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Café Life is a small restaurant adjacent to a co-op grocery store, Life Grocery. All of the food in the café is vegetarian, and the salad offerings are organic

The café caters to health conscience people or those who strive to be. The most unique preparations are the raw foods, which are uncooked, natural whole foods that are prepared with the pretense that cooking destroys enzymes and nutrients in dishes. Gourmet raw or living food consists of marinated vegetables, ground nuts that taste like meat and wraps created from ground flax seeds and spices. All of the raw salad dressings are made from scratch and are dairy-free.

Expect to spend about $6 for an entrée. An 8-ounce smoothie is $4 and up.

The café is normally busy on the weekend; there may be a short wait (around 5-10 minutes) for a smoothie to be prepared. Most people choose dishes from the buffet.

Life Café is a vegetarian’s dream. It’s one of the few restaurants in metro Atlanta, serving sprouts, organic salads, and vegan desserts. It’s also near the Great Adventures Amusement park, which is convenient if you happen to be visiting and you are looking for health-conscience meals.

Although pricey, I can’t resist the smoothies. Made with organic fruits and natural sweeteners (honey or agave) they are scrumptious. I love the berry blast, which tastes like a strawberry daiquiri, without the alcohol.

I also like the living burrito wrap, made from ground sunflower seeds of all things. The wrap is created from flax seeds. Whenever I visit, I have to buy a slice of vegan key lime pie, which isn’t always offered. If you must have meat, you won’t love the restaurant, but you may be able to tolerate it. I took a meat-loving friend to Life and she said that she liked her vegetable wrap, but prefers conventional meals.

Life Grocery is located at

1453 Roswell Road

Marietta, GA

770-977-9583