South Block founder Amir Mostafavi is pumped for the future. His juice-powered empire turns 15 this summer and is expanding up and down the East Coast.
Walking away from the corporate consulting gig he landed after college may have been the best decision he ever made.
“I was so bored,” he says of the funk he felt while grinding away at an office job in Tysons. The mounting ennui led him to Southern California, and that’s where he fell hard—for juice bars. “I really loved that energy, that vibe, the flavors. And we didn’t have anything like it here,” he says of his proverbial “a-ha” moment.
Upon his return to the DMV, a friend mentioned that a bagel shop had vacated its spot near a gym on George Washington University’s campus in Foggy Bottom. Mostafavi proposed converting it into a cold-pressed juice bar. GW administrators liked the idea, and Campus Fresh debuted in 2006.
A few years later, Mostafavi noticed a new development taking shape in Clarendon and fancied it the perfect spot for a spin-off location. “I couldn’t call it Campus Fresh because it was off campus,” he says. “I went to sign the lease and it said, ‘You’re signing a lease in the south block tower.’” With that second location, a new brand name was born.
Arlington soon became Mostafavi’s test market for acai bowls. He’d been captivated by the Brazilian superfood after a traveling salesman—a “surfer dude from San Diego”—offered to make him something during a cold call to Campus Fresh in D.C. “I thought it was amazing,” he says of the antioxidant-rich concoction that inspired South Block’s top-selling Warrior Bowl ($12.49).
Other fan favorites include protein smoothies with creatine; green smoothies that make spinach and kale deliciously sippable; and acai bowls packed with granola, fruit, coconut and add-ins like peanut butter or almond butter. The most expensive menu item, a Dubai chocolate bowl made with almond milk, bananas, blueberries, strawberries, granola, Nutella, pistachio butter and cacao nibs, tops out at $14.99.
“I think people would riot if we got rid of that one,” he says, crediting his teenage daughters for tuning him into the craze.
Today, South Block has nearly 25 locations, with more in the works courtesy of a newly inked partnership with a hospitality investor. But Mostafavi remains a hands-on guy. He develops every recipe himself, tinkering with new flavor profiles in the company’s commissary kitchen in Falls Church. His social-media-savvy daughters are among his most trusted advisors. “They’re my test market for product development,” he says.
To mark the juice chain’s official anniversary this summer, he’s planning a block party on July 18 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the original Clarendon location at 3011 11th Street North. He’s whipped up a special smoothie for the occasion.
“Think Carvel birthday cake vibes,” he says. “I got my daughters’ stamp of approval on the aesthetics. It’s going to look really cool.”
