One of Ignacio’s favorite restaurants will be adding healthy alternatives to its menu Friday, Dec. 19.

The new healthy menu includes nine new dishes ­­– three for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Also included on the menu will be calorie, protein, and carb counts, owner of The Patio Restaurant Emily Meisner said.

“We’re going to try this menu out … we’ve had lots of requests for healthier options,” she said. “This menu is geared towards health and portion control.”

Items making up the dishes on the healthy menu include: egg whites, roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, and chicken sausage links, salmon, tuna, roasted chicken and steak.

According to Meisner, the whole healthy menu is gluten free – minus one dish, which offers a wheat pita. But take the pita away, and the dish becomes gluten free as well.

The gluten free trend is a growing market and Meisner is excited to fulfill the requests of her gluten-free costumers.

“It’s an opportunity to feed one more niche,” she said.

Meisner hopes the portioned-controlled menu as well as the calorie counts will cater to her health conscious customers.

“We’re going to try the menu out and see how the community responds,” she said. “The dishes on the healthy menu will be changed up to offer some variety.”

Healthy menu dishes include: Breakfast Tacos, Americano Steak & Eggs, Chicken sausage links & eggs, Mediterranean Salmon Sampler, Garlic Rosemary Chicken, Tuna salad with a wheat pita, Asian sirloin, Simple Salmon Dinner and Herb Roasted Chicken.

Though The Patio is broadening its menu to include healthy options, the home cooked feel good food The Patio is known for is not going anywhere, Meisner said.