Doug Kraus remembers Corolla as few others do. In the 1970s, he and his siblings spent summers at their grandparents’ cottage on the undeveloped beach. The kids roamed the open sand, explored shipwrecks, and ran back home for their grandmother’s lunches.
After college, while living and working in Virginia, Kraus visited the Outer Banks often, for years trying to devise a business idea that would allow him to call the coast home. As there were no smoothie shops around — smoothies are the only way he can stand vegetables — he would lug a blender with him on his trips. Finally, he thought: “That’s what Corolla needs! Smoothies!”
Doug Kraus. photograph by Stacy Van Berkel
Kraus and his brother, Rob, opened Island Smoothie Cafe in Corolla in 2015 and a second shop in Duck in 2021 with partner Nate Campbell. The shops offer fresh smoothies and acai bowls, some of which include Currituck County peaches, in-season berries, and the Krauses’ own family recipes. The café also serves sandwiches inspired by ones that Kraus’s grandma would make: BLTs, clubs, and chicken salad.
Having combined his two loves — beach life and healthy food — Kraus says that he’s as happy now as he was as a kid roaming the beach.
Island Smoothie Cafe
603 Currituck Clubhouse Drive
Corolla, NC 27927
(252) 453-4545
islandsmoothiecafe.com
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