Juice Up Cafe is worth the squeeze

Rafiq Lalander missed the taste of fresh fruit juices from back home in Afghanistan when he moved to the United States.

He said he saw many stores using frozen fruit and other supplements, which couldn’t compare to the original fruit taste. With help on recipes from a family friend who owned a juice shop back home, Lalander and a friend opened Juice Up Cafe in downtown Frederick. The cafe offers a variety of fresh menu items made from fruit delivered to the store regularly, from solo fruit juices to blends to hot saffron tea and Turkish coffee, or try their fresh lemonade.

If you want to power up with some greens, the store’s Detoxer drink is made from spinach, kale, mango, pineapple, ginger and banana. Their most popular items, according to Lalander, are the Mango Blast and Strawberry Sunrise beverages. Along with drinks, the store also sells a few food items, including muffins, cheesecake and mixed nuts. Lalander said a lot of people from the large Afghan community in Virginia drive down to the store looking for that taste of home in their fresh juices.

If you’re looking for fresh juice, with sweeteners optional, then look no further than Juice Up Cafe!

— Marwa Barakat