Local entrepreneurs bet big on juice
Angela Evans (Tulsa People) Jan 18, 2017 Updated Feb 21, 2020
The beginning of a new year is always an inspired time when we come forward with all our best intentions for the coming year. The most popular intention for many is to lead a healthier lifestyle by changing up eating habits. Tulsa has become a more health-focused community over the years—it seems like on every block there’s a yoga studio or vegan-friendly restaurant to greet you. Another healthy trend that gained serious steam this past year is juicing and many local Tulsans saw it as an opportunity. The industry is relatively new to Tulsa, but the past year saw local mainstays grow and new places sprout up, so there are many places to grab a super-charged fruit-and-veggie bevvie.
PURE Food + Juice
3516 S. Peoria Ave.
Owner Cynthia Beavers left a lucrative life in the Dallas real estate world to become a raw vegan chef. She grew up vegetarian and was looking for like-minded folks interested in a plant-based diet. So she put up a flyer at a Dallas Whole Foods inviting people for a raw food potluck, thinking she’d meet some new friends and maybe sell a house. But the house-selling tactic was overshadowed by the positive response to her food.
"I had so much fun in the kitchen and felt passionate about what I was doing," Beavers said. "So, I told my whole family I was going to be a raw food chef. They thought I’d lost my mind. I went from wearing suits to wearing a bandana and flip-flops like a hippie chef."
Her first café in Dallas was a standing-room only success, but she ultimately closed it down to move back to her Tulsa family. She opened her raw food concept in Tulsa in 2008 and relocated in January to a sleek new space among the shops of Center One on Brookside.
Though juicing has become a bigger part of her business, it’s really the food that changes people’s mind about a plant-based diet.
"I see women dragging their husbands or skeptical friends in here. I recommend the tacos or lasagna and they are always in disbelief that there is no meat or cheese."
Pure Food & Juice whips up grab-and-go options each day—like juices, smoothies and meals—but it is also a full-service sit-down restaurant. The next goal for Beavers is to develop a collection of "healthy" cocktails, which should be added to the menu early this year.
