A fast-casual vegetarian restaurant and café is getting closer to its Old Town debut.
Life Alive Cafe is now targeting a summer opening at 400 King Street, a spokesperson confirmed to ALXnow. The Boston-based restaurant emphasizes scratch-made cooking, offering a veggie-forward menu of grain bowls, salads, sandwiches and noodles, in addition to smoothies, cold-pressed juice and coffee.
The café initially planned to open in Alexandria this past winter, following grand openings in Arlington and D.C. last year. In Alexandria, it is slated to replace a former real estate office location in the same building as The Alexandrian Hotel.
Life Alive’s branding emphasizes “the power of positive eating” while serving plant-based meals like chili garlic mushroom bibimbap, smoky chipotle chili and a “PB cup” açaí bowl. In Arlington’s Ballston neighborhood, the café is currently offering seasonal cherry blossom matcha and lattes made with dried rose petals and raspberry rose syrup.
The 3,250-square-foot café will offer seating for 70 guests indoors and 30 on an outdoor patio. The space will be “designed to complement the charm of the neighborhood while providing a bright, modern environment that guests truly want to spend time in,” the spokesperson said.
Life Alive Cafe was founded in Massachusetts in 2004. By 2015, the business had opened three locations before Panera Bread founder Ron Shaich and hospitality entrepreneur Keith Pascal acquired it through their investment firm, Act 3 Holdings, according to Forbes.
Since then, the restaurant has grown to 13 Massachusetts locations and two in the D.C. area.
Photo 3 via Google Maps.
