Rockin' Roots, the family-run café on Hillsdale Avenue known for its cold-pressed juices, smoothies and healthy eats, will close its doors for good after seven years in business. Owners Michael and Diana Merida announced that the café will serve customers for the final time on Saturday, Sept. 26.
The couple opened Rockin' Roots with the goal of serving healthy, chef-created food at a fair price, according to DailyVoice.com. The café sits directly opposite the Hillsdale NJ Transit train station, a spot chosen for its visibility along a busy commuter corridor, per Best of NJ. It first launched in late September 2019 in a 16-seat storefront that had previously housed Fashion Camp, a program where the Meridas' daughter had once been a student.
Over the years, the shop became woven into the fabric of the Pascack Valley community. Generations of local students worked behind the counter, including the Meridas' own daughter, the couple said, per the DailyVoice.com report. The café served cold-pressed juices, smoothies, acai bowls, coffee, salads, soups and baked goods, all built around fresh, mostly organic ingredients, house-made fruit purees, coconut yogurt and nut butter.
A Chef With Michelin Pedigree Behind the Counter
Michael Merida is an award-winning executive chef whose résumé reads more like a fine-dining tasting menu than a suburban juice bar. Before opening Rockin' Roots, he trained and cooked at some of the world's most celebrated kitchens, including The Fat Duck in England, El Bulli in Spain, RyuGin in Japan and Le Bernardin in New York, according to Westwood Patch. He also helped develop several well-known North Jersey restaurants, including Mezza in Westwood, Cravings Tapas Bistro in Ridgewood and Montclair Social Club, per Boozy Burbs.
Merida's national profile grew in February 2020, when he defeated Bobby Flay on Food Network's Beat Bobby Flay, becoming the first New Jersey chef to win on the show, according to Pascack Press. He won the final round with smoked cod croquettes judged by Martha Stewart and Richard Blais. Beyond the win, Merida's shift toward whole-food, plant-based cooking traces back to a life-threatening health crisis following a routine appendectomy in February 2018, which required removing 30 inches of his intestines and reconstructing his stomach.
Weekend Tasting Menus Set the Café Apart
While most days at Rockin' Roots revolved around grab-and-go juices, smoothies and bowls, the café also hosted multi-course weekend chef's tasting menus for up to 25 guests, according to Best of NJ. Those plant-centric dinners gave a small commuter-town storefront an unexpected fine-dining touch, a reflection of Merida's background in some of the world's most demanding kitchens.
The Meridas did not give a specific reason for the closure beyond calling it a difficult decision, the DailyVoice.com report noted. They said they will miss Rockin' Roots and its customers, and plan to continue living in the community they served. The couple added that they hope to see their regulars again down the road.
Final Days and What Comes Next
Chef Michael was set to be at the café Monday and Tuesday ahead of the closing, with Saturday, Sept. 26, marking the last day of business. Merida remains active in the local food scene: in October 2024, he expanded into neighboring Westwood by opening Craft Taco Co. inside the historic Five Corners building, according to Pascack Press.
The closure also lands amid a broader wave of independent restaurant shutdowns across Bergen County this year, with long-standing spots like Village Green in Ridgewood and Justin's II in Wood-Ridge citing high food costs, labor shortages and tight margins, according to Patch. For Pascack Valley residents, though, Rockin' Roots' final weekend is less about industry trends and more about one last smoothie run before a neighborhood fixture disappears from across the tracks.
