Restaurant Review: Juice Box

JUICE BOX

491 Church Street Co-Diner: Tim Golem

At this point it's highly likely that you're familiar with the cold pressed juice craze. My husband and I refer to this as "ten dollar juice" because you'll be paying at least that much per bottle. It's delicious but certainly not economical. I noticed that blogTO named Juice Box the #1 Best Juice Bar in the city and was immediately curious. You'll find them in the heart of The Village (Church and Wellesley), surrounded by beautifully proud rainbow banners. Appropriately named, Juice Box is about the size of one. This teeny-tiny literal hole in the wall features just enough space to walk in and then rotate yourself to leave - juice in hand. It's quite perfect and adorable, actually. The storefront is bright, albeit small, and the inside continues with this theme. The walls are painted bright orange and the entire shop feels like a fruit stand, with stacks of bananas, boxes of oranges, and baskets of apples right in the entryway. It's the freshest, liveliest hole-in-the-wall that you've ever seen! I visited on a Saturday afternoon and the two staff members (presumably also the owners) were incredibly friendly and cheerful. They were juicin' up a storm and seemed to be loving the juice life! There is a chalkboard menu on the wall and it contains just enough choice to please everyone. You'll find specially-crafted vegetable juices, fruit juices, protein shakes, and smoothies. Of course they're doing shots of things like wheat grass, spirulina, and ginseng as well. It should be noted that Juice Box only accepts cash, so come prepared. I was interested in trying a healthy vegetable blend and loved the sounds of their #1 juice right away: Body Cleanser ($5.00 for 16oz).

Carrot, celery, cucumber, parsley, beet, spinach.

Once ordered, a staff member whipped up my juice in record time, tossing vegetables into their heavy-duty juicer. It might not be as refined of an experience as the places offering a jewel box of juice-filled glass bottles, but this place feels far less pretentious. I loved the down to Earth nature of it all. And did you catch the price?! There is no competition whatsoever - Juice Box is serving up fresh squeezed juice at a fraction of the cost everywhere else. Any of their vegetable and fruit juice mixes are $4 for 12oz, $5 for 16oz and $6 for 20oz. These prices simply cannot be beaten. I loved my juice!! It was everything that I had hoped it would be. Each vegetable element came through in the flavour beautifully, with carrot at the helm. I enjoy beet in my juices quite a lot and loved the addition of it here and the earthiness that it brought to my cup. The quality was very good, with no fibrous chunks floating around or anything like that. This juice really did feel like it was giving me life. They also make a bunch of other really great sounding juice blends, such as; Cholesterol Reducer, Energizer, and Cold/Flu Fighter. I like that they've got different choices for whatever you feel like you might need for your body. Juice Box is definitely worth a visit. It's such a great neighbourhood spot and their prices are much lower than you'll find elsewhere. This fresh and happy spot will make you feel fresh and happy too!