WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES OCTOBER 24, 2019 3
‘Treat yourself’ at Kings Juice Bar in Ridgewood
Kings Juice Bar is located on 955 Seneca Ave. in Ridgewood. Photo: Angelica Acevedo/QNS
BY ANGELICA ACEVEDO
AACEVEDO@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Adrian King, the owner of Kings Juice
Bar in Ridgewood, has a favorite motto
and oft en recites it to his customers.
“You just gotta take it one day at a time,
one day at a time,” King smiled as he rang
up one of his customers.
King, a longtime Ridgewood resident
and business owner, opened up his
health-conscience juice bar at 955 Seneca
Ave. about three years ago — aft er his
“millennial” kids told him that it could
be a great new business venture.
“I asked my kids what would be
profi table and they said, ‘Well dad, the
neighborhood is getting gentrifi ed and
we want to help, so why don’t you open
a juice bar?’” he said.
The father of seven took the advice
and ran with it. King did extensive
research about what the healthiest and
tastiest combinations of smoothies were,
and built his menu based on organic and
fresh ingredients.
Kings Juice Bar — with their tagline
of, “Treat yourself like the Queen or
King that you are” — off er an array of
smoothie options, including $2 smoothies
(two-fruit smoothies to-go), vital energy
smoothies and natural juices, which all
come in either 20, 24 or 32 ounces that
can range from $6 to $14.
They also serve açai bowls, salads,
paninis and breakfast bowls. About 90
percent of their products are gluten and
trans-fat free, King assured.
“Most of our products are a meal,” he
said. “Our smoothies are meals.”
One of their fan favorites is the Peanut
Tango, which is made with peanut butter,
banana, honey and your choice of milk —
a perfect post-workout treat.
They even off er drinks or “shots” of
natural juice or smoothie remedies that
help combat that under-the-weather
feeling, such as the Cold Suppressor
Smoothie (made with pineapple, ginger,
orange and honey) as well as the Flu
Away (made with lemon, ginger, orange
and cayenne).
The 47-year-old is also making sure
that the notion that healthy equals
price-y is not a factor in what he calls a
“community-based business,” by keeping
his prices fair and aff ordable.
King, who served as president of
Community Board 4’s youth council
back in the late ‘80s, has maintained his
service-centered mindset in all of his
business ventures. When he’s not taking
care of the juice bar, he’s also a property
manager.
King, a native of Belize, also worked in
the New York Stock Exchange but ventured
into entrepreneurship aft erward,
working in the cellphone business and
later stepping into the restaurant industry
with a Caribbean restaurant.
But for King, one of the most important
parts about being a business owner,
especially a black business owner, is to
show the younger generations that they
could be just as successful.
“We have to be shepherds for the next
generation,” he said. “It’s not about the
money, money’s nice, but it comes with
time, quality and taking care of the
community.”
In addition to participating in The
Work, Learn and Grow Employment
Program, King welcomes local kids to
work for him so that they can “get experiences
and a sense of ownership.”
“And the sense that, ‘Oh, a person
of color is doing it, I can do it too,’” he
added.
When you visit the cozy spot, complete
with a comfy purple couch and jazzy
music playing in the background, you
instantly feel like you’ve been invited
into someone’s home — King’s home.
King credits his no-nonsense yet
hospitable nature to the community that
raised him.
“I grew up with this neighborhood,”
King said. “Ridgewood and Bushwick
built my character. The character of
Ridgewood is community-based, it’s
friendly, neighborly, respectful, honest,
straightforward and courteous. That’s
who I am.”
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