My dad took my brother and I boating on Monday. He's a member of Freedom Boat Club and usually takes boats out of the Britannia Yachting Center in Northport. Before we hopped on the boat, we stopped at The Purple Elephant to grab some lunch to bring with us. Most marinas have a deli or seafood joint nearby, and those don't always have the healthiest options. It's either high calorie bread piled with high sodium deli meat or fried crustaceans with butter. I was so excited to find out that The Purple Elephant specializes in whole, clean foods!
It was very difficult to possess self control at their counter, because I wanted to try everything! We ended up getting a bison burger, tabbouleh, baked chicken, vegan taquitos, black bean salad, and 3 young coconuts to go. This was my first experience with young coconuts and I will definitely be picking some up again on a hot, sunny day this summer. They gave us the young coconuts with a hole cut in the top so we could drink the water inside and then eat the pulp with a spoon. It was so refreshing! Coconut water from a bottle is no where close to as delicious! Everything else we got was amazing. I will definitely be back to try the Mexican meatloaf and the chicken salad. I saw that they have vegan chicken wings, which freak me out a little bit (to be honest). If you want to eat off a bone, then you probably shouldn't be a vegan. But, I'm determined to try them one day!
The Purple Elephant has something for everyone! They have plenty of vegetarian and vegan options (like those weird chicken wings). Also, they only use wild game, local and sustainable seafood, grass-fed meats, and D'artagnan poultry. It looks like they put daily specials up on their website, which is another thing I love. I hate stagnant menus. They should at least change with the seasons as do quality food supplies. They also sell cold-pressed juices if you want to try a juice cleanse and support a local business.
One of the other things that is great about The Purple Elephant is that they use LevelUp. It's a POS system that allows customers to pay through an app on their phone. I love small businesses that embrace new technology! I geek out whenever I see a small business that uses Square, too. It's sad that a lot of small businesses don't know about these great options that are more efficient and cheaper than old-school POS systems.
So, if you're near Northport and looking for a guilt-free, flavorful, quick meal, go to The Purple Elephant. You can even dine outdoors on their harbor-side deck!
