These Gainesville restaurants opened in 2023

Fast-casual restaurant chains seemed to flock to Gainesville in 2023, filing up empty spaces on the ground floors of various student apartment complexes, and in the shopping hub of Butler Plaza.

Many of the restaurants offer healthier menu options, including three that serve acai bowls, a growing trend being seen both locally and nationally. The restaurant that opened with arguably the most fanfare, however, sells chicken tenders and fries.

When it comes to mom-and-pop restaurants in Gainesville, two locally-owned businesses expanded, a new deli opened in the northwest part of town, and two popular spots reopened — one in a new location.

Here's a look back at some of the restaurants that opened in and around Gainesville in 2023:

Baby's Kitchen

4908 NW 34th Blvd., Unit 4, Gainesville

Don't let the name fool you. This Northwest Gainesville deli that opened in January offers both in-person dining for breakfast and lunch, and a variety of meal prepping services.

Owner Brianna LaCorte, whose husband Patrick's late grandfather called her "Baby," said she learned the importance of cooking from her parents and that food brings people together. "Getting good quality meals out, made with love," she said.

LaCorte said the deli's most popular items include bagel and croissant breakfast sandwiches, and chicken wings. Other menu options include wraps, tacos and bowls. The restaurant is closed Monday for meal prepping services, which can be arranged in advance online, by phone, or in person. The meals are then delivered fresh to your door.

More: Why so many restaurant closings in Gainesville? Rising costs are hitting the industry hard.

Bolay

50 NW 13th St., Suite 20, Gainesville

This health-focused South Florida restaurant chain that opened in Butler North in 2018, opened a second location in Gainesville this year.

The brainchild of Chris Gannon, son of Outback Steakhouse founder Tim Gannon, Bolay lets you customize your own bowl — called Bols at Bolay — full of nutritious proteins and veggies.

For each Bol, customers choose from cilantro noodles, golden kale, Peruvian quinoa, Moroccan basmati rice, black rice or baby spinach for a base. Then, they add vegetables like brussels sprouts, balsamic mushrooms, ginger broccoli, or green beans. Proteins options include lemon chicken, barbecue chicken, pork, tofu, tuna, steak and shrimp.

Clean Juice

2851 SW 35th Drive, Suite 20, Gainesville

This health-centric eatery backed by former UF standout Tim Tebow opened its doors Dec. 9 in the Butler Town Center.

Tebow said in a March news release that he is "grateful for the opportunity to help bring new, healthy options to a place where I have been blessed to have so many awesome experiences with so many awesome people."

Founded in 2015, Clean Juice now has more than 200 locations across the U.S. and is billed as the first and only USDA-certified organic juice and food bar franchise. Its menu features a variety of options, including, smoothies, acai bowls, sandwiches, salads and wraps.

Corndogs by Mr. Cow

931 SW Second Ave., Gainesville

This Georgia-based concept with Hawaiian roots opened this year in the Midpoint Park & Eatery in Gainesville's Innovation District.

One of four food trucks parked in the dining area, Corndogs by Mr. Cow offers a variety of sweet and savory Korean-style corndogs, which area made with beef sausage and cheese (or one or the other) before being coated with a sweet flour batter and rolled in a layer of toppings.

For a sweeter option try the Caramel Puff or Fruity Pop. The Yam-Yam Churro is wrapped in bite-size sweet potato fries and coated with cinnamon and sugar.

Crumbl Cookies

3230 SW 35th Blvd., Gainesville

With more than 800 locations across all 50 states, this bakery chain finally found its way to Gainesville and celebrated with a Dec. 1 grand opening.

Individual cookies cost $4.50, and recent flavor options include Milk Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Crumb Cake, Gingerbread Cake, Chocolate Raspberry Truffle, Caramel Shortbread and Lemon Poppy Seed.

Customers will have to visit often to get a taste of the sweet shop's rotating menu of more than 200 flavors, which are inspired by cakes, candies and other desserts.

A Gainesville institution: Bageland owners retire after more than 40 years in business

Kinya Ramen Sushi Bar

1999 NW 43rd St., Gainesville

The home of the "Golden Noodle" opened in August in the former Beef O' Brady's location.

Its website describes itself as offering "authentic Japanese foods and flavors with fun twists." It's known for its signature dishes, the Kinya Ramen and Kinya Roll, which come topped with 24-karat gold flecks.

The Lava Roll is among the highlighted items on the menu and is made with spicy salmon and avocado inside, and then topped with seared salmon sriracha and spicy mayo. The menu also includes a selection of poke and chashu bowls, salads and skewered meats.

Mini Momo

2441 NW 43rd St., Gainesville

Owners Kay and Chi Yun brought a smaller version of their Korean-American fusion restaurant — Momoyaki, which opened in 2008 — to The Shoppes at Thornebrook.

Opened in October, Mini Momo offers a condensed version of the Momoyaki menu but also offers some dishes unique to the smaller location.

Kay Yun said the restaurant's most popular dishes include the Momo Taco, Bibimap (traditional Korean rice bowl) and various "lunchboxes."

The Paper Bag

11 SE First Ave., Gainesville

This popular locally owned deli that first opened near the corner of Archer and Tower roads in early 2022 expanded this year with a new downtown Gainesville location.

Owner Richard Sterck said he hopes to fill a need for people working in and around City Hall and for those who are serving as jurors at the courthouse. "There's not a true kind of lunch spot, true breakfast spot, sandwich spot downtown," he said.

The Paper Bag's menu features a variety of sandwiches, including the Tony Montana Cubano, Uncle Drew Monte Cristo and Colleen's Liver Lover the Worst.

Prohibition Pizza

18559 NW 237th St., High Springs

If pizza and beer are indeed a match made in heaven, this pizzeria opened in the perfect location this year across from the High Springs Brewing Company.

Owners Kelly and Dave Potter trained under master pizzaiolos in New York and earned the certification themselves. "We're bringing what we learned and even some of the flavors of New York back here with our New York-style pizza in High Springs," Kelly Potter said.

While pizzas can be custom ordered, Potter recommends selecting one of their specialty pies such as “A Blind Pig,” made with ham, pineapple jalapeños and green olives, or the "Bees Knees," a ricotta pizza with fresh garlic, spinach, walnuts and a Hot Honey drizzle.

More: Does Gainesville have the best pizza in Florida? One national magazine thinks so.

SweetBerries

619 NW Fifth Ave., Gainesville

Known for its frozen custard, sandwiches and wraps, SweetBerries opened on Northwest Fifth Avenue in July after selling its previous location near UF's campus a year earlier to make way for student housing. For some, the opening couldn't come soon enough.

“They've been coming by and contacting us through Facebook and emails for months asking when we were open and so a lot of them came in the first day," said manager and owner Jane Osmond.

The restaurant, which first opened in Gainesville in 2013, has a second area location on the University of Florida campus. Its original location is in Bradenton.

Raining Berries

1111 W. University Ave., Gainesville

This Florida-based coffee and acaí concept, founded in 2018, opened this year on the ground floor of the Hub University student apartment complex.

Its coffee menu features a variety of classic drinks such as the Americano, cappuccino and latte. Cold and nitro brews, as well as decadent blended drinks, also are available. Those looking for a bite to eat can select from six bowls — all cost $11.97 — with your choice of base. Options include acaí, pitaya, coconut, matcha and spirulina.

Its website also shows a planned location under construction west of I-75 in the Celebration Pointe shopping center.

Raising Cane's

1680 W. University Ave., Suite 20, Gainesville

Originally scheduled to open in late 2022., Raising Canes opened to much fanfare in June on the bottom floor of the StadiumHouse apartment complex across from the UF campus.

The Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based chicken restaurant features a simple menu that includes hand-dipped, made-to-order chicken fingers, fries, coleslaw and Texas toast.

The restaurant's signature Box Combo features four chicken fingers, fries, one Cane's Sauce, Texas toast and a regular drink for $11.79.

Rock N' Roll Sushi

3205 Clark Butler Blvd., Suite 50, Gainesville

Gainesville franchise owner Jim Dykes, who opened his first area Rock N' Roll Sushi in 2021, opened a second location in the Butler North shopping plaza in January.

The Mobile, Alabama-based chain breaks "all the traditions of your typical sushi restaurant," Dykes said in a 2021 news release.

Signature rolls, called "Headliners," include the VIP Roll (shrimp tempura, krab stick, cream cheese, with Cajun-seasoned crawfish, baked krab meat, jalapeño, spicy mayo, sweet chili, eel sauce and crunchy flakes) and the baked Tour Bus Roll (spicy tuna, krab stick, cream cheese topped with seared filet mignon, jalapeño, spicy mayo, sweet chili, eel sauce, sriracha and crunchy flakes).

Rush Bowls

1360 W. University Ave., Suite 40, Gainesville

Billed as a "healthy" and "honest" dining option, Rush Bowls opened in the first quarter of 2023 on the bottom floor of The Standard student apartment complex.

“My wife and I are looking forward to sharing our all-natural menu with our Gainesville neighbors and, of course, our beloved Florida Gators," franchise owner Sean Byers said in a news release.

Customers can select from more than 25 fruit bowls or smoothies. The eatery's signature bowl, the Beach, is made with acai, banana, mango, guava juice, granola, honey and your choice of one other topping.

Zeezenia Kitchen

2325 SW 13th St., Gainesville

To the delight of loyal customers, the Middle Eastern buffet inside the Zeezenia International Market reopened in August following the COVID-19 pandemic and a devastating fire in June 2022.

The all-you-can-eat buffet is $16.99, and is available Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Food items available on the buffet include a variety of meats cooked on a charcoal grill, vegetarian options, desserts and a salad bar.

"It's a blessing. I'm glad that we are in Gainesville," owner Fawzy Ebrahim said of the support he received after the fire. "It's different from any other place."

— Do you know of any other Gainesville-area restaurants that opened this year? Email details to reporter Alan Festo at alan.festo@gvillesun.com.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Restaurants that opened in Gainesville, Florida and Alachua County in 2023