restaurant
  • Nasher Summer Sale
  • Simpson Property Group
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2017 Dallas
  • Carlisle & Vine
  • DTX New Beginnings
  • Get in the Game
  • Red Bull Air Race
  • Dallas DanceFest
  • 2015 Dallas Stylemaker
  • Youth With Faces
  • Energy Ogre
  • DTX Renewable You
  • Galleria Dallas Decadence
  • Bella MD
  • Tractorbeam
  • Young Texans Against Cancer
  • Fresh Start Dallas
  • Dallas Farmers Market
  • Soldier's Angels Dallas
  • Shipt
  • Elite Dental
  • Texas Restaurant Association 2017
  • State Fair 2017
  • Scottish Rite
  • Brooklyn Brewery
  • DTX_Stylemakers
  • Alexan Crossings
  • Ascent Victory Park
  • Top Texans Under 30 Dallas
  • Discover Downtown Dallas
  • San Luis Resort Dallas
  • Greystar The Collection
  • FIG Finale
  • Greystar M Line Tower
  • Lincoln Motor Company
  • The Shelby
  • Jonathan Goldwater Events
  • Windrose Tower
  • Gift Guide 2016
  • State Fair of Texas 2016
  • Choctaw Dallas
  • TodayTix Dallas promoted
  • Whole Foods
  • Unbranded 2014
  • Frisco Square
  • Unbranded 2016
  • Circuit of the Americas 2018
  • The Katy
  • Snap Kitchen
  • Partners Card
  • Omni Hotels Dallas
  • Landmark on Lovers
  • Harwood Herd
  • Galveston.com Dallas
  • Holiday Happenings Dallas 2018
  • TenantBase
  • Cottonwood Art Festival 2018
  • Hawkins-Welwood Homes
  • The Inner Circle Dallas
  • Eating in Season Dallas
  • ATTPAC Behind the Curtain
  • TodayTix Dallas
  • The Alexan
  • Toyota Music Factory
  • Nosh Box Eatery
  • Wildflower 2018
  • Society Style Dallas 2018
  • Texas Scottish Rite Hospital 2018
  • 5 Mockingbird
  • 4110 Fairmount
  • Visit Taos
  • Allegro Addison
  • Dallas Tastemakers 2018
  • The Village apartments
  • City of Burleson Dallas

    LYFE's Simple Pleasures

    LYFE Kitchen rides healthy restaurant wave washing over Dallas

    Teresa Gubbins
    Mar 27, 2014 | 3:04 pm
    • LYFE Kitchen is the latest "healthy" restaurant concept to hit Dallas-FortWorth.
      Photo by Divine Shots Photography
    • LYFE still believes in indulgence.
      LYFE Kitchen/Facebook
    • LYFE Kitchen will have wines on tap.
      Photo courtesy of LYFE Kitchen

    Dallas seems to be the new destination for "healthy" restaurants, with a new chain called LYFE Kitchen about to join an already-busy scene. LYFE will open three area locations in the coming months: Plano, Preston Center and West Village.

    LYFE is an acronym for "Love Your Food Everyday," and it's a fast-casual concept where everything on the menu is 600 calories or less. It was launched in 2011 by a group of food industry veterans, including Oprah Winfrey personal chef Art Smith and former McDonald's executives Michael Donahue and Mike Roberts.

     

      "We're not preachy," says co-founder Michael Donahue. "We want you to have a great-tasting meal."

    There are currently four branches: the original in Palo Alto, two in Southern California and one in Chicago.

    Signature dishes include edamame hummus, corn chowder, kale Caesar salad and a Gardein "chicken" version of Art Smith's famous fried chicken. The menu features grass-fed beef, a gluten-free menu, and numerous vegan options created by noted vegan chef Tal Ronnen. His creations include a teriyaki bowl with Gardein "beef tips" and a creamy corn chowder.

    The first DFW location is scheduled to open June 7 at 1900 Preston Rd. in Plano. The Preston Center branch has a June 21 opening date; the West Village restaurant is slated to open mid-July.

    LYFE follows Seasons 52, which came to the Dallas area in 2010, and True Food Kitchen, which opened in Preston Center in fall 2013. LYFE Kitchen co-founder Michael Donahue says that Dallas, despite its reputation for steakhouses, met a few key parameters.

    "We use a sophisticated real estate process, but the three locations in Texas all fit our screens," he says. "We hope to have 250 branches in five years, but you have to start where you believe you have the most chance of success.

    "In the three Dallas locations, the consumer is active, and the community has a lot going on. For example, the one in Plano is by a Whole Foods and a Trader Joe's, so there's synergy."

    The "healthy" restaurant wave seems to rebuff the tendency among consumers who say they want to eat healthy but then in practice make unhealthy choices.

     

      Compared to competitors such as True Food Kitchen, LYFE is quite a bit cheaper, with a dish like barramundi clocking in at $12.99.

    "Consumers have been asking for this for a long time," Donahue says. "There are billions of dollars spent on food that is healthy, but it's not a one-stop shop, whether it's Whole Foods or Jenny Craig."

    But Donahue says that LYFE accomplishes one simple thing: The food tastes good.

    "We spent a year on a taste quest with the king of Southern cooking, Art Smith," he says. "He's known for his fried chicken, mac and cheese, but also for working with Oprah providing the turkey meat loaf she used to love. He had gone through his own transformation. He lost 100-some pounds."

    They devised recipes that had flavor without using butter, cream or sodium, and they tested the food in focus groups, primarily "women and moms," Donahue says. Another big part of their approach is to go soft-sell.

    "I think people are more open to something when it's warm and inviting," he says. "We're not preachy. We want you to have a great-tasting meal.

    "But we believe in indulgence. We have a chocolate budini mousse dessert; it's a fluffy chocolate mousse that's under 200 calories. We have burgers and steak, but they're grass-fed."

    They may not be preachy, but they follow a "wellness" approach to everything they do, from seeking out biodynamic wine and serving wine on tap to recycling and using recycled products. "We think about that with every decision we make," Donahue says.

    Although he prefers to play down his McDonald's background, some of that company's practices surface. "Our serving times are 10 minutes," he says. "We're creating a new category that's somewhere between fast food and fast casual."

    Compared to competitors such as True Food Kitchen, LYFE is quite a bit cheaper, with a dish like barramundi clocking in at $12.99. Another big difference between LYFE and its competitors comes in the area of transparency. Tracking down figures on calories and sodium at True Food Kitchen is a challenge, while LYFE posts its information.

    "The idea is bring non-believers in," Donahue says. "People are so used to their routines. But LYFE is unique, and that's what a lot of people love about it."

    unspecified
    news/restaurants-bars

    most read posts

    Oak Cliff Dallas address says bye Swank and hello Indian restaurant

    Vila Brazil to bring affordable Brazilian steakhouse to Cedar Hill

    SMU and KC Chiefs star Rashee Rice sentenced for Dallas high-speed crash

    Smoothie News

    Healthy smoothie chain from the Northeast makes Dallas-area debut

    Raven Jordan
    Jul 18, 2025 | 4:01 pm
    Fresh Monkee
    Fresh Monkee
    Fresh Monkee smoothies

    A smoothie chain from the Northeast has landed in Dallas-Fort Worth: Called Fresh Monkee, it's a chain from Connecticut that made its DFW debut in Richardson at 3501 Custer Pkwy. #119, in the Custer Creek shopping center, where it opened July 1.

    Fresh Monkee was founded by entrepreneur Judy Flynn in Wethersfield, Connecticut in 2014. It has since expanded to 20 locations across 15 states. Four locations are planned for Texas, including Austin and Houston. The Richardson location is from franchisees Anam and Omer Nawab.

    In a release, Flynn notes that many smoothie places rely on sugary fruit blends and "strange" powders.

    "Most juice bars strip away the fiber from fruits and veggies, which is essential for a healthy gut and feeling satisfied," Flynn says in a press release. "I was convinced we could do better."

    Their menu includes 30 varieties: fruit smoothies, green smoothies, chocolate smoothies, and coffee smoothies, with seasonal flavors such as the summer-ready watermelon strawberry limeade shake.

    Notable options include:

       
    • Chunkee Monkee — milk, chocolate or vanilla protein powder, banana, and peanut butter
    • Filthy Monkee — milk, chocolate protein powder, brownie protein bar, and peanut butter
    • Coffee Buzz — milk, a splash of cream, chocolate protein powder, coffee cubes, vanilla extract, and Stevia
    • Orange Cream — milk, orange juice, vanilla protein, and a whole orange
    • Maui Colada — coconut milk, orange juice, vanilla protein, unsweetened coconut shreds, pineapple, and mango
    They also carry a protein ball snack with peanut butter, oat flour, chocolate whey protein, and maple syrup, rolled in coconut oil and chocolate chips.

    Each location has indoor seating, including couches and tables, but they're mainly a to-go concept.

    Another pair of franchisees, Clarence Gadapati and Karuna Annavajjala, are opening a location in Arlington, at 5904 S. Cooper St. #120, in the Sublett Corners center, where it will open in August.

    openings
    news/restaurants-bars
    Loading...