Popular acai bowl restaurant plans first Bradenton store in this shopping center
A national acai bowl shop is bringing its brand to Manatee County for the first time.
Playa Bowls, which also serves smoothies, cold brews, juices and cold-pressed juices, signed a lease to open a store late next year in the SeaFlower Village Center.
The Village Center is a shopping district that is part of the new SeaFlower housing development on the southwest corner of Cortez Road West and 75th Street West in Bradenton. The shopping center is under construction alongside the SeaFlower community, which is scheduled to open later this year.
According to commercial real estate company Casto, which is managing leases at the SeaFlower Village Center, businesses are expected to open by late 2026.
Playa Bowls joins Whataburger and Potbelly Sandwich Works, which were previously announced for the plaza.
Playa Bowls started in 2014 as a pop-up stand in New Jersey. Founders Robert Giuliani and Abby Taylor launched Playa Bowls along the Jersey Shore after experiencing acai and pitaya bowls on surfing trips to Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, California and Hawaii, according to company history.
The company has grown to more than 300 locations in 29 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico.
Playa Bowls has locations throughout Florida, including Miami, Orlando and Jacksonville. The nearest locations to Manatee County have been in Sarasota and St. Petersburg.
What’s on the menu?
At Playa Bowls, customers choose a base for their bowl. The bases are: acai, mango, pitaya, coconut blend (coconut and banana), banana blend (banana, honey and almond milk) and a green blend consisting of kale, banana, pineapple and coconut milk.
There are a variety of toppings for each bowl, and oatmeal bowls are also on the menu.
Various smoothies, cold brews and cold-pressed juices are available, too.
What’s acai?
Acai is created from the berries native to trees grown in tropical Central and South America, specifically Brazil’s Amazon rainforest region. Acai berries are blended, placed in a bowl with other fruit and granola toppings or mixed as a smoothie. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) said lab studies show acai has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits.
While the dark purple-colored fruit is a popular sweet treat in Brazil, they have gained popularity in tropical areas such as Puerto Rico and Florida.
When Playa Bowls opens its West Bradenton store, it will sit in close proximity to Seabreeze Nutrition, which serves acai bowls in a plaza on the north side of Cortez Road across from the SeaFlower development.
For more information, visit PlayaBowls.com.
