My parents took me to a wonderful slice of heaven in the south end of Charlotte called, Luna's Living Kitchen. I must admit when I walked in I felt welcomed and the environment seemed homey at first. I have some pros and cons about this all raw food restaurant. I will start with the cons.
First of all the menus are a bit to busy and hard to read. I felt as though every available menu selection had about 20 ingredients each. I was more expecting a option of having a bowl a cashews and a salad with avocado, but I guess that's too simple. I would have liked it better if they had a menu for fruit as well.
Second, most - if not all of the drinks and smoothies had a choice of using hemp milk. Not really sure how good for you that really is. All I know is it's just another way of saying marijuana milk. Also judging by how down right creepy the waiter was and how he smiled at me every chance he got, says to me he has had a bit too much hemp milk himself. There are other versions of hemp like hemp oil and protein. All of these versions I'm told are good for you.
Third, the foods they served were too concentrated. I found it uncomfortable to only take one sip or a small bite at a time.
Finally their work space is way too big. It was very hot in the eating area and judging by how high their celling level was, they have a lot of wasted ceiling space which makes it very hard to cool. I'm pretty sure the water they serve is harvested from the sweat of their customers.
I really liked how they are so much different than other restaurants in the light of the food they serve. Most of their food is all raw and extremely tasty. Presentation is not all that great, but you get full really quick. The prices are out of this world high, but that's understandable seeing how raw food is hard to get and prepare. I would say that if you go, don't go for a full meal. Have a snack or a light breakfast when you go in. My only advice to Luna's is don't concentrate your food so much. In turn, that will lower the cost of running the restaurant. Like I had said before I would have been perfectly fine with maybe a small plate of peach's, some raw nuts and a small bowl of salad. When I really looked at the menu I noticed that they were almost trying to be like the rest of the food industry. For one they are trying to make "normal American food" with raw food and to be honest it's overwhelming the amount of food they have to put together to make that happen. Don't get me wrong though the food was very good and well done. Get it?..well done..anyways...
I would definitely go again and again as long as I'm not throwing my wallet away. My humble opinion would be that when you do go, that you start with something simple and small and remember to go when it's not blazing hot outside as well.
So in conclusion I would give Luna's Living Kitchen a 6 our of 10 stars.
4 stars taken away for the following reasons:
* The environment is uncomfortable and hot.
* The menus were very confusing and hard to read.
* The food was way too concentrated.
* Terribly expensive.
Over all I would recommend a visit to Luna's Living Kitchen, just don't go expecting to find your normal American selection. It's a acquired taste.
