"We are a bar on the South Side," Jackie Day acknowledges, "but we don't contribute to the trouble" plaguing Pittsburgh's bar district. If anything, "We help aid in the next day's recovery."
Day owns The Enchanted Garden, a garden shop and juice bar located just off East Carson Street. "People walk by and don't know what this is," says Day. But those who venture inside will find a café area in back, furnished with lava lamps and a drop ceiling painted to match the sky. And they'll find Day herself, who whips up more than a dozen smoothies and juices with names like "Orange Yinz Thirsty" and "Incredible Hulk."
Ingredients range from acai berries and carrots to beets and kale. (Yes, kale. "I don't eat much kale," says Day, "but added to an Incredible Hulk, it's amazing." Your correspondent, also not a kale fan, can attest to its palatability: The smoothie tastes of nothing so much as coconut.) Prices start at $3.50.
Day began selling juices in September, serving a neighborhood whose customer base includes a nearby yoga studio, the offices of WYEP and the occasional visiting metal band. And Day is one of her own best customers: "For the past 10 days, I've been on a diet of vegetarian chili and juice," she says.
She's not the only person on the South Side living on a liquid diet. But she's probably one of the few who feels better off the next day.
