Nekter Juice Bar opens its doors in Westwood

Nekter Juice Bar opened in Westwood recently in hopes of attracting the business of health-conscious UCLA students.

It opened its doors on Lindbrook Avenue on July 19, a block away from a similar store – Pressed Juicery on Kinross Avenue.

Nekter sells all-natural, vegetable-packed drinks, called “cleanses,” that are meant to flush out toxins in the body with a wave of nutrients. Nekter’s drinks feature a cornucopia of vegetables, including kale, spinach and carrots, along with fruits like lemon and orange.

“We are promoting healthy fast food,” said Lonan Leon, an employee at the Nekter Juice Bar in Westwood. “We want to discourage the (‘freshman 15’),” he said with a smile.

New Nekter locations have been slowly popping up in Southern California since its origin in 2010, with locations already in Santa Monica and West Hollywood.

Nekter also offers several drinks in addition to the “cleanses,” including a three-day, three-drink cleanse that costs $195 at regular price. It can cost up to $300 for a five-day cleanse.

Several customers who stopped by the new Nekter Juice Bar for its grand opening said the cleanses were too expensive and unrealistic for their budgets.

“I’d want to (try one), but I don’t think my mom’s credit card would be too happy with that,” said Melody Kamrani, a local high school student.

Instead, several customers took home 16-ounce blends of fruits and vegetables at a relatively lower $4.75 a pop.

The Juice Bar also offers acai bowls, smoothies and specialty drinks like wheatgrass shots.

Bob Cohan, a Westwood resident sporting gym shoes and black shorts, said he prefers the Nekter Juice Bar over other smoothie and juice shops that can be dense and unhealthy by comparison.