Gem in the Works

Juice bar pioneer plants second location at bustling Dallas intersection

Pioneering juice bar and healthy-food favorite The Gem has a new location in the works, at one of Dallas' busiest intersections: Preston Road and Forest Lane. According to owner Leslie Needleman, the second branch will open in mid- to late February, at the northwest corner in what used to be Muzzies Dressy Dresses.

Where other juice bars have come and gone, The Gem has prevailed.

"The month after we opened our first branch at Preston Center, people were already asking, 'Are you going to open another location?'" Needleman says. "We feel like opening a branch in the Preston-Forest area is something we can manage really well. That area was actually on our list before we opened our first location."

"[Preston-Forest] was actually on our list before we opened our first location," says Gem owner Leslie Needleman.

The Gem's real first location was a shop-within-a-shop, inside Duo, the high-end kitchen supply shop from Shinsei owners Tracy Rathbun and Lynae Fearing. When it closed in 2013, the juice bar moved to its own standalone space in Preston Center.

Taking over a former dress shop meant building plumbing facilities, and the space is much bigger than Preston Center. "We'll have more disco balls," Needleman quips.

They'll do the same menu of juices, smoothies, salads, soups, hummus and other healthful snacks. "We are 100 percent organic," Needleman says. "Nothing that we serve is something we don't believe in. Our recipes are not only consistent, but also have some health and therapeutic value."

They're also big on service.

"We have created a community," she says. "We know people's names and know what they order. And we try to make it easy. Preston Center is a challenge, but we've created an app and can run what you order out to you."

They do two kinds of juices. The first is made to order in a blender, where you can specify what you want, to be consumed immediately. The second is a cold-pressed juice, made in a big press, which you can take to go.

"Cold-press juices are more nutrient dense and yield richer enzyme concentration," she says. "The enzymes are good for 72 hours, so you are able to take them with you and they're more easily incorporated into your day.

"I like to say that the juices made to order are an A, and a cold-press juice is an A+."

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Coffee News

East Dallas coffee shop Killer Joe crackles with sharp New York style

Killer Joe

Killer Joe Coffee

A hip new coffee shop is energizing a busy corner in East Dallas: Called Killer Joe, it's a new shop at 108 N. Fitzhugh Ave. right on the northeast corner of Columbia Avenue, next to (and in the same building as) Pupusas To Go.

Killer Joe is from Christine Sweet and Christian Napolitano, who moved from New York to Dallas in 2022 in search of entrepreneurial opportunity.

"We had been wanting to open up a business in New York for a long time," Christine says. “After the pandemic, it was really hard doing business there. We were looking for a good place to move that offered an opportunity to open our business."

Christine previously worked in travel/destination marketing, living in different places around the world. Christian was in hospitality, having worked in high-end restaurants in Manhattan, most recently at Bond Street Sushi in Soho.

Their goal: to bring a little New York culture to Dallas.

“We are more than a coffee shop — we're a place for foodies and musicophiles, we are really into music and rock & roll. Our shop is not a sleepy, quiet coffee shop," Christine says.

They serve notice of their intentions on the exterior with a quirky, personal mural by Anthony Z. Padilla, rendered in taxicab yellow, with elegant line drawings of the Statue of Liberty and highway-style signs that say "Now leaving New York" and "Welcome to Texas."

The interior is casual-chic, with pale wood furniture and an original cement floor that still sports intentional patches of old paint. The walls have a mix of B&W vintage photos and the occasional cowboy hat. The space was for many years a closed-in bar called Los Dos Reales; but now, the building boasts expansive windows that look out on Fitzhugh and create a bright and sunny space.

For their coffee program, they use organic espresso beans and make their drinks in an Italian Sanremo machine. They serve all the classics plus signature drinks such as French Toast Latte, Sea Salt Caramel de Leche, and Caliente Mocha with a hint of cayenne pepper.

Seasonal drinks include a pistachio caramel matcha latte — featuring toasted pistachios like a baklava, but balanced by the earthiness of the matcha. Other specialty drinks include rose water matcha, orange blossom matcha spritz, and cucumber lemonade.

Panini at Killer JoeKiller Joe

They also serve food, including breakfast all day: steak & eggs, avocado toast, and bagels with plain, scallion or vegan cream cheese. The "Spaghetti Western" is a twist on the traditional ham & cheese sandwich with spicy capicola, roasted tomato, Calabrian pepper sauce, and chimichurri on toasted ciabatta.

Bread is from Empire Baking Company and the bagels are from Shug's.

At lunch, they serve an umami tuna melt; a "K-Pop Cuban" with ham and cheese, plus kimchi pickles and wasabi mayo; and The Texican, with soyrizo spicy sausage, cheddar roasted poblano peppers, tomato, and avocado.

Reeves Family Farm in Princeton provides fruits and vegetables, and DiveDWN brings their microgreens. Pastries are baked in house and sauces such as black olive pesto and Killer chipotle sauce are made from scratch.

“We are trying to blend our edgy New York style with a Southern Texas flair," Christine says.

They're open daily from 7am-3 pm, with a late-hour program every second Saturday featuring live DJs; people gather inside and outside the shop for music, food, and drinks.

"This community is just so great, very eclectic, and has really embraced our style," Christine says. In fact, a few customers had a tattoo made at neighbor Franklins Tattoo and Supply with the coffee shop's skull logo.

"I had to follow and get one done too," she says.

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