1 of 6
Ms. Bee's Juice Bar owner Brandi Brown will debut a second location at The Valentine museum on April 5. In December, Brown won The Main Course competition, which awarded her two years rent free at The Valentine's cafe space.
2 of 6
Brown says the new space will offer an expanded menu with more grab-and-go items.
3 of 6
Upon opening, Ms. Bee's Juice Bar & Cafe will offer socially distanced indoor dining, in addition to outdoor seating.
4 of 6
A mural by local artist Jason Ford of Nosaj Authentics; the original Ms. Bee’s is home to a mural of bees and echinacea flowers, also by Ford.
5 of 6
Outdoor seating at the cafe
6 of 6
The patio entrance to Ms. Bee's
In a little over a year, what began as a dream on a vision board for Brandi Brown, owner of Ms. Bee’s Juice Bar, has blossomed into a fruitful reality — times two.
Last December, approaching the first anniversary of opening her original location on Brookland Park Boulevard, Brown entered The Main Course on a whim and won. The competition, presented by the Richmond Metropolitan Business League (MBL) in partnership with The Valentine museum and Richmond Black Restaurant Experience, was open to food truck vendors, restaurateurs, catering companies and other minority-owned food businesses and awarded the winner two years of rent-free space at The Valentine.
“This opportunity was unexpected, it was such a surprise to me,” the Richmond native says. “I knew I wanted to expand the [juice] bar, but it had to make sense."
On Monday, April 5, Brown will debut Ms. Bee’s Juice Bar & Cafe at The Valentine at 1015 E. Clay St., featuring her signature cold-pressed juices and smoothies, along with an extended version of the sister shop's menu that caters to the downtown lunch crowd, including grab-and-go items such as sandwiches and soups.
While Brown already had her sights on a second juice bar, she says it was her mother, Leigh Battle, who initially pushed her to enter the Main Course competition.
“She called me and told me about the competition — that was on a Monday,” Brown says. On Tuesday, Battle reminded her daughter of the approaching deadline, and then two days later she showed up at the North Side juice bar and told her daughter, “ ‘Brandi, this is an opportunity. I can see it for you, I think you should be there,’ ” Brown recalls.
With time running out, Brown completed the application, but she still had to record and enter a video pitch. The morning of the competition deadline, a regular — who also happens to be a videographer — walked into the store carrying his equipment. Brown asked if he would help, and with seven minutes to spare, Brown submitted her entry.
“The morning [of the competition] I said, ‘If it’s for me, I will have it,’” says Brown, 42, who faced off against North Side neighbor Nomad Deli & Catering Co. and Lady Sharon’s Soul Food Kitchen in mid-December. A panel of judges, including this author, declared Brown the winner after a final cooking contest.
When Brown saw the cafe space for the first time, she says there was an empty bee-shaped canister on the counter — it felt like a sign.
"I was like, 'I feel comfortable in this space, I really think this is for me,' ” she says. "I really put my all into it, and here I am."
Brown recently invested in a cold-press juicer by Good Nature, and she says it will allow her both to ramp up juice production and offer customers the best product possible.
“There’s no heat press, so the juice is cleaner and doesn’t separate, no pulp — you’re getting 99% of nutrients,” she says.
Upon opening, Brown will introduced a new juice dubbed The Heart Beet, featuring oranges, beets, ginger and green apple. Other menu items exclusive to this location include a turkey club and panini, along with a vegan-friendly V.L.T. sandwich.
A big component of Ms. Bee’s is education, and Brown says she’s excited to establish relationships with new customers and take advantage of the outdoor patio at the cafe to host yoga classes, workshops and vendors. Brown is also currently working on selling her juices wholesale to potential clients including Lamplighter Coffee Roasters.
“I’m really excited to see what 2021 holds for me, and each year I’m getting better at what I do,” she says. “This is an amazing opportunity, and I really appreciate Bill [Martin, director of The Valentine] collaborating with the Metropolitan Business League and giving me this opportunity to be greater than I am,” she says.
