Main Squeeze Vegetarian Cafe reopened in March, 2025 under new ownership. John Gilbreth & Amanda Rainey, the owners of Pizza Tree and Goldie’s Bagels, purchased Main Squeeze from its creator and 25 year proprietor Leigh Lockhart. This new chapter in the Main Squeeze story is both a throw back to the glory years of fresh juice and buddha bowls and a fresh start for 2025. We look forward to serving you fresh and delicious vegetarian food for years to come!

The Main Squeeze History ... or rather HERstory!

Leigh Lockhart fell in love with juicing while traveling and living out of her Ford F150 in California in the early 1990’s. She settled in Columbia in 1996, got a bartending gig at Murry’s and proceeded to share her mason jar juices with the girl gang there. Shortly thereafter she began plying Skip DuCharme, owner of Lakota Coffee Company, with her tasty, fresh pressed juices and he was kind enough to let her open Main Squeeze inside the front corner of his coffee shop at 24 S. 9th St. on May 15, 1996. Main Squeeze was the first fresh juice and smoothie place in Columbia and business was so good that within a year Leigh expanded into a quick service cafe 2 doors down, at its present location.

For 25 years Leigh focused on her mission to promote plant based eating thru fresh juices, smoothies and a hecka busy cafe serving made to order salads, sandwiches, hot dishes and baked goods. Over the years there were so many good times and literally millions of plant based meals served, which for Leigh, translated into animal lives saved. Of course there were very tough times also. Sustaining a restaurant for 25 years is hard work and after surviving two years of a pandemic, Leigh and Main Squeeze were ready for a change.

In 2023, Leigh closed the kitchen and opened a retail market that sold cork wallets, bamboo utensils, bamboo bandaids, biodegradable razors, biodegradable hair ties, shampoo/conditioner bars, wool dryer balls, recycled paper journals, as well as a refillery to help reduce our reliance on plastic. The refillery and market closed in December 2024 to make way for the reopening of the cafe and the sale of the business to John & Amanda

Main Squeeze has a long history of caring about our impact on the environment that goes beyond plant based eating. We were the first restaurant to compost our food waste and turn it into usable garden soil. We were one of the first business to take part in a city initiative to help businesses make energy improvements to their buildings (even though we rent our space we put in thermal windows, blown in insulation, an on-demand hot water heater and a white roof). We were the first business in Columbia to introduce corn-based, compostable To Go packaging. We were the first restaurant in Columbia focused on buying organic food and supporting local farms. Main Squeeze was recognized for its sustainable business model and in 2015 received the first ever Mayor’s Climate Protection Award (MCPA) which recognizes businesses and organizations for their environmental stewardship.