Green restaurants in NYC

Free-range this, sustainable that: separating the hardcore from the wannabes

By Bret Stetka, Special to Metromix

Countless New York eateries claim greenness in one way or another, usually by labeling their beef free-range if—when back in cow form—it managed to snag a blade of grass on the way to the processing plant.

Still, a number of select spots are genuinely committed to minimizing their impact on the environment, not just through responsible food sourcing but also by making chairs out of coconuts and, urban legend has it, by employing a team of mountain bikers from Burlington to power a subterranean generator.

We’ve ranked five of NYC’s green-er eateries based on their commitment to the environment and general greenness using our totally non-objective Eco Carbon Footprint-Green-O-Meter, which uses a scale of one to five tiny Al Gore heads.

  <— Gore scores!

Pictured: Green Table at the Chelsea Market