A smoothie and juice chain has planted its first Virginia flag in Alexandria, opening a Fresh Healthy Cafe location in the Carlyle neighborhood this week at 2040 Jamieson Avenue, near the Westin hotel and the U.S. District Courthouse. The spot takes over a space that previously housed a Starbucks, giving the fast-casual health food brand a foothold in a part of the city thick with office workers and hotel guests.
The new cafe is currently in a soft opening, according to ALXnow, which first reported on the Jamieson Avenue opening. The business arrives months after plans for the location first surfaced; back in June, alxnow.com reported that franchise owner Vijay Balusu had submitted a special use permit request to transform the former Starbucks space, with a proposal calling for 12 indoor seats and four outdoor seats inside a 1,100-square-foot restaurant.
City records tied to the address back up the idea that ownership changed hands there: a City of Alexandria planning page lists an administrative special use permit, SUP2026-00023, covering a change of ownership for outdoor dining associated with a restaurant at 2040 Jamieson Avenue, in a zone designated CDD-1, or Coordinated Development District #1. The Alexandria business is operated by Fresh Healthy Restaurants DMV LLC, which is represented by Balusu, the article notes.
What's on the Menu
Fresh Healthy Cafe serves smoothies, juices, protein bowls and grilled sandwiches, per the seed report. The Alexandria location's offerings include fresh-squeezed juices, protein bowls, paninis and cold drinks, along with seasonal items like a cranberry brie harvest toastie and a pumpkin spice smoothie. The menu also lists Refresh juice cleanses — one-, two- or three-day cleanses and resets — as coming soon.
That lineup tracks with how the brand has described itself elsewhere. Planned menu items at the Alexandria cafe include smoothies, fresh-squeezed juice, bowls, paninis, coffee, tea and snacks, according to alexandriabrief.com, which also reported that the public comment period on the permit application ran through July 9. Nationally, the chain's offerings emphasize smoothies, fresh-squeezed juices and meal choices including protein bowls, wraps, salads, paninis and soups, according to fastcasual.com.
Inside the Carlyle Space
Inside, the Alexandria cafe has seating for about 20 people, with two small outdoor tables and chairs out front. Those numbers mark a shift from the original proposal filed with the city months earlier, which called for just 12 indoor seats and four outdoor seats with hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Alexandria location is now open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and closed on Sundays.
A Husband-and-Wife Franchise Story
Fresh Healthy Cafe was founded in Toronto, Canada, in 2001, and the brand has grown through franchising across the U.S. and Canada since then. Reports differ on exactly how large that footprint has become: alxnow.com reported there were 15 Fresh Healthy Cafes across the U.S. and Canada before the Virginia location, while fastcasual.com separately reported the chain has about 30 locations. The Alexandria opening fits a pattern described in the seed report, which notes the brand has more than a dozen locations across Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio and Canada.
Much of that U.S. growth traces back to Rick Hetzel and Cheryl Mothes, who started Fresh Healthy Cafe in Missouri in 2019. Mothes is a former nurse with a doctorate in holistic nutrition, according to the company's website. Hetzel told Franchise Dictionary Magazine that he and Mothes teamed up to provide community health resources, and the pair went on to open a second Missouri location in 2022, according to fastcasual.com.
More Expansion on the Way
The Carlyle opening won't be the chain's only regional debut. Fresh Healthy Cafe is also planning to open a location soon in Washington, D.C.'s Mount Vernon Triangle neighborhood, and alxnow.com separately reported in June that another Fresh Healthy Cafe location was planned for northwest D.C. Between the Alexandria debut and the coming D.C. locations, the smoothie chain is clearly betting on the Washington region as its next growth market.
