Valencia is one of the city's most food-dense streets, but this weekend’s opening of Project Juice is a welcome addition to the neighborhood since it comes with great raw and vegan items, something that's in short supply even with the healthier options in the area. While this is the fourth store for the San Francisco company, it comes with a brand new menu of food items that will also soon be available all the other locations.
If you wander down Valencia from 18th to 19th, you’ll trip over tons of dangerous temptations like pizza, pastries, cheese, chocolate, sushi, and tacos, but if you can make it to the end of the block you’ll find choices that are both nourishing and have satisfying flavor. Project Juice's new pre-prepared meals are all plant-based and change daily. We were impressed by the heft of the kelp noodle Pad Thai and the raw wraps, one a Southwestern burrito and the other a sunflower “tu-no” variety. And a cashew cream filled pillow of a crepe is the stuff of dreams.
There’s also the full product line of cold-pressed juices and wellness shots to go, as well as intriguing new items like Black Magic, a black-colored alkaline water with activated coconut charcoal. One feature that distinguishes this shop from other vegan spots is the superfood smoothie bar, which serves 16-ounce glasses of creations like Sunset Beach (orange juice, almond “mylk,” carrot juice, turmeric juice, ginger juice, mango, pineapple, and strawberry) and Mission Mocha (cold brew coffee, almond mylk, bananas, raw coconut meat, dates, cinnamon, cacao powder, and nibs). The smoothie bar has add-on possibilities like spirulina, hemp seeds, bee pollen, and goji berries.
Though other options on the block scream “instant gratification” to our sugar and grease-addled brains, this is the place with the potential to deliver the best and most noticeable boost to the body right away. And with the closures of Alive in Cow Hollow and Cafe Gratitude in the Mission, raw food is still in short supply in a town where it should be thriving.
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Photos by Tamara Palmer