Some things just should not be messed with. Bacon is one of them.

So when Naturally’s Market and Cafe serves a breakfast taco with “fakin’ bacon,” made of vaguely smoky, vaguely salty and definitely funky soy strips, it’s hard to forgive.

Hard, but not impossible. That’s because this crunchy little vegetarian-focused Manitou cafe does so many other things right that even fake bacon — a cardinal culinary sin — can be overlooked.

Naturally’s showcases healthful, natural and organic salads, sandwiches and soups that tend toward vegetarian, though the menu does throw a few bones — or at least burgers — to meat lovers.

The bright, sunny dining room, which also has a small book store and natural-foods market, is the work of owner Ronda Burke and family, who for years ran Naturally’s in South Padre Island, Texas, and moved to Manitou because, Burke says on the restaurant’s website, “the spirit of this place spoke to me.”’

I am not much of a health-food nut, but much of Naturally’s fare speaks to me. If a menu of granola, smoothies, millet and eggplant sounds like a dour health-food hair shirt, think again. The food here is not just good for you, it is just plain good.

Grab a booth and consider the many tasty options. The daily soup ($5) has yet to disappoint. One day it was Creamy Poblano, with flavorful blended potato and corn offering a mellow base for the spicy chilies. The next day it was a thick blend of lentils with soft chunks of steamy sweet potato and a shock of assertive curry spices so fresh that the good cinnamon wafted clearly from the bowl.

The standby soup, vegetarian chili, ($5.75) is also hard to beat. The blend of black and red beans with tomatoes and the right mix of cumin and other spices is so complementary that meat is never missed.

That’s true of a lot of dishes at Naturally’s. They are so well-seasoned and balanced that you forget there is no bacon.

The grilled caprese sandwich ($7.85) is a perfect example. Two crispy, warm, homemade slices of rosemary focaccia come oozing with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, fragrant basil pesto and thin slices of herb-baked eggplant. It is a delight, with no element overpowering the others and each adding its own flavor and texture.

“This,” a friend said, “is one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had.”

The next day a different friend said the same thing about the free-range-turkey burger ($7.75). Ground turkey tends to be dry and bland, but here it arrives juicy and deftly seasoned with salt and spices. It is a bit small for the price, but utterly enjoyable.

Salads here delight, too. Don’t miss the Naturally Yours Salad ($11.50), an impressive, multicolored palette of shredded beet, carrot, chayote, cucumber, sprouts, tomatoes and greens interspersed with yummy homemade hummus, tabbouleh and — I never though I would find myself saying this — millet, tossed with a seaweed, fresh ginger and sesame dressing that is just plain terrific.

There is a long list of smoothies ($4.50-$9), including the weird (but good) PB&J. Naturally’s also has a kid-friendly menu with tweaked favorites like organic hot dogs on local whole-wheat buns ($5).

And that breakfast taco, ($5.50) on a quality soft flour tortilla, stuffed with two eggs and a slew of sautéed veggies, is delicious if you skip the “fakin bacon.”

For all its success, Naturally’s makes a few rookie mistakes. The pita on an otherwise-good Middle Eastern plate ($7.65) was dry and brittle. The organic, homemade crust on a nice veggie pizza ($11) was dreadfully dense and droopy. Some of the scones and other baked goods taste a bit too healthful (or gluten-free) to really count as dessert. (The blondies, however, are awesome!)

And the newly expanded hours are bizarre: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, which rules out an early breakfast (even though there are breakfast items on the menu) and offers an abbreviated dinner (even though there are no dinner items on the menu.) Cut dinner, add breakfast and be done with it.

Fortunately, pizza crust, pita choice, scone recipes and operating hours are not like bacon. You can mess with them all you want until you get them right.

NATURALLY’S MARKET & CAFE3 STARS out of 5(Health-food converter)Address: 110 Cañon Ave., Manitou SpringsContact: 685-0555, naturallys.netHours: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. dailyEntrees: $5-$13.50Vegetarian: Multiple optionsAlcohol: NoCredit cards: No; local checks accepted

Photo by Photo: Patrick Bepko, The Gazette