By Donna Price

dprice@americanpress.com

Story, photos by Donna Price

dprice@americanpress.com

Two dyed-in-the-wool fast-food guys have done a one-eighty. Doug Gehrig, former owner of McDonald’s of Southwest Louisiana and Gerard Mack, who worked with Gehrig at McDonald’s for 40 years, have teamed up to open the new Clean Juice 100 percent organic juice bar franchise at 4503 Nelson Road.

The concept is the same as any fast-food eatery, said Mack— convenient food and drinks that you can walk in and order or drive through to pick up — but this stuff is a nutritionist’s dream come true. It’s packed with super nutrients to fuel your body. Think fast food healthy.

You’ll find juices, smoothies, açaí bowls, toast and greenoa bowls, which are what other places would probably call a salad.

If you want to bump up the health benefits of your order, add-ins like chia, wheat grass, hemp seeds, spiralina or a host of other ingredients are available.

The Clean Juice building, between McDonald’s and Stine on Nelson, is so new you can still smell the paint when you walk in. They opened July 5.

Clean Juice is a franchise that came into being in 2015. This location is the 75th one in the country, said Mack. The only other Louisiana location at this point is in Lafayette. Clean Juice is the only juice bar that has the USDA certified organic ranking, he said.

Our server Mary, who was wearing a Clean Juice T-shirt emblazoned with the words “OH KALE NO,” said the menu on the wall is geared to be ordered from left to right, depending on how hungry you are. Want something light? Order something from the left side. Hungry enough for a full meal? Order from the right.

My husband Neil and I shared a 16 oz. Mangos ‘n’ Cream protein smoothie

for $8.25, which is cold and ice-creamy and tastes like liquid pumpkin pie.

“It’s our sweetest one,” said Mary.

I also ordered the Açaí Berry Bowl for $10.25 since it was morning and I hadn’t eaten yet. And by the way, I learned that açaí is pronounced ah-sigh-EE, not uh-KAY-uh which was my first guess. Anyway, this ah-sigh-EE bowl was cold and creamy and had me feeling like I was eating dessert for breakfast. It is a delicious combination of açaí (the fruit of açaí palm trees found in South American rainforests), almond milk, bananas, blueberries, goji berries, granola, honey and strawberries.

I’ll have to agree with the the Clean Juice website where it says, “Açaí bowls look like ice cream, almost taste like ice cream, and make you feel good about your breakfast choice.”

The Clean Juice interior is quite trendy-looking with white walls, concrete flooring, metal industrial-look chairs and reclaimed wood table tops.

An unexpected special touch printed on my receipt was a Bible verse from 3 John 1:2: “I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.”

Clean Juice is open 7 a.m. – 8 p.m. Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Sunday.

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Online: https://cleanjuice.com