Our History

The first inklings of a dream began after a visit to Boston in 2018. Bruce "Eric" Thornton was visiting his grandmother in Mattapan (Boston), where he spent the first several years of his childhood. He was out looking for food and stumbled upon a new juice & smoothie bar called Cafe Juice Up. When he walked inside, it was an entire experience. Between the Reggae music, kindness of the owner, and the huge variety of options, it quickly became his favorite spot in the neighborhood during that trip.

In 2020, Eric and his wife Emily, along with his cousins Duane & Cinddy McNeil began planning for their own juice & smoothie bar venture in Pittsburgh, but with a mission.

The vision was clear: Music playing, happy workers, delicious smoothies and snacks, and best of all, cold-pressed juice made with both mind, body, tastebuds and accessibility in mind.

As the pandemic carried on, they started to think about an appropriate location for a juice bar. One night, Eric and Emily went to SouthSide Works for a quick bite at one of their old favorites--Pita Pit. To their disappointment, it had shut down, but the trip proved to be fruitful: as they were walking back to the car, Eric stopped and looked inside of an empty little storefront on East Carson St. It was perfect. Nestled between L.A. Fitness & GNC, they began to focus on all the steps necessary to open their first brick and mortar.

After many meetings, and a long process of planning, renovating, preparing, the dream of 1:11 became realized.

On April 1, 2022, 1:11 Juice Bar officially opened in the City of Pittsburgh and it has been non-stop since!

In 2023, new initiatives and new technology will be launching throughout the year. Our belief is that juice is for everyone and we can't wait to share how we will make that a reality through expansion and growth.

The 1:11 Team is elated to serve the Pittsburgh community. We hope you will come along on this journey and allow our family owned business to become like family to all of you.