Massachusetts-Based Life Alive Organic Cafe Comes to DC
A warm tofu and vegetable bowl from the Life Alive Organic Cafe in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Image courtesy of Jackie Wright
By Anthony Curioso
DC-based vegetarians, rejoice! As of January 28, there is a new option for you to have a place to eat in DC: Life Alive Organic Cafe. It has opened a new location on M Street Northwest in DC’s Georgetown neighborhood.
In addition to the new Georgetown location in DC, Life Alive has twelve locations in Massachusetts, nine of which are in Boston and its immediate suburbs. The original Life Alive location opened in the small Massachusetts town of Lowell in 2004; the other two locations are in the towns of Dedham and Salem. The Dedham, Lowell, and Salem locations of Life Alive Organic Cafe are each approximately one hour from downtown Boston by the local public transit and regional commuter rail systems.
According to its website, Life Alive pledges to “celebrate positive eating through scratch-prepared organic meals that encourage both personal and planetary wellness.” The cafe commits to serving every dish based on six principles:
1. Create each dish for pure joy.
2. Use whole, clean, and minimally processed ingredients.
3. Focus on nutrient-dense foods.
4. Include healthy fats and oils.
5. Use salt and natural sweeteners wisely.
6. Consider allergies and dietary restrictions.
The Life Alive menu reflects the cafe’s food promises by offering various vegetarian dishes, from grain bowls to soups to smoothies. Each dish’s menu listing outlines the dietary restrictions the dish accommodates before the customer requests any ingredient substitutions. Their website also contains a chart listing the common allergens present in each menu item, as well as a list of recommended substitutions for customers to make if they have certain dietary restrictions but still wish to try specific menu items. Like many other restaurants, Life Alive has several seasonal menu items interspersed with permanent menu fixtures.
For the past twenty years, Life Alive has developed an understanding of the connection between what we eat and how we live. At its locations in Boston’s South End (near what locals refer to as Back Bay) and Harvard Square (which is just north of Boston but only a short subway ride from downtown), Life Alive has partnered with a neighborhood yoga studio to form the “Wellness Collaborative,” wherein Life Alive customers can experience a filling meal and a yoga class on the same day. The new Georgetown Life Alive location is the cafe’s first attempt to expand its reach outside Massachusetts.
Like many other chains, Life Alive offers a rewards program through its website and a mobile app for iOS and Android devices. The program includes rewards for members’ birthdays plus other perks and discounts.
Only time will tell whether DC residents will enjoy Life Alive’s variety of clean, unprocessed food. Many vegetarian Washingtonians may be grateful for an alternative to more well-known places with similar offerings, such as Sweetgreen or Panera Bread.
Dylan Mendelsohn, the operations manager of Life Alive, shared his thoughts with The Washingtonian about why DC residents will enjoy Life Alive.
“I think the DC community will really love the spaces that we built, the music that we have, the food that we’re serving,” Mendelsohn said. “DC needs this.”
