Alchemy Juice Bar is tucked in a developing strip of Parsons Avenue near Nationwide Children's Hospital. The store is tough to find from the street, but the place puts a nutrition focused spin on the classic all-natural Berkeley juice bar/restaurant. Walk past the gym once inside, and follow the signs.
The menu consists of sandwiches, salads, smoothies, shakes and a few other odds and ends. There is coffee and gourmet toast for breakfast.
Vegans and gluten-sensitive diners have plenty of options. Smoothies and shakes are available with most of the requisite nutritional additives.
There are three meatless sandwiches - a bean burger on a brioche bun, a hemp pesto Caprese Florentine, and a hummus and hemp pesto sandwich with tomato, avocado and kale.
The drinks are thick. The vegan peanut butter chocolate had a creamy mouthfeel that might have benefited from a colder serving temperature. The fruit smoothies had vibrant flavors.
Alchemy gives the South Side (End?) a great option for health-conscious diners. A few others have popped up around the city in the past six months. I'm not sure how it compares to the others, but it certainly exists in a vegan vacuum on Parsons Avenue.
