They wanted local, sustainable food that tastes great. Their answer? This smoothie shop

The future of health conscious eating is here.

Enter Raw Republic Micro Juicery to get a quick fix of vegan, non-dairy, mostly raw fare, juices and smoothies. The owners are two brothers, Jesse and Jordan Gimelstein and their cousin Zack Stein. The brothers grew up in Aventura with their parents running a pizzeria on Miami Beach.

They practice what they preach, finding improved energy through juicing and eating vegan. Nutritionist and raw food chef Jessica Nasser created the menu. This “raw republic” family aims for local, sustainable food that tastes great. Regulars drive 30 miles or more to pick up orders they call in.

Start with a juice, shot, smoothie or smoothie bowl

Eight-ounce juices are all cold pressed and have a shelf life of 3 days if not gulped down at once.

There’s Crazy Carrot with pineapple, orange and ginger. Purple Paradise blends acai, strawberry, pineapple, orange and chia seeds. And the 8 Wonders includes green apple, cucumber, and leafy greens with ginger and lemon.

Shots include straight ginger and the Cure Me with turmeric, ginger, coconut water and honey. Smoothies combine fruits and greens with almond milk, oats and coconut.

Or get a smoothie bowl. Try the magenta-tinted Pretty in Pink Bowl with a dragon fruit, blended with coconut water and banana topped with banana slices, dried coconut flakes and flax seeds drizzled in honey. Or go with the Hawaiian Punch. This is a puree of acai, berries, banana, almond milk and pineapple with dried coconut, pineapple and goji berries.

Grab these to go

There’s a fridge case with prepackaged fare for those on the fly.

Pick up a Guru Patty made with tri-color quinoa, red bell pepper, carrot and onion with curry. The same mixture is also rolled up in toasted nori as “sushi”.

The Fiesta Burger is formed from sprouted brown rice, walnuts and oat flour with sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, onion and corn. As a wrap, the mixture comes with avocado, spinach, tomato, red cabbage and vegan “nacho cheese” in a whole wheat tortilla.

Spiralized zucchini noodles are used to make moringa marinara with nut and seed “meatballs.” Cashew-hemp “Parmesan” Pad Thai is made with kelp noodles, tossed in peanut dressing with marinated vegetables, sprouts and cashews. Tuna salad is made from mashed chickpeas with cashew mayonnaise, celery, lemon and golden berries. Avocado toast is on Zak the Baker bread with the house everything seed mix.

Save room for a sweet treat

If you like raw cookie dough you will love the cinnamon rolls filled with a sweet date cinnamon paste. There’s also almond butter cups topped with a fudgy layer of cacao and coconut oil. Key lime parfait comes with chia seeds, coconut cream, avocado, spinach, palm sugar and granola.

Hidden Gems highlights out-of-the-way restaurants in Miami-Dade County. It is not intended to be an anonymous, critical review.

Raw Republic

Address: 20804 Biscayne Blvd., Aventura

Contact: 305-705-4226, drinkrawrepublic.com

Hours: Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m.-7 p.m.

Prices: Juice shots $4, juices/smoothies $5-$10, smoothie bowls $12, grab and go food $6-$12

F.Y.I. Another location is at 14871 Biscayne Boulevard in Biscayne Commons, 305-957-5226

This story was originally published April 3, 2019 at 11:30 AM.