Our Story
Belli’s opened in 2013 by a local Pilsen resident who wanted to increase access to healthy local food at a time when options were limited.
Alex, the founder who named Belli’s after her bulldog Belli, started her own health journey in Pilsen after college— from volunteering at community gardens to helping to organize & manage the local Pilsen community farmers market. During this time, she also became more involved in urban agriculture after growing her own food at nearby community gardens & started juicing much of her own harvest to make many of the combinations we sell today. Alex became very interested in local food, community health, & environmental planning, & went back to graduate school at the UIC Urban Planning College to learn more.
She discovered how much nutrition affects our bodies both physically & mentally through her own physical feats from marathons & triathlons, & believes in the power of healthy communities for social change. Her knowledge on nutrition includes over 10 years of experience, both trial and error, from raw vegan to juicing & plant based whole foods.