Elaine’s Healthy Choice

I am shocked that Elaine’s is out of business! This was an amazing place to some of the best vegan food you will ever have. They had these amazing vegan balls with gravy that was to die for!!!
I have been here several times both myself and with friends. Elaine and her husband are great people. Whenever I went there Elaine knew I wanted my vegan balls with gravy, and she would always throw a few extra in for me.
It is very sad that they are no longer around. They will be missed by many!!! I truly hope they decide to reopen somewhere. It is my opinion that the location they were in was the reason for closing. There was not a lot of foot traffic and the visibility was not great.

One of the best — -Healthy eating without giving up flavor!
Cooked with intention, Elaine runs her kitchen with thought
put into her selections. You feel satisfied after a meal, and I have never
been disappointed with my food from her hands…
Love the «Pepper SteaK», the rice and beans, and the pea soup!

I have no idea what they use to make their fake meat, or how they make it taste so much like real meat, but WOW. Elaine’s Healthy Choice is wildly delicious! It’s inexpensive and you get so much food with each order — each entrée comes with a generous helping of rice and beans and a roll. Also, the weekend brunch is FANTASTIC and so cheap for all the food you get. If you work in downtown New Haven, consider getting takeout for lunch; you can walk to pick it up.
4 stars, because the food is incredible but it’s not the best for dining in.

Lots of attention and care go into that takeout bag. The roll has a little butter tub. The salad has a little dressing tub. The veggie pepper steak is a new lunch favorite, vegetarian or otherwise. Great stuff.

Having found this place on Unilocal,we stopped by today for lunch. I ordered veggie chick bites BBQ and my fiancé ordered veggie pepper steak. They were both recommended by the waiter. They were both good, much much better than the downtown veggie place Claire’s. It lets me realize I can have such delicious food with meat taste without sacrificing healthy lifestyle.
It is a very small place on Whalley avenue. If you do not know it, you will drive by without even noticing it. There are only four tables with maximum ~10 people to fit in. Nonetheless, it does not make this place less attractive. I love it!
More important, the owners are very friendly and care about you. They asked you where you heard about them and are keen in expanding their business. If they do a better job in advertising, I am sure they will attract more traffic.

This place has great vegan food in Jamaican tradition. It offers BBQ, blackened and seasoned soy «meat» that tastes real as well as a wonderful Mac’n’cheez for vegans! There are GF options on the menu and the owners are very helpful. I like to pick up the lentils and rice to go for lunch.

Vegan. Cheap. Healthy. Tasty.
That’s all you really need to know!
I used to go here all the time when I lived in New Haven, and now I’m trying to go when I’m passing through town. One of my favorite places anywhere!

Amazing! Everyone is always so friendly and everything on the menu is absolutely delicious — from the simple side salad, to main dishes, sides, and even dessert, you can’t go wrong!

Elaine and Richard are great people that put a lot of thought into the foods they serve. If you’re looking for a place with room for lots of people to sit down and eat, this isn’t the place for you. If you’re looking for great tasting, vegan food then this is perfect. I’ve brought a lot of vegans and non-​vegans here, and everyone has always enjoyed it, and gone back for more! They have take-​out, are completely vegan, and are extremely friendly.

I always have a solid meal here.
Its good to be back in CT so that I may come here more often!
If you are there for lunch, getting the 2+2 combo meal is a fantastic deal! Especially to share!

I stopped here today with my boyfriend for lunch. We were greeted by the owner, Elaine herself, who was very friendly and pleasant. I ordered the Veg Pepper Steak, and my boyfriend ordered the Sweet and Sour Tofu. Both of our meals were great. We found the portions perfect, both of us were able to fill our plates and we left full.
What I love about Elaine’s was the fact that they are a small, family owned business that really does create hearty and tasty meals. The price was right, and the atmosphere was comfortable. I will definitely be going back to try more!

Loved it so much we did an interview with the owner.
My wife and I was traveling back to Pawtucket, RI from a New York meeting and came across this place on the web [It was actually right here in Unilocal]. All the reviews here were right on point and we had a great time along with a great meal.
If you want to check out the owner, some insight on how the restaurant started, and some behind the scenes info then please take a glance at our interview on Youtube.
If you haven’t gone yet, trust the Unilocal community and get the stepping! You’ll enjoy it!

I’ve driven past this place for years and today I finally decided to go there for lunch. My boyfriend (meat eating but veg friendly) and I split a «mix and match» plate. We ordered the BBQ chick bites, Vegetarian Peppercorn Steak, rice + beans and curried vegetable. He ordered a lentil patty, and I ordered the «chicken» patty. This place is great to satisfy that «meat» craving I get sometimes. We both agreed that the vegetarian peppercorn steak was the best part of the meal, though we enjoyed everything. The «chicken» patty was really enjoyable too. Overall the service was great and the owners are very friendly. I don’t think it was expensive at all, the portions were just right (the two of us left full) and the spices and sauces really livened up the food. I love places that show that vegan food doesn’t have to be bland and can be enjoyable and filling. I will definitely be going back.

This is a small, mostly take-​out joint that is attached to what appears to have formerly been a Jiffy Lube. There’s seating for about 6 – 8 people at most.
It was hard to choose just one thing from the menu so it was fortunate that I could get a mix-​and-​match platter for $ 13.80. You get to choose four items and I picked the veggie curried chicken, Elaine’s veggie balls, stew beans with TVP and lastly the baked ziti. It was a plate full of food that was hearty and tasty, for the most part.
The curried chicken was great and would go well over brown rice (which, of course, is available if you want it). The stew beans with TVP was probably my favorite dish and reminded me of Brazilian feijoada, a meaty stew traditionally made with pork. The veggie ball was good and was basically a meatball in mushroom gravy, though it was quite small (you only get one); that said, it’s hand-​made and difficult to prepare. Lastly, the baked ziti wasn’t that great. The pasta was overcooked and the sauce was a really basic and bland marinara.
The service was really friendly and Elaine herself is a pleasure to chat with. I’m glad Elaine’s Healthy Choice is around to promote healthy vegan options on a street full of car washes and fried chicken shacks.
My main suggestions for improvement would be to increase the portion sizes (or reduce the prices) by about 10−15%, and to add some spice to each dish. I was given a weird spicy sauce on the side but it totally changed the flavor of the food; I would have preferred simple red pepper or chili oil. Otherwise, Elaine’s is a good, quick, affordable vegan option in New Haven.

Really great place for vegetarian food. Owner/​chefs are very friendly. I tried some of the fancy restaurants in New Haven, and I conclude this restaurant is the one I would like to go back to the most. Tried the Elaines Veggie Balls, the split pea soup, and the cookies. All were excellent. This is a classic hole-​in-​the-​wall place. Well worth a try.

I am a Black Man. I don’t like my food to taste bland. When I came into vegetarianism and its various forms I wasn’t trying to eat a tofurky or sip on some grass malt. When I became veg I hit up Indian spots, Thai spots, Ethiopian spots, etc because they had that food with flavor. I’ve hit a few Ital spots in the city also. Elaine’s healthy Choice brings that good food feeling to Caribbean fare.
The spot is tucked into a small corner of the White Nile (Whalley Ave) and if you don’t know where it is you might miss it. Once you find it though you won’t be disappointed. Their meat substitutes are top notch. The side dishes are authentic Caribbean fare. And beyond EVERYTHING their service is though you were having a meal in their kitchen. They also prepare the food on the spot. Nothing that has been sitting under a heat lamp loosing flavor. Get there as soon as possible!

What isn’t to like about this place? Seriously?
My boyfriend and I walked in and were greeted by the owners with enormous smiles. I didn’t even know the place was vegan, and when I asked if the margarine that came with the [delicious] whole wheat roles were vegan, the man behind the counter laughed and said «of course!!» How refreshing. Honestly I couldn’t have asked for more out of my experience here.
The food was delicious; I got the barbecue chicken and my boyfriend got the curried chicken. I can’t wait to go back for the mac and cheese.
The ambiance of the place was stellar. It was clean and brightly light and felt very welcoming and not at all pretentious. I just wanted to hang out there for a while, with the family who owns it [I saw their young son in the back.] Its rare I find a business I actually WANT to give my money to, but Elaine’s is one of those. I’m going back tomorrow for their brunch and I can’t wait.

Elaine’s is a tiny place, and it is definitely not fast-​food, a great selection of vegetarian foods with a focus on jamaican fare. i think there were 4 tables, seating for 8 or so. we were there early sunday and they had a great looking breakfast special. our curry chicken and mac and cheese was very good. have to try more of the menu. if you are nearby they deliver.
a few blocks from edge of the woods market.

I have to say, this is probably the best restaurant experience I’ve had in a while. The family that runs it is very sweet. Their kids were in the back and I’m a sucker for kids so they win points there. The family that runs it is so involved in their business and they really want to promote it.
The fact that is family-​run and owned makes me want to patronize them more often, especially given the tasty Jamaican flare and the inexpensiveness of it all.
I ate the BBQ Chicken bites, which were quite tasty (perhaps a little TOO chicken-​like for my taste, but I’ll probably order them again) and the mac and cheese, which I also enjoyed.
I’ll probably be trying everything on the menu just to get a good sampling.
A meal for two was under $ 20. I wish they had some sort of tip jar, because I would’ve left a tip!

Extremely inexpensive vegetarian (vegan) takeout. They are focused on health issues, which means that some of the items (specifically the deserts) are not as disgustingly delicious as they might be with more oil and sugar, but I have never been unhappy with anything I’ve ordered. The BBQ «chicken» bites are particularly good.