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For those who thought urban hipsterism was confined to Richmond’s city limits, North End Juice Co.’s second location along Midlothian Turnpike seems determined to prove them wrong.

The mini-fridge next to the service counter is stocked with La Croix canned water and San Pellegrino soda. “Chill Out Babe” is scrawled on a wall in white neon lighting, surrounded by striking murals. Even avocado toast – that open-faced sandwich that’s somehow become a symbol for millennial culture – has found a place on the menu.

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The casual cafe opened just eight months ago and may be as modern as they come, but it’s actually been decades in the making. As kids, owner Channing Miller and his brother Cliff spent a lot of time working at their mother’s bakery, the original Incredible Edibles in Virginia Beach.

“We grew up in her bakery,” says Channing Miller, sitting in North End’s Chesterfield location in The Shops at the Arboretum. “We’ve been in the food and beverage industry since we were 12.”

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Following years spent living in Costa Rica, Miami and Palm Beach, Florida, Miller decided to establish the first North End Juice Co. in Richmond’s Museum District while helping his mother open her second bakery location there. After the bakery was up and running, Miller flew back to his house in Palm Beach, grabbed his juicer and blender, and opened the first North End Juice Co. a week and a half later in December 2016, adjacent to his mother’s business.

“I saw that there was a major need for this kind of food” in the area, says the 30-year-old, who enlisted his brother Cliff to help with operating the walk-up juice bar and eatery. Miller now splits his time between Richmond and Virginia Beach. He says, “People have taken a liking to it: healthy fast food.”

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At first the company just made a few juices, smoothies, breakfast burritos and biscuits and gravy. Since then, the menu has expanded to include salads, wraps, flatbreads and, yes, even avocado toast. North End’s take on the millennial staple includes garlic hummus, red onion, cherry tomatoes, microgreens and black sesame seeds on a toasted French batard. Another standout is North End’s yellowfin tuna poke bowl, a raw fish salad served atop sushi rice with pickled cucumbers, avocado, mango and seaweed.

Portions of the menu shift with the season, with more soup and grilled cheese offerings during fall and winter. Every item on the menu can be modified to become vegan, and the Chesterfield location features a “knowledge board” to help unpack the health benefits of ingredients like acai berry and chia seeds. The menu offers eight different fresh-pressed juices, or customers can make their own, choosing up to five ingredients. A popular one is the Greengo, made of cucumber, spinach, apple, celery, lemon and ginger. North End also serves eight smoothie options and smoothie bowls – sliced fruit, seeds and nuts arranged on a smoothie base.

Miller learned of the space that would become the company’s Midlothian location through a family friend. Following some renovations, that eatery opened in November of last year, complete with indoor seating.

“This side of town doesn’t have anything like this,” says Miller. “We wanted to bring some good food, some good, healthy ingredients.”

Drawing a lunch crowd from both the nearby offices of the Arboretum and the Gold’s Gym a few doors down, Miller says North End hasn’t had a problem gaining regulars. “Lunch here is wild,” Miller says. “Between 11 and 2, this place is a madhouse.”

The Miller family also opened an ice cream shop next to its Museum District location a year ago called North End Market, making fresh gelato, ice cream and superfood sorbet. Luther Burger, a recently opened burger and shake joint attached to Sugar Shack Donuts on Courthouse Road, uses more than 20 gallons of their vegan vanilla ice cream a week.

In August, the Millers plan to open a North End Juice Co. location in Virginia Beach’s Hilltop area. Miller says part of their success has been due to creating a good work environment for his employees.

“Everyone is happy that works here,” he says. “They’re eating good, and we treat them well. I think that resonates with our customers as well.” ¦

North End Juice Co. is located at 9101 Midlothian Turnpike. Phone: 562-0952

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