The idea for the Wellness Bar began as a coffee and juice café, but morphed into Coeur d'Alene's first brick-and-mortar juice and smoothie bar.
"I celebrated my 33rd birthday opening up a dream of mine," says co-owner Monica Engebretsen, who launched the Wellness Bar with her husband, Tait, in 2014. "I wanted to cultivate a community atmosphere where people could read our wellness magazine [North Idaho Wellness] and drink healthy smoothies and protein shakes."
The Wellness Bar's açai bowls are a favorite among locals. The bar is known for its Bomb.com bowl ($11.50).
"That one is our community favorite. It's chock-full of nutrients," Engebretsen says.
Açai berries are blended with banana and cacao and topped off with granola, almond butter, bananas, berries, coconut flakes, almond slivers, hemp hearts and honey.
Don't forget some juice to go with your açai bowl. The Wellness Bar offers a rainbow of cold-press juices, all with different benefits. Its most popular is the green-forward Super Power ($8.50) with spinach, kale, cilantro, cucumber, green apple and lime.
"That one literally gives you power with all of its packed nutrients," Engebretsen says.
Appreciation for the Wellness Bar's juice and açai bowls has cultivated a wellness hub in North Idaho with three locations, a mobile truck and a fourth location on the way.
About a year and a half after its flagship Coeur d'Alene store opened, the Wellness Bar expanded to Hayden. A year after that, a third location opened in Post Falls.
Now a fourth location is set to open this summer on Appleway Avenue in Coeur d'Alene. The Wellness Bar's mobile truck can also be spotted at local farmers markets and events.
The Engebretsens have come full circle, providing wellness-focused options in an area otherwise characterized as a fast-food highway.
"We wouldn't be here without our community," Monica says. "We appreciate all the love and support."
