Friday, April 19, 2024

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021615i-Liquiteria

The Liquiteria juice and cleanse chain has eyes on Harvard Square for its sixth location, and its first outside of New York.

The company is one of the pioneers in the pricey cold-pressed craze for juices and smoothies made of fruits and vegetables – it opened in Manhattan’s East Village all the way back in 1996 – and over the years has expanded into gluten- and dairy-free quinoa bowls that sound like limited competition to Central Square’s Life Alive.

Peanut Butter Acai Bowl

Among the Liquiteria’s food options are the desertlike Peanut Butter Acai Bowl. (Photos: Liquiteria)

The food menu is far simpler, though, with just a handful of bowls for $7.50 to $9.50, salads from $7.50 (with grains) to $15 (with wild salmon) and breakfast pastry from $4 to $5.50. As the name suggests, at Liquiteria the focus is on liquids, with creative smoothies costing between $7 and $9 and fresh-pressed juices typically $8 to $8.75.

The sign announcing Liquiteria’s appearance Nov. 20 before the Board of Zoning Appeals gives the shop’s address as 1430 Massachusetts Ave., but it appears in the papered windows of the square’s former Body Shop location, which sold soap and spa goods at 1440 Massachusetts Ave. There is still a Body Shop at the CambridgeSide Galleria mall, and Harvard Square has an Origins shop around the corner of Brattle Street.

While the Boston Tea Stop on JFK Street might satisfy some looking for smoothies, Liquiteria’s closest real competition is in Kendall Square, where Mother Juice open in September to sell organic, cold-pressed juice and raw vegan snacks at 625 W. Kendall St.