I love coming to this apothecary for pungent seasoning and spices. They sell everything in giant…read moremason jars, so you know what you're picking out. They even sell bulk items such as nuts, flour, nutritional yeast, dried fruit, natural detergent, oils, loose-leaf teas, etc. Some are made in-house, including vegan hot chocolate mix. I like getting my seasonings and spices here, opposed to the grocery store, because it is very fresh and hasn't been sitting out for years upon years on end.
There aren't a lot of raw vegan restaurants down south of 45, but surprise, surprise, Natural Living has raw vegan onsite. I've only eaten there twice, and due to the limited hours throughout the week. I am only able to get down here on the weekends in the morning.
I frequent Nokturne more as a vegan restaurant in CL, just due to the simple fact of the flexibility of hours.
At Natural Living, I ordered the taco salad; it was vegan meat crumbles and veggies. There were more veggies than meat. A limited amount of dressing to lather the veggies, so it made the salad a bit dry, but tasty. I loved the peanut butter cookies on sale. They were my favorite.
I love that they have a food fair program for organic fruits/vegetables from local gardeners. I'm not a big fan of organic anything as I feel that it is more of a marketing gimmick, but if others care about that, that's a perk. The program is very affordable. I've personally never tried it, but I always wanted to.
The ambiance can be a bit off; the staff is sometimes nice, sometimes don't want to be bothered. The apothecary side of things system is just grab jars of what you want, and they weigh it, put it in baggies, and you pay for it. However, things can get complicated when there a multiple people on the apothecary side and there is nowhere to wait since the whole building is tight and small.
Now the pricing; this establishment isn't the cheapest, but when you factor in the value of what you are purchasing with the quantity of goods, then you are getting a solid deal.
They sell crystal jewelry, and parking is across the street. I always tell people I'm going to the apothecary, and when they Google it, they can't find it, so it is definitely a hidden gem.
I would have given them 5 stars across the board, but with the very limited hours not good for the working class working between 8 am - 5 pm; they close at 6 pm, closed on Sundays and Mondays. I hate that, but I will continue to only come on Saturdays.
