Namasté Café and Organic Juice Bar – Where I “Almost” Got Arrested!

Where to begin. I guess I should start with your obvious question, “you were almost arrested?!” Well, not really. But sort of (for those of you keeping up on Facebook, this is a totally separate incident from the “almost” arrest via parking and sleeping). ;)

You see, on this day I was feeling a little under the weather. At this time I was about five months into the trip and it was the first time I felt unwell so that’s pretty good considering how busy this trip keeps me. However, the timing of stumbling onto Namasté Café worked out beautifully since they specialize in fresh juice. And for those of you who know the power of juicing, believe it or not, I was able to kick my snotty nose within 48 hours of non-stop, immune boosting juices. w00p! Thanks in large part to the lovely woman (I didn’t get her name!) working at Namasté the day I arrived. Yes, that’s the happy part! The sad part is, I didn’t pay my bill! Well, not right away.

I had spent a good chunk of a day at Namasté. You’ll see from the pics below that I enjoyed a few different juices as well as some of their food. It was all very good! Between the lovely conversations with the owners, the super delicious, immune boosting juices, and working on some work stuff, I completely and totally forgot to pay for my drinks and food! I had ordered a few things throughout the few hours that I was sitting in the Café and for the first time in my life, it completely slipped my mind.

The owner (who arrived just before I left) had hopped down to the market, located just underneath the juice bar, and I had packed up my gear, hit up the rest room, and then hit the road. I was feeling drained and knew it was time to nap so my body could soak up those juices and heal. I drove about a mile away from the Café, parked Gerty, closed her up, and settled in for a nice nap in the warm van. Within seconds of closing my eyes my gut sank and I thought to myself, “OH NO! I DIDN’T PAY!!” I might have hesitated for a tiny second weighing going back immediately or letting my body sink into the squishy foam mattress. But I couldn’t do it. I had to go back or else I wouldn’t be able to relax.

I called Namasté and one of the owners answered. The conversation went something like this:
K: Hi, this is Kristin from the vegan travel blog I just left there and….
NC: Oh, did you get pulled over?!
K: No? I was just calling to say….
NC: Did the cops find you? You didn’t pay and I called the cops.
K: Oh my gosh. No. I’m so sorry. I was calling to tell you that I completely forgot to pay and I’m headed back there right now.
NC: Well I hope so. The cops are here are here right now.
K: I’m so sorry. This has never happened before. I’ll be there in just a few minutes

I. Was. Nervous. Whoa. Let me tell you. At first I thought he was joking. It had literally been no less than ten minutes since I left but he wasn’t kidding. No siree! When I arrived there was a cop sitting at one of the tables. Eating. Hm. But I just walked up to the counter. The owner explained that in this area this sort of thing happens all of the time and he thought that I had intentionally walked out without paying. That the same thing happened to them just last week. And a few times prior. I felt terrible and told him again that I was sorry and took out some money to pay. The total came to something like $15 or $20 in change. He let me keep the change. For the trip.

Nothing more came of it. I paid my bill and got back on the road. There was no napping after that though! Ha!! Regardless, the food and drinks were great and I really liked the atmosphere in this place. If you ever happen to be in New Brunswick, NJ definitely stop by. And the grocer below the juice bar has great vegan and raw vegan to-go stuff as well.

Namasté Café and Organic Juice Bar – 100% vegan

89 Morris Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901

Immune boosting juices!

Delicious Guacamole Wrap.