Organic Avenue

I don’t really get the set up in here, aesthetically. But I have to say whenever I come here, there seems to be many women coming up from the basement, what’s down there I may never know. Otherwise, it seems lie they got a juicebar thing going on past the counter, but htere is always a curtain pulled around and its dark back there. I don’t know. and I don’t need to I guess. Some of their shots are great, especially for taking home, but the juices are sometimes so-​so… personal taste however is what I am choosing to chalk that up too. I will keep coming here if cute woman keep emerging from the sub level.

I love the staff at this particular OA — they’re super friendly, fun and always willing to give me a free sample. I’m also a fan of the juices — but there are just so many other good fresh juice places in the neighborhood that are so much cheaper — I officially cannot justify spending $ 9 for a juice that I can get elsewhere for $ ⁵⁄₆.
But the juices are seriously great, especially for a 3-​day cleanse, or if you can’t eat anything but still need nutrients.

Like all organic juice spots in NYC, definitely on the pricey side. But LOVE the service at this place. The people are super friendly and really knowledgeable about their choices.
The great thing about this place is that they keep coming out with new drinks each season, and I really feel like they constantly strive to come out with innovative new concoctions.
Shots — crazy drinks like E3 Live, Chorella, Guarana, Dragonbreath (great for when you’re feeling sick), Ginger (will a. wake you up in the morning and b. help with hangovers, etc.) Also, they have punch cards where you can get free shots after 10, and then 2 free shots after 20.
Drinks — Again, great drinks — and different ones for different reasons, and if you are looking for something in particular, the staff will definitely point you to appropriate ones. I love the medicinal greens for when I’m starting to feel sick, Protein Blueberry Shake for while I’m working out, turmeric tonic to help with soreness (anti-​inflammatory), and Royal Red (a new one this season) for energy, and Green Love for detoxing, and a go-​to in general.
Anyways, like I said — drinks for every season and reason (i make rhyme), awesome people who will make you smile — and damn good chocolate pudding that you can pretend not to feel guilty about since its at an organic juice store. (ps the latte drink will wake you up pretty good without all the processed sugar/​dairy +1)

No longer coming here. I came with a ton of my glass bottles that I paid deposits on from a specific order that was in their records and they refused to refund me on the basis that they no longer take deposits.
I told them look at the records, you TOOK two dollars per bottle from me based on a promise that you would return those two dollars if I hauled these all back here. And here i am. I hauled these back here.
The woman at the desk maintained her placid exterior but sounded irritated: «we sent out email announcements that the bottle return wasnt happening anymore»
If they think spamming people gives them a right to claim bottle deposits as revenue then they have really sketchy accounting practices.
accepting a deposit like that makes you a fiduciary of the money.
the money doesnt become yours just because you change your mind after taking my deposit.
I no longer trust this place. I no longer like this place. I am totally pissed.

I get that OA is expensive, but I had a heyday here. Also, kale chips were 2 for $ 10 (instead of $ 8 a piece)…pretty good deal! Lots of chocolate and other goodies, and they definitely have some items that are hard to find (quinoa protein bars anyone?)
I came in here looking for oil of oregano and guess what… they had it. Coconut yogurt was also delicious, and I got lots of raw chocolate and some booster shots… I love that they are packaged in glass because I can re-​use the bottles! The rest of the store felt a little empty but it looks like they use it for events or something. The salesgirl was really nice too. I’ll come back here for the hard to find items. If I was hungrier I would have like to try their pre-​made salads/​food.

Super tasty food and drinks, but waaay overpriced.
$ 6 for ½ cup of kale salad? You can get a HUGE salad with the same ingredients just up the street!

I’m all torn up inside over this (pun intended, read on).
On one hand, I love this place… delish! I could eat here every single day… if I hadn’t gotten sick. Really sick. Like, didn’t-make-it-home-on-time kind of sick. In-​bed-​with-​a-​fever kind of sick. But I love it so much I gave them a second chance. Accidents happen, right? And maybe it wasn’t them (even though that was the only thing i ate all day), maybe it was a stomach flu? So a few weeks later I went back. I even brought my mother… And then she got sick. Really sick. Thank god she was home at the spontaneous arrival of her symptoms (I was not so lucky).
All this food poisoning coupled with their insane prices and I still went back yesterday! …it’s really that delicious… and maybe I’m a bit of a masochist.

I absolutely love this location but what is it with Midtown East? Why is the one in Midtown East full of such negative energy?
I no longer go to Organic Avenue in Midtown East due to bad customer service but I passed by this one to check it out. The environment here is so different, everyone who works here really knows what they are talking about and they are so friendly.

I used to love Organic Avenue. They have the amazing smoothies and pretty fine juices too… so why only 1 star?
They just raised their prices so that instead of just being an expensive place to eat, or rather drink, they have now crossed the threshold into being overpriced.
Here is the difference between something that is expensive versus something that is overpriced: something is expensive when it cost a lot of money, but merits the price in quality; it becomes overpriced when it cost a lot of money, yet fails to merit the quality.
Think of a real leather jacket that costs $ 800 and will last you 10 years, versus a faux leather jacket that costs $ 200 and starts to fade and crack after six months.
OA has always had a high quality product, but not the highest quality. Now they have the highest prices, far surpassing their competitors who have equal and often higher quality… The Juice Press, Liquiteria, Organic Planet, etc…
Also, I don’t think they merit higher prices when all their products are made at a large processing facility in Queens and then delivered. There is no transparency for quality control checks from customers. Whereas their competitors press their juice and make their smoothies in house, made to order, in front of the customer.
For example, Organic Avenue now charges $ 10 for a 14oz smoothie. Until just a week ago, they charged $ 10 for the same 16oz smoothie. The exact same $ 4 coconut water at Organic PLANET will cost you $ 10 at Organic AVENUE. Carrot Juice, $ 4 at Organic PLANET, or $ 9 at Organic AVENUE.
I asked two separate Organic Avenue employees about the price increase and both gave me different, half-​baked answers. One said that produce costs more now. LOL! If the produce source rates have risen, then why is Organic Avenue the only one raising their prices?
The other one said that it was due to the plastic bottles costing more… Seriously? You’re talking a 15% increase for plastic bottles? Give me a break.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m no cheapskate. I have one or two juices or smoothies per day, not to mention the monthly cleanse, I easily spend $ 400-​$ 500 a month at Organic Avenue between three separate locations (Suffolk, Hudson and Lex Ave).
My girlfriend spends about half that at OA and the same at Juice Press, which she prefers. This may sound like a lot to some, but we’re very health conscious and we can afford it. It’s not about the money though, it’s the principle.
I won’t be returning until they readjust the prices and I’ll be sure to encourage my social network to do the same. I refuse to be taken advantage of. I don’t let vendors rip me off just because they can. We as consumers have other viable options… For now, it looks like the Juice Press, Liquiteria and Blue Print will be seeing a lot more of me and my money.
Lastly, I really think they should lay off with the use of the word «Love.» Love is something special and shouldn’t be used as a marketing gimmick. If they were really about love, their products wouldn’t be exclusive to the affluent.

The lady was super friendly and has the beat skin ever! Just saying.

I’m just wrapping up a 5 day LoveDeep cleanse. I’ve done Blueprint a few times and always ended up feeling better, healthier, lighter and less bloated. So this isn’t new for me. Some thoughts:
Evening before: weird email from OA giving me the menu, several mantras and new-​age quotes. Each juice had a link to a webpage giving me the health benefits of a particular ingredient in the juice. These websites were of the unscientific variety and made a lot of farfetched claims. I am already skeptical, but mindful of some positive reviews and willing to go through with the cleanse.
Morning of Day 1: Green juice shot followed by diarrhea for most of the day. Took taxi home to avoid any issues on subway.
Morning of Day 2: I went for a run and had no energy to move. At that point I decided it was time to supplement with a bit of solid food for energy.
Days 3 and 4: In retrospect, a blur. Work was busy and my only real breaks were to pee. i now wonder if any weight loss might be attributed to the extensive trips down the long hall from my office to the mens room.
Evening of Day 4: Supplementing with food helped. I ran my best 5k time ever. Maybe the cleanse? Maybe a stressful day at work? Maybe the food? Who knows.
Day 5: Wrapping it up and sipping a turmeric tonic as I write this review. I had an open mind, but somehow was disappointed. The juices were delicious but too sugary. Really, way too much fruit and coconut water, and not enough veggies. I emailed OA and asked for the sweeter ones to be swapped out. They obliged but admitted that most of their juices are fruit-​based (read: full of sugar) so it didn’t help much. Also, at $ 100 a day including Manhattan delivery, it’s just too expensive for what it is.

Had a really fantastic experience here for the 3 day cleanse with a Groupon. Was really scared and unsure, made several calls with questions, and everyone was helpful, friendly, etc. Took me a couple of tries to get someone, but that’s ok.
Cleanse was mostly DELICIOUS and I wasn’t hungry at all. Wheatgrass is awful, but I’m pretty sure that’s not unique to this place.
Cleanse really helped me get back on track. I’m already a really fit person and a healthy eater, but we can all use a little restart now and again. Could NEVER afford this full price, if it were cheaper I would probably do this once a month. The cost is the only reason this isn’t a five star review.
Def give it a try if you’re considering a cleanse. Juices are great on their own too I’m sure, but I would hate coming back to return bottles all the time.

I love that you can order the day before and get delivery, and cold-​pressed and in glass jars is absolutely the way to go (although wasn’t 100% sure about SA’s representation that the juice would keep for four or five days. While that’s definitely how long you have before the juice actually goes bad, I THINK that even if it’s cold-​pressed, the longer you wait to drink it, the less nutritional value you get from it. Again, I’m not sure about that. But I am sure about my next point.)
When it comes to nutritional value, Organic Avenue’s juices (except for the Veggie Vibrance, which contains beets, carrots, etc.) don’t have much going on. The green juices are particularly mehtacular. A few contain spinach (but it’s never the first-​listed ingredient), but none of them have kale, which was a shock, since it’s such a highly-​touted superfood, and most of them are cucumber-​based. Cucumbers have a nice fresh taste, and they do contain some vitamins and nutrients, but the levels are so low that they’re just salad filler in comparison to what else is out there. In short, there are tons of vegetables and greens that are really good for you, but Organic Avenue doesn’t seem to use most of them. And at their price points, you should be getting more health bang for your buck. (N.B. Maybe they have a wider selection in-​house (I’ve only done the online ordering).) I feel that a lot of the hooha about this place is due to the cleanses, the pretty packaging (the bottles are way cute), the one-​stop shop for overpriced organic what-​have-​you, and the fact that it’s been GWYNETHED!, but there are definitely places with lower Q-​scores that do healthier juices for either the same price or less, even if they aren’t as flash.

the bottles are cute. the prices are comparable to the other ones in the area. The best thing about Organic Avenue is that they have nutritional value labeled with each glass. Most juice places don’t have nutritional info on their bottles.
the only con is the juices aren’t pressed on-​site, at least not yet. also, kinda weird that they told me I can store the juice for up to 5 days when it’s best to drink cold-​pressed juices the day it’s juiced. it makes me wonder how old some of the juices are. most other juice shops in the area cold-​press their juices on-​site, sold immediately, and they encourage you to drink it the day you get it.
btw, you can bring back the glass bottles to be recycled and redeem two dollars.
i will come here again to either redeem my dollars or to collect more glass bottles. they’re cute. i can’t decide if i should be a hoarder yet.

I really like Organic Avenue, known for their pressed green juices among other things such as prepared raw foods, snacks, supplies and books.
Be warned, the items are expensive, especially the prepared foods. There aren’t a lot of places for raw foods, so finding a place like this is a treasure, but you will spend a lot of money here.
FYI — if you take any juice/​shot to go, there’s a $ 2 deposit for the glass bottle, refundable upon return. If you drink it on site, there’s no deposit.
This place is definitely worth a visit. They also have juice cleanses and classes too, but they are pricey. I come occasionally, but not as regularly as before as money is tight now.

This place doesn’t really look like a raw food store — more like a high end clothing boutique. It’s nicely appointed, but the real stuff is the food. The chocolate is awesome! That’s all I had, but that was enough!
Not the usual type of place I go to, but I don’t live in NYC so once in a while isn’t bad for me — especially when the food is actually good for me!

Haha… it’s sooo funny… I’ve had this place bookmarked to review since 2008… Crazy huh?
Anyway, I love their organic clothes, their wide selection of vegan and raw food cookbooks, and their beauty supply section. My favorite buy was th Morrocco Apple Cider Vinegar shampoo that I bought for like $ 17. Since its used up though, I just buy my own acv, dilute it with warm distilled water, add a few dros of rosemary essential oil, shake well… and wa-​la! I have my clarifying wash. I couldn’t afford $ 17/​bottle every month! geesh!
P. S. I loveddd their coco lime organic cake, but HATED the lemonade… I still got my $ 2 back when I returned my empty bottle though! =]

It’s ALL about the Green–
First, let me state that I’m a registered Omnivore yet I still like coming to Organic Avenue for the Lasagna, the juices — and to visit the amazing Russ and Daughters around the corner.
I’ve heard and know all the spiel from the owner (a very pleasant and knowledgeable man) but nothing will dissuade me from my food choices. The juices are delicious and they deliver to your home for a charge.
It IS costly. I’m also a sceptic when it comes to cults of any kind be they political, religious or food-​based. The only thing that was completely cleansed as a result of their 5-​Day cleanse was my wallet.
You’ll see a specific demographic at Organic Avenue. They’re all affluent enough to enjoy these undoubtedly good-​for-​you juices. However, I do think you can do much of this at home with a sturdy Vita-​Mix juicer for a fraction of the hefty cost. What Organic Avenue has going for it is the issue of time and convenience.
There’s a total commitment to all things green at Organic Avenue. Alas, that extends to your bank balance.

Organic Avenue is incredible.
I’m a yoga teacher, but in no way a raw/​vegan eater. That being said, when you consume the products from Organic Avenue, you feel energized and like you and your body are best friends.
A little pricey, but once you try you cannot stop!
Coconut Mylk is incredible. Despite the spelling error. (Ha ha.)

This is the closest it gets to a pure, genuine, honest and unadulterated nutritional gift, in New York City or anywhere in the world. These people just do it right. They don’t try and sell you sex, security, comfort, image, or *anything* but stone-​cold fantastic health, which in my experience they execute flawlessly each and every time with enthusiasm to spare. They are totally in-​it-​to-​win-​it and completely real, and that is something in and of itself worth supporting.
I am aware that it costs a lot of money — but I’m also a chef, and I’ve done my share of food-​costing, and I will tell you that these guys are NOT ripping you off. It really does take that sort of crazy money to make a pressed organic green juice, I guarantee it. No, it’s not a bargain, but it is fair, and fair is a whole lot better than what you’re going to get elsewhere. Furthermore, their quality is completely unparalleled — not a place in the city does a better job with juice or raw food. Or even vegetarian food, cooked or raw, for that matter. I recognize that they’ve got a lot less to take care of than does a major operation with a tasting menu and a sit down restaurant, but an endeavor is only fit to be judged by the goals it sets for itself, and this place succeeds far more admirably at its own goals than any food-​related operation in the city where health is the focus.
These are just honest, decent people doing their best to take a very noble idea — imparting rapturous, resounding health with a minimal environmental impact and good dose of fun — and somehow fit it through this godaweful soulsucking thing called American capitalism. I have also spent the last 5 years volunteering at a not-​for-​profit feminist bookstore, and I do not think we’ve done any better of a job of making the rent and the payroll do their thing while we concentrate on offering something truly excellent and beautiful and real.
Finally: I am a huge nutrition nerd, and I have been hired for that quality to help people through all sorts of dietary transitions and difficulties for years. I do not recommend raw food for everyone — in fact I think it is a fairly dicey thing for some constitutions — but juice is almost ALWAYS positive, and these guys hit the nail on the head when it comes to nutrient-​dense, fresh stuff that looks and tastes good enough to encourage a good habit for a long time. When people tried to push for raw vegan food as a sort of superior possibility of wellness, this is the sort of thing they were after. Not that dehydrated nut stuff, which is as miserable a trend in the raw food industry and soy is in the vegetarian circuit. These guys basically just offer the good stuff.
And they’re sweet people. If that wasn’t enough to tip you off.
Best of its kind, anywhere I’ve seen.