Raw Juce to Open in Miami Beach in December

South Beach is about to get another brightly colored, healthy fast-food concept. Palm Beach County-based juice and smoothie bar Raw Juce is days away from opening in Miami Beach (959 West Ave., Suite 13), the company's second Miami-Dade location.

The outpost's debut was slated for a few months ago but was moved to the week of December 12. In 2017, Raw Juce hopes to open a Coral Gables spot as well as a location inside Turnberry Isle Resort in Aventura. The first Miami-Dade store is located on Biscayne Boulevard just north of Aventura Mall.

The brand, centered on all things raw and organic, features an assortment of juices ranging from coconut, orange, and blueberry to jalapeño, lime, and ginger ($9.50 to $11). There's also cold-pressed black and mocha coffee, using ingredients such as almond milk, cacao dip, and Madagascar vanilla.

But cofounder Barry Rabkin insists Raw Juce's concept isn't an "end all, be all" cure. He wants to encourage customers to live a healthier lifestyle by eating (and drinking) uncooked, unprocessed, and mostly organic foods. To make it more appealing, Raw Juce takes whole fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds and transforms them into aesthetically pleasing açaí bowls and brightly colored juice cleanses.

"Juicing is a convenient way to get the amount of fruits and vegetables that you really need," he says. "You can't go to the gym one day and look like a bodybuilder. Good health is something that needs to happen every day."
Besides juice, there's also a bevy of smoothies ($9 to $13.50), açaí bowls ($10.50 to $13.50), raw oatmeal ($6), salads, and raw desserts. Munch on bites such as raw cashew butter cups, made with coconut oil and sea salt; banana cinnamon crunch raw oatmeal parfait, which blends bananas, almond milk, cinnamon, and honey; and a range of açaí bowls that fuse ingredients such as goji berries, honey, mango, strawberries, bee pollen, and protein.

All of Raw Juce's products are 100 percent, USDA-certified organic, a title for which Rabkin has worked hard.

"Getting the name was a really long and intensive process," he says. "It's important to know what you're eating and drinking. But what people misunderstand is they want to cleanse for a day and then eat a hamburger the next. It doesn't work like that."

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