THRIVE - It's New & 100% Raw, Vegan & GF!

t.h.r.i.v.e. owner is GF herself, and wholeheartedly believes in a healthy cuisine, in her case, filled with raw ingredients.

The location has its pluses and minuses - It is a hidden gem - located behind the Garden on 12th and Alton Road. Unfortunately, you cannot see it from the street, but, once you do find it, its such a beautiful location. You walk through the garden, and there it is, on the side. There is seating inside and outside, look how adorable it is! We sat outside to take in the garden views.

The menu is on a white board, changing daily, dependent upon which ingredients are freshest.

Of course, it was a tough decision on my first visit, but I had to start with dessert!

I had the Chocolate Fudge Pie first! After I had already sunk my teeth into the pie, I was informed the base of the pie is AVOCADOS!! Crazy, I thought, but, it worked. I have never had a vegan meal before, and was pleasantly surprised. The Pie was delicious, rich, tasty, chocolaty - little would I have ever though avocados made a star appearance. Would you guess by looking at it??

Next, I couldn't make a decision between the Fettuccine and Bolognese pastas - so the owner made a HUGE exception for me, because of my increased indecisiveness and gave me a half portion of each. The entrees come with a fresh spinach salad.

Now, I couldn't get the image of actual pasta out of my head... but... this pasta had no real pasta! The fettucine was made from squash! The bolognese from zucchine! Each had nuts in the mix, you can see the cashews in the fettucine and the bolognese had walnuts.

I must say, I had to cook up a big fat steak later that night. Vegan all the way has never been and will never be my thing - but, it is wonderful to know I have a GF option so close to me!

THUMBS UP for THRIVE - wishing you much success!