Mixon's Fruit Farm

Entrance to Mixon's Groveside Market

Mixon's Fruit Farm

2525 27th St E, Bradenton, FL 34208
Phone: 941-748-5829 or 800-608-2525
Website: mixon.com - Cafe Menu
As seen on: Yelp - Tripadvisor - Foursquare - UrbanSpoon - Facebook

Market Hours: Open 10 am - 5:00 pm Nov. thru April, Open 10 am - 3:00 pm May thru Oct., Monday-Saturday; Closed Sunday
Cafe Hours: 8:30am to 3:00pm Monday through Saturday. Closed on Sunday.

Why we love them

Fresh squeezed orange juice & grapefruit juice, not to mention their delicious lemonade
Fun, family friendly tram tour of their wildlife preserve
Deli offers quality food and orange infused ice cream products
Family owned

Things to consider

This is a tourist hot spot, so some things are priced accordingly
They are closed on Sundays and for two weeks in late summer

Fresh squeezed orange juice is superior to all the orange juice available in the grocery store. Giant orange juice conglomerates first squeeze the oranges, then store the juice in giant holding tanks and the oxygen is removed from them. This allows the liquid to keep for up to a year without spoiling. It also makes the juice completely flavorless. So the industry uses “flavor packs” to re-flavor the juice.

According to Food Renegade:

“Juice companies therefore hire flavor and fragrance companies... to engineer flavor packs to add back to the juice to make it taste fresh. Flavor packs aren’t listed as an ingredient on the label because technically they are derived from orange essence and oil. Yet those in the industry will tell you that the flavor packs, whether made for reconstituted or pasteurized orange juice, resemble nothing found in nature.”

That explains why all the different manufactures orange juice taste different, yet the flavor is consistent when you stay with the brand.

The downside to fresh orange juice is that it does not have a long shelf life (just 3-4 weeks). Plus it's expensive, like $9/gallon. There are slight flavor variations with fresh juice because, not every orange tastes exactly the same. Some are sweeter; others more sour. That said, we've never had a batch of fresh OJ that wasn't delicious.