By Jenny Vergara
One of the most noticeable food trends seen in Kansas City has been the increasing number of healthy or clean eats snack bars that also serve fresh fruit- and vegetable-based juices, smoothies and tea.
So, let’s drink your health with a juice, tea or protein packed snack from any of these local places to refuel.
Enjoy Pure Food + Drink
Owner Staci Cross opened Enjoy Pure Food + Drink in April 2016, making her one of the first clean eats outposts in Leawood. The restaurant serves coffee, organic tea, cold-pressed juices, smoothies, breakfast items, healthy fresh salads, sandwiches and bowls at its new location in the Mission Farms Shops.
Chef Michael Smith, owner of Farina and Extra Virgin, helped develop the delicious food menu, while Karen Kipp and Tess Masters are the two responsible for the juice and smoothie recipes. To sample them all, try the flight of five organic juices for $12, or just pick one.
Unbakery and Juicery
The Brookside East neighborhood has a new option for people looking to eat and drink cleaner. Unbakery and Juicery opened in January 2016, bringing gluten-free, raw treats, protein balls, superfood salads, bone broth, cold press juices, alkaline water, quality coffee and locally-owned Hugo Tea to the area, all available from the convenience of a drive-thru window.
Leading the charge are the owners, husband and wife team Robin and Danny Krause. Shop the shelves at Unbakery for some take-home healthy juices and tonics that are raw, unprocessed and unpasteurized.
t.Loft
Clean eats arrived on the Country Club Plaza in 2015 with the opening of the fourth location for local tea and juice bar, t.Loft, owned by Jill Minton. This location is the largest and most stylish to date, with clean modern lines and large open windows, perfect for people watching. This gluten-free health café serves juices, smoothies and one of the largest varieties of teas in town.
Snack on protein balls and super food kale salads, or check out their hot and satisfying meal bowls. With three sister locations in Leawood, Lawrence and on State Line Road, you’ll find t.Loft a convenient pit-stop for a Green Chia Machine, a juice featuring cucumber, celery, spinach, apple, lemon and chia seeds.
Ruby Jean’s Juicery
Serving fresh-squeezed juice, acai bowls, avocado toast, hard boiled eggs and loaded oatmeal, Ruby Jean’s Juicery caters to a different kind of party: a protein party.
Ruby Jean’s uses a centrifugal juicer to blend together a rainbow of fruits and vegetables for its juices and smoothies.
