Liquid Lunch: Smoothie & Juice Spots in Greenpoint

When it’s just too hot to put solid food to your lips, the only option is a liquid lunch, and I’m not talking about booze for once. Greenpoint has a pretty good selection of smoothie and juice spots depending on which end of the nabe you live.

Get ready for me to break it down: smoothies are to tea as juice is to coffee. The former are more mellow, the latter gets straight to the freakin’ point. Sometimes I have to switch it up. The way that coffee sometimes gives me the jitters, juice sometimes makes me feel a little nauseous – especially on an empty stomach. Anyone else experience that?

Maybe you go through phases with them, too? When I’m feeling intense, I’ll do juice with a side of espresso (my stomach curses me.) I’m currently in an Ice Tea/Smoothie phase (much milder)

My favorite smoothie combo is Blueberry, Soy Milk, Banana, Honey & Peanut Butter.

What is your favorite juice or smoothie combo?

Lunchbox (120 Norman Ave)
A great spot if you’re on you way to the G train on Norman Ave, Lunchbox has traditional Juice and Smoothie options at affordable prices – Sm. $3.95- Lg. $5.95. (That’s just cheap!) The smoothies offered all either have banana or OJ in them. While the menu doesn’t state it – you can substitute soy milk (for $0.50 extra) and add peanut butter. They also have a mind blowing Espresso Smoothie with 2 shots of espresso, banana, cream and vanilla! 

The juices are “Make Your Own” with traditional bases like Apple, Beet, Carrot, Tomato, and add-ons like ginger, spinach and cayenne – so get creative! You can order just Tomato or just Apple Juices for a little more – Sm. $5.95 Lg. $7.95

Cafe Anise at Awakening NY (607 Manhattan Ave)

You don’t need to get creative with the extensive juice and smoothie options offered at Cafe Anise because they have done it all for you and there are lots of exciting options. The Green Julius Smoothie, which is avocado, coconut milk, cucumber, orange juice and agave is really refreshing. My personal favorite when I need a wake-up is the Cocoa Mocha Smoothie – Banana, Cold Brew Coffee, Almond Milk, Peanut Butter and Honey. All smoothies are 16oz. and $7.

The juices are prescribed in restorative combinations like the Immune Booster – orange, lemon, kale, garlic and spinach or the Deep Cleanse – celery, ginger, leomn, cucumber, basil. All juices are $5 for a 10oz and $8 for a 16oz. The mini juice size is definitely easier on the tummy.

Lokal (905 Lorimer St)

Loka’s convenient juice and smoothie counter is steps away from McCarren Park. They feature a Smoothie of the Day, which is currently (BLANK). I never venture beyond my specific smoothie concoction, but they make it right every time. Warning: $10 minimum for credit card purchases.

Urban Rustic (236 No. 12th St)

Good old Urban Rustic offers both Juices and Smoothies at $5.50.

It is where my love affair began with the Bella Blue Smoothie which is Bluberries, Soy Milk, Banana and Honey (with a Peanut Butter add-on). They even happily add ICE CREAM to smoothies, like Ausible – Peanut Butter, Chocolate Ice Cream and Banana (aka a shake).

After I’ve been eating like a pig I prefer the Saint Regis Juice – Lemon, Apple and Double Ginger. Urban Rustic also makes their very own V-8, which is a changing blend of seasonal veggies that include Tomato, Beet and Celery with the additional option of Hot Sauce or Black Pepper. (I won’t judge if you pour an airplane-size bottle of Vodka in this sucker on the weekend.)

3 Roots (359 Franklin St)

Greenpoint’s newest Smoothie and Cold Pressed Juice bar has an inventive and extensive (and comparatively expensive) menu, with smoothies starting at $8-$11 and juices, including fresh raw coconut water ($6) ranging from $8-10. They even offer a $50 one day 6 pack juice cleanse.

The smoothies run the gamut of greeney to creamy, like the Root Down: celery, cilantro, parsley, lime, orange, peaches, coconut oil, himalayan salt, tulsi or the Minty Monkey –  banana, almond milk, almond butter, mint, carob, chlorella, mint oil, tulsi. 

You won’t find dairy on this menu. Most of the smoothies feature coconut oil or nut butters and almost all have tulsi, which according to Web MD is a sacred Indian plant known as an “adaptogen” which is used to counter life’s stresses in Ayurvedic medicine. I wonder if they have an injection of that!

The juices also have a lot of tulsi up in the mix. Their Citrus Face Juice is orange, grapefruit, pineapple, aloe, tulsi plus an ingredient called noni, which is a cure-all that is used to treat: “diabetes, high blood pressure, muscle aches and pains, menstrual difficulties, headaches, heart disease, AIDS, cancers, gastric ulcers, sprains, depression, senility, poor digestion, atherosclerosis, circulation problems, and drug addiction.”

In addition to the smoothies and juices, 3 Roots has 1oz. shots ($2-7) like the Mushroom Goji Shot, which uses the mushroom chaga, the E3 Live Shot of micro algae and a super multi shot of Jun served in a few test tubes, which is a probiotic drink similar to kombucha but made with green tea and raw honey.

The Garden (921 Manhattan Ave)

The Garden offers Greenpoint’s least expensive and most conventional juices of carrot, beet, celery, apple, grapefruit and orange. Prices are: Sm. $3 and Lg. $3.75. If you want organic carrots the price changes from $4.25-4.75 (still cheap!)

Cafe Edna (195 Nassau Ave)

Formerly Cafe Royal, the new Cafe Edna still offers the same variety of juices (no smoothies) named after Cody Utzman’s former businesses and the streets on “the other side” of Greenpoint, like the Standard: beets, apple, carrots, ginger, lemon and the Monitor: apple, pineapple, lemon, ginger – all priced at $6.50.

Keep cool, Greenpoint!