By Risha Rohera
Contributing Writer
Picking up trays and moving down a line is no longer reserved for school lunches and food courts. Lemonade, the modern cafeteria-style restaurant, uses this unique style with a variety of healthy foods and many unique flavors of lemonade.
After succeeding in seven other locations in Los Angeles, Lemonade will soon bring its health-conscious food to Manhattan Beach. It will be located in Metlox center, in place of Tea Exchange.
“The South Bay has always been on our radar in terms of our development plans,” Chief Operating Officer Ian Olsen said. “The area serves as a tremendous cross-section of both our demographic profile and the high traffic counts.”
Enfolding around the stationary store, Papyrus, Lemonade will have an indoor and outdoor seating area. The menu will include braises, sandwiches, soups, salads and various desserts as well as eight different variations of lemonade.
“It’s healthier [than other cafes], and the food is really delicious,” freshman Taylor Grant said. “I love the lemonades because they’re unique and different. My favorite one is the blueberry mint.”
The Manhattan Beach location will also have a take-out component available for customers who are on the go. It will feature a “to go” picnic basket as well as the availability of all the different fresh-squeezed lemonades.
“One unique aspect of this location is that we will be adding a significant grab-and-go component for all the beach-goers,” Olsen said. “We’ll be serving fresh-squeezed lemonades like watermelon rosemary, ginger peach and blueberry mint as well as ‘to go’ picnic baskets that the local sun-seekers can take with them to the beach.”
In an effort to cater to more of the Los Angeles population, Lemonade will also open up in areas such as Thousand Oaks and LAX Terminal 5.
“The vision of Lemonade is simply to expand,” Pasadena Manager Dion Hurley said. “LAX is going to give us exposure to the entire country. It is really growing.”
Lemonade first opened in 2007 at its locations in downtown Los Angeles and in West Hollywood. After the first two, Lemonade has opened in Venice Beach, Brentwood, Pasadena, the University of Southern California campus and at the MOCA museum entrance in Los Angeles.
“Since the L.A. basin encompasses such a large land and population mass, we see [the opening of the Manhattan Beach location] as simply filling a void and serving a major need of the community,” Olsen said. “Our brand evokes the spirit of a bright, sunny day with a menu complete with colorful ingredients and inventive recipes.”
The restaurant had to tie together four different leases before beginning this project and has focused on the Manhattan Beach location for over a year. Lemonade hopes to open the restaurant mid summer.
“We are hoping to be open by the 4th of July,” Olsen said. “We have a lot of work to do, but that’s the game plan.”
Hurry!!!