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24-Hour Juice Bar Offers Healthy Alternatives for Commuters and Clubgoers

By Katie Honan | July 20, 2015 3:08pm
 Tolgahan Cetinkaya smiles behind the juice bar at Juice N' Beatz on Northern Boulevard, which opened in the beginning of summer 2015.
Tolgahan Cetinkaya smiles behind the juice bar at Juice N' Beatz on Northern Boulevard, which opened in the beginning of summer 2015.
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DNAinfo/Katie Honan

WOODSIDE — A DJ has turned his tiny stand near a busy subway stop into a 24-hour juice bar and fruit cart in an effort to offer locals healthy alternatives.

Juice n’ Beatz sits just steps from the Northern Boulevard M and R station, on the corner of 54th Street near Broadway, at the intersection of two bustling streets.

The stand looks like it would fit on a tropical beach, complete with pineapple displays and stools sitting around the juice bar.

Tolgahan Cetinkaya, 27, who mostly works the overnight shift at Juice n' Beatz, said his friend Ali Ceyhun opened the stand two months ago.

They’re both percussionists from Turkey, said Cetinkaya, adding that Ceyhun also loves electronic music and DJing.

In fact, it was the club scene and its sometimes-negative associations that inspired Ceyhun to open something healthy, starting first with the fruit stand and later with smoothies, fresh-squeezed juices and virgin piña coladas at the stand.

“People usually listen to music and do drugs and alcohol,” Cetinkaya explained, adding that clubgoers can still enjoy music the music without them.

“[Ali] wants to make healthy things and music here.”

But those healthy vibes aren’t always welcomed by the steady late-night crowd that visits Juice n’ Beatz after leaving nearby clubs La Boom and Mamajuana Cafe, Cetinkaya said.

Clubgoers will often stumble to the bar, which is decorated with fake flowers and bright lights, and get excited to see “margarita” and “piña colada” listed on the menu, he said.

When he tells them they're booze-free, their excitement fades. 

“People always ask for the piña colada with liquor, the margarita with liquor, but you can drink it without the liquor,” he said.

Juice n’ Beatz is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, on Northern Boulevard and 54th Street, near Broadway.