Occasionally my lovely wife Jackie agrees to grace me with her presence for lunch during the week. Time being a consideration; we always stay in the strip district so I can maximize my eating opportunity. This relegates us to the choices of Restaurants, cafes & bars that populate this neighborhood. This time my wife and I had trouble agreeing upon a lunch spot so I suggested the new grocery store that had recently opened on the bottom of the Cork Factory development.
Right by Nature is a new grocery store that specializes in organic foods for the health conscious consumer. I have never been known as someone who concerns themselves with the latest health food craze, organic food included, thus my wife was perplexed by this suggestion.
Upon arriving we discovered that customers of Right by Nature have access to a parking garage. Although the strip has been a favorite shopping destination for decades the area has struggled with providing enough parking to accommodate the large crowds; consequently, the parking garage was a pleasant surprise.
As we browsed the aisles we realized that Right by Nature is not only an upscale grocery store that specializes in organic foods, personal care & home products but also includes a sizable café offering an assortment of meal choices. These meal options constitute a nice selection of prepared foods partnered with a full deli, large sea food section & hot and cold bars.
After a good deal of deliberation I decided to go with the hot food bar while my wife ordered a personal pizza. For a place not necessarily expected to produce good pizza Right by Nature does a surprisingly good job. The dough was nice and soft & the sauce tasted like a good mix of oregano and garlic. The vegetables and rice medley I selected was delicious as well. Being a Pizza guy I usually don’t have high hopes for the more healthy dishes I try, but this was something I’d definitely order again.
The area we dined in was very pleasant, flaked with leather couches and nice tables. It appeared more like a trendy café than a section of a supermarket. Improving the outing even more was the fact that our parking stub was validated for shopping at Right by Nature.
Whenever you venture into the unknown it is admittedly a gamble, thankfully, this time we gambled and won. Right by Nature isn’t just a specialty grocer that caters to the health conscious shoppers of the strip district; in reality it’s much more. Right by Nature is grocery store that caters to people of all tastes and maybe most importantly, it’s a place where almost all of us can afford to shop, dine & relax.
Right by Nature is located at 2305 Smallman St. in Pittsburgh. It is open 7 days a week.
