Micro-breweries seem to be popping up pretty regularly in Chicago, but a micro-juicery? That's a new one. Enter Peeled, a juice bar that provides artisanal juices and smoothies. Located in the former Jamba Juice space at North and Sheffield, Peeled isn't your standard smoothie joint. Everything here is made fresh and in small batches, right down to the almond and coconut milk. That's right, they are in the back cracking coconuts. Local farmers are utilized whenever possible.
Keith Pegues is the creator of Peeled. A vegetarian for over 20 years, his inspiration came from his own experimentation. The majority of the menu is made up of concoctions that Keith created for himself.
The current menu is divided into three sections: Breakfast Club, Juices-The Liquids, and Smoothies, and the drinks are given pretty clever names. The Girl and the Fig smoothie, after the restaurant in Sonoma, (but doesn't mind the connection to Girl and the Goat) is made with figs, dates, hazelnut milk, raw cacao and Madagascar vanilla. The Cntrl Alt Delete juice "interrupts the operation of a malfunctioning program" with carrot, apple, and ginger. Have a particular drink in mind? No problem. They are happy to create anything as long as the ingredients are on hand. The drinks are one size only, (12 oz for juice, 16 oz for smoothies) the right size for health, not overindulgence.
Pegues will add artisan sandwiches and decadent, hearty salads to the menu this spring. He also plans to expand to different Chicago neighborhoods in the future. Current hours of vegetation? 8 am-8 pm, seven days a week.