Uptown Juice Bar
Restaurant, Coffee/Tea/Juice
$ - inexpensive
American, Caribbean, Soul Food
All-vegan Caribbean and Soul Food in Harlem
Every day the Uptown Juice Bar has 20+ dishes at the counter, which can be purchased a la carte or in a small, medium, or large plate.
The large plate is $9 + tax, which is your choice of 4 dishes.
The choices include several fake meat dishes, such as barbecue chicken drumsticks, and tofu dishes such as Caribbean jerk tofu. Additionally there are numerous side dishes such as kale, candied yams, peas and rice, etc.
Additionally, there are a number of menu items such as pizza and fish and chips that can be ordered individually.
In front is the juice bar which offers dozens of freshly made smoothies and juices, and homemade breads and deserts.
The Uptown Juice Bar is in the heart of the Harlem's commercial district, on 125th Street (aka Martin Luther King Blvd) between Lenox Ave (aka Malcolm X Blvd) and 5th Ave.
The 2 and 3 subway lines let off half a block away, and the ABCD and 456 lines all let off on 125th Street within 3 or 4 blocks.
Added by phavardel on Apr 12 07 (updated Nov 27 07)
Reviews
I love this place! They have amazing fake meats and they know how to make veggies taste good (although I rarely order veggies when I'm there because the fake meats are so good). The portions are really big, so unless you're VERY hungry, you'd be good with a small plate.
Their cheese pizza is good but they always seem to be out of it (as they are with their fabled vegan fish sandwich) but their desserts are horrible. They taste like sweet bread with no icing. I hear they started carrying Vegan Treats cakes so look out for that.
Watch out for their hot sauce. It will kick your ass. I advise you to put it on the side and dip your food in it. I was sweating and could barely breathe last time I had it.
The Uptown Juice Bar is very nice if you like cheap fake meat dishes.
I got a large plate with citrus chicken, BBQ chicken drumsticks, lasagna, and candied yams. The BBQ chicken was wonderful and the portion was generous. The citrus chicken was decent, although nothing special. The lasagna I didn't much care for - it was basically a big pile of ground soy meat covered with a single layer of noodle.
The portions were nice and the large plate was only $9.76 including tax.
I was advised that the deserts are flavorless by a friend, so I didn't try any.
This place is awesome! They have *a lot* of different dishes, and they are all ready to be served! They scoop various dishes into your plate (I think you get 4 different kinds for the big plate). But unlike similar places, the food is not luke warm; it's hot and very very yummy! I also had one of their fresh juices and it was very flavorful!
They have a huge variety of food (maybe 20 + dishes) as well as vegan desserts and other baked stuff. They definitely get points for that.
The front part of the restaurant is really tiny, but at the back they have a seating area. I suggest sitting there and eating your food hot. Even thought the place was super crowded, there was a lot of seating at the back.
It's really close to the train station which was really convenient for me; I wasn't expecting to find a vegan place so close. I would give them a 9 because they only seem to have disposable plates and forks, but they are SO cheap for New York, that I think I'm going to stick to giving them a 10.