Hawaii Juice Bars

Health nut? Then beet your way to these juices.

Judging by the people pouring into Juice Box, a juice bar that opened a few months ago, Honolulu has been thirsting for juice. Not juice as in cans of Hawaiian Sun or cartons of Tropicana, but juice of the fresh-squeezed, purportedly cleansing and nutritious, and, yes, sometimes green variety. Juice bars have spread from Los Angeles into other big cities ever since Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, a documentary chronicling 310-pound Joe Cross’ path to health via a 60-day juice cleanse. Now Honolulu-ites are turning to these fruit and vegetable elixirs to detox. It’s hard to imagine that the frequenters of Juice Box have ever looked like pre-juice cleanse Joe Cross, but no matter, the taste and health claims of fresh-pressed juice—not canned, bottled, boxed or juice languishing in some other container—appeals to everyone. (The juice-savvy will tell you that the nutrients in fruits and vegetables diminish the minute they’re juiced.) We tried a juice diet for five days. Read about our saga online at honolulumagazine.com/juicecleanse Right: It might look like an Orange Bang, but the Carotene Cure from Blue Tree Café is actually packed with carrot, apple and ginger.

Places to get juiced
 

Juice Box

Watch a stack of organic produce transform into a vibrant cup of juice, such as the Green Lemonade, a tart blend including kale, spinach, celery, apple, lemon and ginger, and the Red Queen, a sweeter, earthier juice thanks to beets mixed with kale and grapes. $8.99; 3118 Monsarrat Ave.

Blue Tree Café

Stylish Blue Tree Café, one of Honolulu’s newest health-focused cafés, offers the Super Juice, a zesty juice of pineapple, kale, ginger, apple and celery to make you feel as svelte and healthful as the people working behind the counter look. If you’re seriously dedicated to detox, Blue Tree also offers five- and seven-day juice cleanses. $5.99; 1009 Kapiolani Blvd., 591-2033
 

Lanikai Juice

The juice lineup at longtime local favorite Lanikai Juice includes the Zen Tonic, a blend of carrot, apple, celery and beet, claiming to squash stress, or Da Green, refreshing as a spa day and purportedly just as good for your skin, with cucumber, celery and spinach. $4.15 – $5.25; three locations: Kahala, 732-7200; Kailua, 262-2383; and Haleiwa, 637-7774

Diamond Head Cove Health Bar

Getting too sluggish for afternoon delight? Then freshen up with Da Cove’s Morning Delight, a head-clearing concoction of carrot, watermelon, lemon, ginger and celery. $7; 3045 Monsarrat Ave., 732-8744
 

Kale’s Deli

Binge sessions should be followed up with Detox Juice, a perk-you-up mix of carrot, cucumber, kale, lemon, ginger, parsley and a pinch of cayenne to kick out those toxins. $8; Inside Kale’s Natural Foods, 377 Keahole St., 396-6993