Purple Flamingo juice bar opens in North Bellmore
An açaí bowl at Purple Flamingo in North Bellmore comes with a variety of mixed fresh fruit. Credit: Joann Vaglica
North Bellmore has gotten a bit of Caribbean flair with the opening of Purple Flamingo, a small storefront turning out raw juices, smoothies and health-conscious sorbet bowls.
Self-proclaimed “aggressive raw juicer" and former food truck owner Vanessa Laguerre, who came here from Haiti at age 9 with nothing but a backpack, opened the spot with her husband, Ryan McKenna, last month.
The centerpiece of Purple Flamingo’s menu combines fruits and vegetables with spices to make raw juices such as the “Happy Heart,” with red bell peppers, beets, cucumbers, parsley, carrots, celery and lemon, and the “Toxin Flush” that blends celery, pineapple, cucumber and lemon.
For the shop's bowls, customers can choose from gluten free, organic sorbets — acai, pitaya (also known as dragonfruit) or coconut — to be loaded up with fresh fruit like bananas, strawberries, kiwi, mangoes, pineapples, grapes, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. Coconut flakes, chia seeds and a honey drizzle can be added, plus peanut butter or Nutella.
The rest of the menu is devoted to smoothies, fresh-squeezed lemonade and wellness shots (ginger, wheatgrass, “beet it,” “cold killer” and “fat burner”), all of which can be ordered as flights.
Drinks start at $5.50, shots at $4.75 and bowls at $7.50.
The eatery's Island vibes extend to the décor, which features a floor-to-ceiling mural of a purple flamingo, a couple of faux-shrubbery walls and Caribbean music floating through the speakers.
There are a couple of tables — one inside, one outside — and a standing counter, but your best bet is to grab and go.
Purple Flamingo is open Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the rest of the week, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., 1512 Bellmore Ave. in North Bellmore. More info: 516-804-0383, purpleflamingony.com
