“I make tastes of home with authentic flavor, but without the meat and dairy,” said Juicy’s Wellness Café owner Mary Beth Laxson.
She does it well. Her Rutherford County fans have long trucked over to her original location in McMinnville to get the little taste of heaven that they have come to expect, and are excited that she has opened a location in Murfreesboro. Juicy’s Wellness Café in Murfreesboro, located at 2314 Medical Center Pkwy Suite A-2, celebrated its grand opening on May 4th.
“People think that we are a juice bar,” said Laxson, “but we are more food that juice. We offer wraps, sandwiches, soup, salads, burgers, and of course juices.”
Some of their fabulous foods include customer favorites, the White Bean Avocado Club, which is mashed white beans, greens, avocado, cucumber, red onions, and tomatoes on marbled whole wheat bread with ranch dressing; the Southwest Crunch Wrap, made of fresh corn, black beans, greens, tomatoes, avocado, red onion, rice mixture, and tortilla strips in a tomato basil wrap; and the Peggy Sue, named after Laxson’s mentor, sporting ranch dressing, greens, fresh corn, and tomatoes on marbled wheat bread.
Her soups offer a blend of flavor sensations, like the Sweet Potato Tortilla, which the website describes as “…offering [everyone’s] favorite Southwest flavors with medium heat and lots of love.”
Laxson discovered plant-based eating after going through cancer treatment that left her without a thyroid and caused her to have a heart attack. When it came back, she decided to try a better way. She had been in home healthcare for many years, and had a patient who was 80 but didn’t look it. This was Perry Sue.
“She was amazing,” said Laxson. “I asked her about how she managed to stay so young looking. She told me that it was a plant-based diet. I decided to follow her lead and change my diet for six months to see what would happen to my cancer. I asked the doctors to hold off on the second round of chemotherapy. In six-months my tumors were half the size they had been. In a year, they were all gone. I felt so good, I wanted to share.”
The results were so startling that doctors wanted to try it. And then patients. Laxson started selling her tasty treats out of the back of her car, and then at the McMinnville and Murfreesboro Farmer’s Markets. Eventually, she opened her first brick and mortar store on the square in McMinnvile. The rest is history.
“Being in Murfreesboro is a dream come true,” said Laxzon. And the people here have been so accepting.”
Her staff in Murfreesboro is headed by friend, Rebecca Warner. Laxson says that the Murfreesboro team just felt right when they all got together.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people working here,” added Laxson.
Laxson doesn’t call her menu a diet option, but rather a lifestyle change. When she started, she admits to chasing people down to get them to try her food. But when they tasted it, they were sold. And they start to feel better, too.
“Disease cures are really all about prevention,” said Laxson. “One doctor I have worked with once told me that if everyone was as preventative as I am, he wouldn’t have a job.”
Juicy’s Wellness Cafe
2314 Medical Center Pkwy Suite A-2, Murfreesboro
Hours: Monday – Saturday 10am – 7pm; closed on Sundays
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