Food+Drink

What Do You Crave?

a new downtown smoothie shop with a nutritious twist

Natalie Derks, photos by Andrea Paulseth |

SMOOTH. Dakota Yarrington (left) and Virginia Bagan opened Crave 80/20 on Barstow St. in Eau Claire in October.
SMOOTH. Dakota Yarrington (left) and Virginia Bagan opened Crave 80/20 on Barstow St. in Eau Claire in October.

If your idea of keeping healthy includes running late to work and skipping breakfast, then it’s probably time to make a change. Fortunately, a new smoothie and shake hub is making its way into downtown Eau Claire to smooth things over and make your mornings 10 times healthier.

“We want people to know that better nutrition is the key to a happy and healthy lifestyle,” write Dakota Yarrington and Virginia Bagan, the owners of Crave 80/20.  “We want to bring the community together from face-to-face interactions, events, work-outs, and workshops.” 

Crave 80/20 is a nutritional shake shop and wellness center that recently moved into 305 S. Barstow St. (previously home to the District Company). The owners are excited to help the area grow in every way possible after their own positive nutritional experience, and they have an open, friendly approach.

“All of our advertising is face-to-face interactions, which makes the experience real and personable,” the owners say. “With loyalty and accountability from our coaches, we were able to meet our personal goals. We want to share with everybody that everything starts with nutrition.”

The concept of Crave 80/20 developed as Yarrington and Bagan saw how Herbalife – a nutrition company that makes products such as shakes, snacks, and energy drinks to support a healthy lifestyle – changed their lives for the better. 

“We decided we wanted a nutrition club after we saw what is possible with Herbalife. Between my girlfriend and I, we have lost 80 pounds and are in the best shape of our lives.  Having a coach that supports you and provides you with an easy-to-follow meal plan, we got the results we were looking for and have maintained them.” 

After seeing how much it benefited them, Yarrington and Bagan were inspired to become wellness coaches themselves. They’ve taken helping people to another level by personalizing wellness programs for more than 150 people in one short year.

“Providing a supportive and fun environment, we can change the way people live and interact with each other,” Yarrington said.

When it comes to their menu, you can expect a wide range of smoothies to choose from: nutritional shakes, tea, and aloe for the main shake bar options. They also plan to sample other products such as a strawberry lemonade collagen booster, supplements like CoQ-10, and multi-vitamins. In addition, Crave 80/20 offers sport-enhanced drinks that focus on weight loss, muscle gain, and weight maintenance.

“The number of people looking for coaching and accountability is growing daily, and we are always looking to add more wellness coaches to our team to help inspire and help the community reach their health goals,” Yarrington said. “Nutrition is our mission. Our goal is to create a happy, healthy, and active community in Eau Claire and around the world.” 

Crave 80/20 is located at 305 S. Barstow St., Eau Claire.  They are open  7am-2pm Monday-Friday.  For more information, check out their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Crave8020.