Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Dave Allen (left) and Tom Burwell, owners of Juice It!, pour a couple of smoothies.

Fruits and veggies go down smooth at new Juice It! bar

By Suzanne Cristallo

If you blinked, you missed the closing of Nectar's and the opening of Tom and Dave's Juice It! in Los Gatos. Wheat-grass and fruit-juice smoothie aficionados who have frequented the W. Main Street location in the past need only walk in to see the place has a new personality. It now looks like the inside of an orange.

The message is big: eat your fruits and vegetables! That's what owners Tom Burwell and Dave Allen, both 29, stress to the communities they choose for their stores. Los Gatos is their third opening. The first was in the Noe Valley neighborhood of San Francisco in 1996; the second was in Berkeley a year ago. Both were hits, Tom says, especially with school kids in the areas.

"What makes us different from other juice bars is we choose locations for their community involvement," says Tom, who, with Dave, plans to address students in local schools on the importance of healthful eating--namely fruits and vegetables. They know Los Gatos is populated with people receptive to that premise. "We also stress to students the importance of following their dreams and that what interests them now could be a part of the rest of their lives."

A nice touch in line with their philosophy is the small turquoise table and chairs placed in the new store for seating children. It is the painting workmanship of 10-year-old Melissa, a Los Gatos student who happened to poke her head in the door during one of the 17 days Tom and Dave had for remodeling before opening. The resulting conversation revealed that Melissa liked to paint small furniture. The partners decided to show her how an interest like that could become a way to make a living. She's even providing brochures.

Tom of Menlo Park and Dave of Mill Valley have known each other since they were students on the tennis team at UC-Davis. "At first we hated each other, and the coach got wind of it, so he made us play doubles together," Tom recalls. "We ended up liking each other and became a doubles team." They went on to win the NCAA doubles tournament and the team championship. After graduation--Tom in economics and Dave in rhetoric and communication--the duo played the professional circuit, living on fast food in Third World countries where they toured.

"All of this evolved because a fellow tennis player used to carry his own juicer with him. We admired him and thought maybe what he was eating was having an impact on his playing," Tom smiles. At any rate, tennis has had an impact on the menu.

There are Orange Overhead, Frosty Drop Shot, Super Serve and Forty-Love smoothies, along with 32 other fruit and vegetable combinations from which to choose. Meanwhile, expect to hear a lot from Tom and Dave. They like to know their customers by name and want to provide them with an "uplifting experience."

"The reason people come in is to get perked up for the day," Tom muses. "They live in a hectic world, so we rub 'em up, pat 'em on the back and send 'em off to work!"

Tom and Dave's Juice It!, 81 W. Main St., Los Gatos. Open Mon.-Fri. 7 a.m.-8 p.m., Sat. and Sun. 8 a.m.-8 p.m. 395-2333.

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