Would anyone be open to a juice and salad bar located in downtown Maplewood?

Thinking of starting a business and wanted to get some feedback from locals. I'm open to any other ideas as well.

Yes!!!

This would be in addition to HLS in Maplewood?

Yes please ! In the village?

If it has interesting offerings with high-quality ingredients and adult managers on site it could do very well.

Am sorry to be less optimistic, but to me, "juice and salad" kind of equates to lunch, and it will be very difficult to pay Maplewood village rents (if that's what you mean by downtown) with a place that has a limited menu that doesn't really fit with the highest traffic periods (Friday and Saturday nights). Sounds like an idea that might be more successful near a college.

It's admirable to do a survey and to be open to ideas, however I think most of the places that are successful came to the market with something they do well and are passionate about - Lorena, Arturos, Able Baker, Village Trat, Roman Gourmet etc. - rather than trying to follow someone else's idea.

Juice - not so much
Smoothies - yes
Salads - yes

The Salad House in Millburn seems to stay afloat but they may serve dinner (salads) as well.

Apple 44-Thank you for your honesty and feedback. This is something that I am passionate about and have been researching for awhile now. Just wanted to reach out to hear what the masses had to say. Thanks again.

mjh said:

Juice - not so much
Smoothies - yes
Salads - yes

I agree but depends what kind of juice.

There are places sprouting all over the city that do chopped salads, as well as stir fries and quinoa bowls, which all use essentially the same ingredients (or at least there's a lot of crossover). It's the kind of thing that ought to be successful for lunch and dinner but I have no idea what the overhead costs are for something like that.

I find public salad bars and by-the-ounce prepared food places where customers of unknown cleanliness help themselves, including Whole Foods, a total turnoff and avoid them. (I might make an exception for frozen yogurt.)

If it's a salad bar, where you pay by the pound kind of thing, add you own ingredients, no...but if it's a real restaurant with a more healthful twist, I'd like it-- but in addition to HLS which is a similar concept, there is also the Dancing Blender in SO (I have not been). None of the above places are where I'd go for dinner, which is our main meal out, but with a nicer atmosphere, refined service, and other dinner options that are not just healthy, but creative, we would go.

kmk said:

The Salad House in Millburn seems to stay afloat but they may serve dinner (salads) as well.

They never seem to have any customers when I walk by in the evening. Maybe the seating area isn't visible from the street?

j_r said:

There are places sprouting all over the city that do chopped salads, as well as stir fries and quinoa bowls, which all use essentially the same ingredients (or at least there's a lot of crossover). It's the kind of thing that ought to be successful for lunch and dinner but I have no idea what the overhead costs are for something like that.

I find public salad bars and by-the-ounce prepared food places where customers of unknown cleanliness help themselves, including Whole Foods, a total turnoff and avoid them. (I might make an exception for frozen yogurt.)

Buttercup: But what about the C-O-U-C's?
Wesley: Customers Of Unknown Cleanliness? I don't believe they ex-IIIIIIIIST!

The Pit of Despair was actually a salad bar.

I would be all for something with a Planet Smoothie concept. Adding a soup bar and freshly made salads would be smart too as it would fill a niche not currently filled in Maplewood village.

@kthnry, Its a really weird layout but, yes, the whole dining room is in the back and it is often overcrowded.

So, since you asked, I will share my idea for a dream business in the center of Maplewood...a place where you can pick up a well-crafted family-style dinner, to bring home. The way I imagine it, there would be a published weekly menu (with a vegan option, an allergy friendly option, using as much organic and local as possible etc) and possibly even a subscription model. So you hop off the train, swing by and pick up your family's dinner, and walk home. Ideally with minimal packaging (if I did it, I would try to figure out a reusable container/bag model for subscription customers).

So it's basically take out only, though, in a similar model to the old "Mama's Food Shop" in the East Village, there could conceivably be some communal tables. In my idea, the food would be healthier and more varied than Mama's. Like what you wish you were cooking for your family at home but just don't have time to shop for and prepare.

Basically I want someone to cook dinner for me once in awhile (if this existed I would do it at least once a week for sure), but I hate ordering takeout from restaurants because the only family style options are pizza and pasta (and I have a dairy allergic child, so there goes that)...otherwise you are stuck ordering individual size servings of everything with a gazillion containers.


Good luck with your business! As long as you don't open a nail salon or a furniture store I'll be pretty happy!

Salad House in Millburn is open for dinner, seating is in the back and they offer delivery. Pretty good but a bit pricey..

Honestly I would continue to patronize HLS -- closer to my house.

@Familyof4, Blue Plate Special does that now. I haven't ordered because I tend to cook during the week but her menu has been pretty consistent. You can order online and arrange delivery or pickup.

What is HLS? Never heard of it.

It is a juice bar/grill on SA in Maplewood which has a menu similar to that proposed by the OP.

It would be something I'd love, especially if maybe there were salads and sandwiches and maybe in the evenings it could be open for take out. There is very little in the village in terms of healthy, non-pizza or burger take out that is affordable and healthy!

max_weisenfeld said:

Honestly I would continue to patronize HLS -- closer to my house.

Yep.

Marcsiry get thee to Springfield ave. Great food and juices.

@shh Yes, I love the Blue Plate's food, but @justmelaura only does it on Friday nights, exactly the night we're least likely to want take out and most likely to want to go out. I'd love @Familyof4's idea to happen and would probably get food from there twice a week -- most likely Monday and Wednesday so the leftovers could go toward lunches. How about it @justmelaura?

This town needs a place to pick up healthy salads, panini, juices/smoothies, and soups. A small place that is quick, grab and go, for take out and maybe a few tables. Healthy, delicious, a changing menu to keep it interesting. HLS is good for juices but they don't have good salads or soups.

I doubt I would patronize a juice and salad bar type place on a regular basis.

phkeith said:

a place to pick up healthy salads, panini, juices/smoothies, and soups. A small place that is quick, grab and go, for take out and maybe a few tables. Healthy, delicious, a changing menu to keep it interesting.

I miss Crane's soups.

I'd patronize and point-to-what-I-want salad place. It was the one good thing about working crappy temp jobs in NYC. I suppose it made me feel like I had a little power.

I don't care at all about smoothies/juices. Waste of calories, I always thought.