Juice and Moor offers something unique to Garnett

Feb. 2—HENDERSON — It takes five years for a business to get the kind of foot traffic it wants, they say.

Since opening in 2019, Juice and Moor has hit a "perfect flow," said co-owner Alim ElBey. If things got any more hectic, they would have trouble getting items delivered via their online business.

Speaking of items — Juice and Moor is, perhaps, a modest name.

The large shop a diverse array of incenses along the right side of their sizable, open space, right next to a small bookstore with nearly every genre, along with some clothing options near the back.

All along the left side are shelves loaded with color-coded decorations, creating the full spectrum of color. Following that rainbow leads customers to a collection of crystals and minerals — pyrite cubes, amethyst pyramids, that sort of thing — before the expansive herb collection in the back left, which is right next to Juice and Moor's tour de force — its menu.

Their most popular offerings by far are their smoothies and vegan menu. The raw lentil burgers and vegan pizza are their best-selling items — and the reason they're ranked five stars on Google, said co-owner Khadirah ElBey. They pride themselves on that — their motto, after all, is "Healthy Henderson."

They trained under a good teacher — Saa'Shalom, a big name in the world of raw vegan cuisine who operates Rawtopian Bliss down in Columbia, South Carolina. Her lessons on how to find good vegan ingredients were instrumental in getting the business off the ground, said Alim.

Alim swears by his vegan diet — it has alleviated both his high blood pressure and diabetes that he was diagnosed with in 2016.

"As long as I work out and eat proper," he said, "no issues. No issues."

Of course, he continued, that method isn't a cure, but management.

The store came about as a composite of a few stores co-owner Alim ElBey frequented in Harlem, New York City — a herbal shop named Watkins, Nicholas Brooklyn and a smoothie shop.

"We said, okay, let's just combine all of those," said Alim.

Part of their reason for opening the place was that the only other options are in Durham or Wake Forest — it's for that reason that they've managed to draw people in. The internet is their friend in that regard, showing up on people's Google results have boosted business.

They also bring food to the Henderson Police and Fire departments to show their appreciation.

"This is a space with beautiful people in it," said Khadirah.

The restaurant's name comes from the antiquated term used for the African diaspora by Europeans and white Americans — Moors. Inside, the ElBeys have statuettes depicting Egyptian and African deities and much of their

The ElBeys also operate the Moorish Holy Temple, a ministry under the umbrella of the Divine and National Movement of North America. They serve around 30 local teenagers through trips like a recent one to Busch Gardens in Virginia. That was an eye-opening experience, said Khadirah, for locals who had never left Henderson.

"Temple" is perhaps a misnomer — it's about as religious as the Boy Scouts of America — they teach morality without proselytizing and focus more on civic impact.

Their other form of outreach is operating Unique Dance Queens, a dance studio based out of Juice and Moor.

They've also been herbalists for 30-some years, know what to look for and where to find it. Herbs grow all around Henderson — ginkgo helps with circulatory problems, dandelion leaves are edible and go great in a salad and mullein, when mixed with elderberries, helps with respiratory issues.

Growing up, Alim read "Back to Eden," a compendium of American herbs and their medicinal uses, front to back. He attributes his knowledge to that and his mother's herbalistic teachings.

They both have family in Henderson. Khadirah, Alim's co-owner and wife, was born in Fayetteville, where he moved when he left the Big Apple. They graduated from Fayetteville State University, Alim with a bachelor's degree in sociology and history and a mathematics degree. Now, they're both pursuing indigenous peoples law degrees at the University of Oklahoma.

Alim is a Christian, baptized at 14. There's a big banner above their crystal collection with a Bible verse about pillars made of various gemstones. He studied comparative religion in college, a field focused on gleaning knowledge from belief systems the scholar might not believe in.

Alim studied Joseph Campbell most frequently, who asserted that all monotheistic languages teach more or less the same things and draw from other belief systems — Islam, for example, has elements from both Abrahamic religions and the Zoroastrian faith of ancient Persia, the first recorded monotheistic religion.

He drew a line between that idea and their idea of health — chakras in the human body create auras that are an indication of health. Those chakras are the human body's seven endocrine glands, or an earlier understanding of them.

Indeed, Juice and Moor has sought to provide a "one stop conscious stop," said Alim, to offer knowledge patrons might not find anywhere else. Their goal is to "enlighten," at the end of the day.