I’ll admit it. When I heard I was assigned to write a review, I wasn’t that excited. I would be going to some restaurant/movie/bakery that I’d probably seen before. Probably some place that could be described as either ‘quaint’ or ‘modern’.
Therefore, I was a little shocked at what I found when I chose to review Ruby Jean’s Juicery in Westport.
Ruby Jean’s can’t be described as quaint or modern. I would describe it as zen, despite its city center location. Surrounded by vape and hookah shops, I didn’t expect to find a small, hidden garden behind Ruby Jean’s.
So the environment was perfect. Green, red and yellow frames covered the white walls. Art by kids from local schools popped up in different places. And a door that led down to a small outdoor patio in the center of the building, where peppers and basil were growing and small tables sat. A make-shift herb garden hung on a trellis along a wall in one corner and potted plants circled the entire patio. A patch of blue sky was visible overhead, but the juicery circling the patio was tall enough to blockade any possible view of the street.
Unfortunately, the juice wasn’t as great, but I’ll start out with the good stuff. The “Ruby Jean’s Lemonade” my sister got for $5 was delicious. As its only description was “healthy”, we weren’t really sure what to expect. What we got was an outwardly normal looking lemonade, that was actually flavored with honey and hints of ginger. My sister’s only complaint was that she was thirsty afterwards because it was so rich.
The acai bowl I got, which is like a smoothie of acai berries placed in a bowl, mixed with granola and topped with fruit, $7.50 and the Green Dream smoothie my sister’s friend got for $6.75 were both fairly underwhelming for such a high price. The smoothie in the bowl was supposed to have acai berry, an exotic fruit, in it, but the only thing I could taste was banana. The granola in it, however, was crunchy enough to set off the bland banana taste. The Green Dream had kale, spinach, pineapple, kiwi, agave, yogurt and green apple in it. It was also, unfortunately, overwhelmingly sweet.
But the worst was the Citrus Detox, a mix of lemon, grapefruit, orange and ginger juice, which we bought for $6.75. “It’s like drinking acid,” as my friend described. “I’m kind of afraid as to what this is doing to my insides.”
Maybe we were uninformed as to what a ‘detox’ drink was and should have prepared ourselves more, but this was a fairly horrific experience. We couldn’t taste the fruits, only the acid and the overwhelming amounts of spicy ginger.
Overall, we may have just chosen the wrong juices. The Citrus Detox probably isn’t for someone who’s not used to detoxing and the Green Dream is only for fans of really sweet drinks. Ruby Jean’s also makes their own protein balls, sweet potato brownies and lots of other smoothies and juices. I’d definitely recommend going to check it out, even if it’s just to see this quirky, out-of-place shop.
