A new food establishment Very Juice will be coming to the Village of Great Neck Plaza this spring, serving up healthy dishes on Middle Neck Road.
“It’s basically a clean way to eat lunch, breakfast and some people enjoy having it for dinner also,” store owner Mindel Chaya Aranoff said.
The village’s board of trustees approved a conditional-use permit Wednesday night for incoming business Very Juice, a franchise health food establishment that serves more than just juice.
Alongside a diverse selection of juices, the kosher restaurant also serves smoothies, salads, paninis and much more.
Very Juice is a casual dining experience, with customers ordering at the counter and being able to enjoy their meal in the restaurant or take it to-go.
The franchise encompasses three other locations, including two in Brooklyn and one in Lawrence.
Aranoff operates the Very Juice located in Lawrence and will be opening the franchise’s fourth location in Great Neck Plaza at 32 Middle Neck Road.
She said she has been operating the Lawrence location for a year and a half, and that she plans to split her time between both locations.
The incoming Very Juice will be located on Middle Neck Road where Bare Burger was previously located.
Aranoff said the setup of the restaurant will remain the same as Bare Burger, with renovations exclusive to aesthetics.
Very Juice will be open six days a week and closed on Saturdays, starting to serve customers early in the morning and through the late afternoon.
Aranoff said her goal is to open the Great Neck Plaza Very Juice after Passover, aiming for early May.
In other news, the board OK’d a local law that would allow the village to exceed the real property tax cap – a formality preceding the village’s adoption of a 2024-2025 budget.
The law passed Wednesday night does not determine that the board will be exceeding the tax cap, rather it permits them to do so later on if necessary.
Village Clerk-Treasurer Patricia O’Byrne said the village had adopted such a law every year for the past eight years just in case it is necessary to exceed the tax cap despite never actually exceeding it. She said the tax cap is set at 2%.
If the village’s adopted budget does not go over the tax cap, O’Byrne said the board will then vote to repeal the law that permits them to do so.
“So we just do this in case when we adopt our budget we end up having to go over the tax cap,” O’Byrne said.
The board also is discussing changes to its commercial filming fees which Mayor Ted Rosen said is due to an increase in filming requests in the village.
No vote was taken on the filming fees nor any discussion on what the board would be implementing, but it will be discussed further and potentially face a vote at the board’s next meeting.
The village will be hosting a discussion panel on Jan. 11 titled “United Against Hate,” which will focus on uniting the community in standing against hatred and bigotry. The panel will begin at 7:30 p.m. and be held at the village hall.
Rosen said community members are invited to attend but will have to RSVP due to limited space. He said additional information about the event and registering to attend will be announced soon.
The Great Neck Plaza Board of Trustees will convene again at 7 p.m. on Jan. 17.
