A week in, Root Juicery plays with menu for healthy customers

Roughly a week into their soft opening, the Root Juicery staff is seeing people come in early in the morning and around lunchtime to grab a healthy meal to-go.

“We’re already learning a lot about things we need to tweak,” said Barbara Payton, whose brother, Jeff, owns the juicery, 206 Huron Ave., Port Huron, as well as the nearby Vintage Tavern downtown.

It was mid-morning on Tuesday, and Barbara Payton, who Jeff said had been helping manage operations, was busy pealing oranges, preparing fresh fruit and vegetable ingredients with staffer Sierra Reckker from behind the establishment’s tall wooden counter.

“We adjusted some things. We had a Greek wrap, and we decided to turn that into a salad because we found the wraps don’t keep as long because we don’t use any preservatives,” Barbara said. “… And we’re asking customers to be very honest with us about what they want to see in here.”

Jeff Payton agreed they were big on feedback.

“This is a new thing. This isn’t a chain operation that’s all etched in stone,” he added. “We can do whatever we want. If somebody says, ‘I want to see this,’ or, ‘I’d come in more often if you had that,’ we’re all for that.”

Work on Root Juicery began a couple of years ago — now with a few wooden booths for customers to stop to eat against the exposed brick wall and sun-lit storefront along Main Street.

Easing off on hot menu options in favor of more cold-stored salads and foods, Jeff said they may move out a hot box, used to keep some items warm, in favor of another booth.

That was one example of something, they said, they’ve learned since opening last Wednesday — that more people wanted something cold they could put in the fridge. But they may re-evaluate warmer options when the summer season picks up.

The original menu posted has included pasta and wraps, as well a few salads and a protein acai cup.

Moving forward, Jeff Payton said they want to begin to cater to different kinds of customers, such as those who are members of the neighboring Afterburn Fitness and can access the juicery from a separate interior entrance or the wider demographic who’ve shared they want to pursue a healthier lifestyle.

On Tuesday, Barbara Payton joked her brother was a longtime juicer, but that he’d shared excitement for other menu additions, as well. “He’s very excited about this maccha he’s got,” she said.

Jeff Payton said he also wanted to highlight that they’d begin featuring juices or food items of the week. This week’s feature was their kiwi hydro juice, which included kiwis, strawberries, and watermelon.

So far, Root Juicery was operating 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily except on Sunday.

They may adjust hours on Saturday, they said, when there aren’t as many early birds, and Barbara Payton said they’d weighed opening up slightly earlier during the week to cater to workers who had to be on the job by their present opening time.

Barbara Payton also said she thought some of that early-to-rise crowd may be a sweet spot in customers for the juicery. But the real one, she said, would probably come as the weather warmed.

“I think this time of year, since we’re not in our tourism time of year, I think it’s mostly people that live and work within … call it a three-, four-mile radius,” Jeff Payton said. “But we’re also getting people (to come in from a distance). We had somebody drive here from north Lakeport the other day.”

For more information, follow the Root Juicery on Facebook and Instagram.

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: A week in, Root Juicery plays with menu for healthy customers