A 100 percent plant-based eatery will be opening at 464 Newark Street in Hoboken soon. With a location already operating in Newark, Vegbar Juicery’s owners Mel Vaughn and Binta Forrest shared with Hoboken Girl how the Hudson County location will be different. Read on for more details about Vegbar Plant-Based Kitchen and Juice Bar in Hoboken and what to expect.
The Background
Hoboken and Jersey City residents might have spotted Vegbar’s pop-up in the past when it originally had started making appearances at the Garden Street Farmers’ Market in Hoboken and the Van Vorst Park Farmers’ Market in Jersey City back in 2014.
(Photo credit: @vegbarjuicery)
Co-owner Mel Vaughn tells Hoboken Girl why he and his partner, Binta Forrest, are now making Hoboken their official home. “We’ve always been in the Hoboken area and a lot of people got to know us from the Farmers’ Market. We just feel like it’s an area that’s pretty cool and a lot of people in that area like what we serve and they always ask, ‘Are you guys going to have a place in Hoboken?’” Vaughn shares.
“We said, ‘We’re going to put one here for you guys one day.’ So we fulfilled that promise … It took us a while but we never gave up looking and we just stumbled on this space and jumped right on it and got to work.”
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Vegbar’s flagship location in downtown Newark opened in 2019 at 969 Raymond Boulevard. Vaughn shares how that space came about: “They offered us a space there because they wanted to provide something more healthy and vegan options for the employees. It’s like 10,000 employees in the [Blue Cross Blue Shield] building.”
Mel adds, “We got so popular there that we now were able to come back to Hoboken and do all vegan. We’ve been trying for years to find a space in Hoboken.”
(Photo credit: @vegbarjuicery)
The Menu
As the downtown Hoboken location is set to open very soon, the owners provided Hoboken Girl readers with an insight into what the menu will consist of. We’re told it’s going to be “separate” from the Vegbar Juicery.
“We have two brands: the Vegbar Juicery, which is the Newark location — that’s vegan-friendly, so it’s 95 percent vegan. The Vegbar Plant-Based Kitchen, which is the one in Hoboken, that is going to be 100 percent vegan,” Vaughn says.
Regardless of the locations’ menus being different, the family-owned business’s goal is to provide their customers with a fresh, healthy, and organic menu.
“It’s pretty much a full-service juice bar with a full food menu. It is plant-based so it’s really going to give a variety of different stuff for everyone … [with there being] gluten-free options as well,” co-owner Binta Forrest, a vegetarian herself, says.
(Photo Ccedit: @vegbarjuicery)
The soon-to-launch menu consists of empanadas, burritos “with a Jamaican flare”, veggie burgers, wraps (such as the vegan jerk chick’n tacos, spicy hummus, and cauliflower rice black bean burrito), air baked fries, hummus, smoothie bowls, organic juices, smoothies, shakes, and specialty vegan baked goods.
“We have 30 supplements that people can add into their drinks, their smoothies, their bowls — we have a lot!” Forrest adds.
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Per the website, the “most liked items” from the Newark location are the quesadilla Sedona, black bean burrito, and the island banana punch shake. Only time will tell if these also become Hoboken’s favorite menu items.
The Grand Opening
We’ve exclusively learned that the grand opening of Vegbar will take place on Saturday, June 26th from 12PM to 8PM.
During the first three hours of opening, from 12PM to 3PM, the owners have decided to treat the eager customers by handing out free vegan soft serve ice cream (click here for a sneak peek video!).
^ Inside Vegbar’s new Hoboken location
Similar to the Newark location, Vegbar Hoboken will be available for pickup and delivery via the UberEats and DoorDash app. Hours of operation will be announced upon opening.
In addition to the storefront locations, Vegbar can be seen around town in its very own all-green food truck and cart, which per the website, caters to on-site private events and large-scale events like festivals.
For more information, visit Vegbar’s website, and follow the shop on Instagram here.
