JUICE ZONE COMES
TO WESLEY CHAPEL

By LAURA CONE

Donna Smith began searching for a franchise to open so she would have a place to eat without feeling guilty.
Smith plans to open the doors to her Juice Zone Fresh and Healthy Cafe, a franchise with international headquarters in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, at the end of September.
“I’m into juicing and healthy alternatives,” Smith said. “I have been for a long time, especially after my mother had a stroke and passed away.”
Smith said her two sons, J.P., 22, and John, 21, will manage her cafe at 1219 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in the Northwoods Shopping Center next to the Super Target in Wesley Chapel.
Meanwhile, Smith plans to work toward her goal of opening 10 more Juice Zone cafes in the Tampa Bay area in the next four years. The Smith family lived in Land O’ Lakes before recently buying a home in Seven Oaks in Wesley Chapel.
“There were no good places to eat where I did not feel guilty,” she said. “We have salads, wraps and we can grill any wrap.”
Their smoothies are made without sugar. They include soy and yogurt. She uses organic vegetables for juicing.
She said the main categories on the menus include smoothies, wraps, salads, panini or flatbread sandwiches and soups. People may order wheat grass, which is taken as shots by health-conscience people in the same way the reckless take shots of whiskey.
She said people may have ginger, carrots, apples, cucumbers and beets juiced for a nutritious drink.
John, who worked for two years as a manager in the fast-food industry, said he was a typical teenager who ate fast-food but hopes to change his ways.
“This is a new world for me,” John said. “I’ve tried the food and I like it very much. I’m not really healthy but I’m planning on changing.”
Donna said it took her a while to find a franchise that offered tasty and healthful selections such as the Mango Madness smoothie with passion, orange, guava juice, mango sorbet, mangos and bananas. They have several blends aimed at making people feel better depending on their issue such as energy, brain, fiber, bone sniffles blend and slim & trim. Their supreme squeezes are called everything from cold fighter and detox to cholesterol reducer, energy blast, the body cleanser and the digestive cocktail.
Donna hopes to attract high school students from nearby Wiregrass and Wharton high schools.
“I hope we get a lot of the high school crowd,” she said. “The obesity among youth is terrible.”
She plans to have a lounge with leather chairs, a flat screen television, Wi-Fi wireless Internet connection as well as outdoor seating.
She will also offer catering.
Hours are Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
For more information call 929-1555.