What is a Playa Bowl? It's cold, kind of healthy and it's coming to Athens this year.

Andrew Shearer, Athens Banner-Herald
Updated ·2 min read
This promotional photo shows a variety of acai smoothie bowls from Playa Bowls, a New Jersey-based chain set to open an Athens location in fall 2023.
This promotional photo shows a variety of acai smoothie bowls from Playa Bowls, a New Jersey-based chain set to open an Athens location in fall 2023.

Longtime Athens residents probably remember area restaurant trends that included multiple burrito joints and frozen yogurt spots over the years. Though the era of the smoothie came and went, the impending appearance of a fresh take on the healthy-ish blended treat might just signal a comeback.

Playa Bowls, a New Jersey-based chain with locations in the Atlanta area, will open its first Athens franchise in the Beechwood Shopping Center as part of the retail park's new mixed-use development. Nick Ransom, owner of four currently operating Playa Bowls in Georgia, told the Banner-Herald that the current plan is to open the Athens shop in October 2023.

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This promotional photo shows a Nutella Acai smoothie bowl from Playa Bowls, a New Jersey-based chain set to open an Athens location in fall 2023.
This promotional photo shows a Nutella Acai smoothie bowl from Playa Bowls, a New Jersey-based chain set to open an Athens location in fall 2023.

In addition to smoothies, oatmeal, coffee and cold pressed juices, Playa Bowls will offer their main attraction: custom-built smoothie bowls with a variety of toppings. Guests start with a base made of house-made acai, pitaya, coconut, oatmeal or chia pudding, and can add on fresh fruit, seeds, nuts, granola, dried berries and nut butters. The bowls can be made vegan or gluten-free, and can be adapted to integrate into diets such as Whole 30, Keto, and Paleo.

Acai (pronounced "pronounced ahh-sigh-eee") is a blueberry-sized fruit that grows on palm trees in Brazil, where it is shipped to the U.S. and turned into a pulp by the Playa Bowls company and used to make the signature blend found at their restaurants. Pitaya, also known as dragon fruit, comes from cactus plants in South America and goes through a similar process to become a smoothie base.

Acai fruits brought from the Bailique archipelago region are sold in baskets at a fair, in the city of Macapa, state of Amapa, northern Brazil, Friday, Sept. 9, 2022.
Acai fruits brought from the Bailique archipelago region are sold in baskets at a fair, in the city of Macapa, state of Amapa, northern Brazil, Friday, Sept. 9, 2022.

Playa bowls will occupy 1,818 square feet of the Beechwood development at 196 Alps Rd., Suite 22. Ransom, who has worked for Playa Bowls since it began in 2014, said that the company has more than 175 locations, with plans to expand to Milton, Sandy Springs and Sugar Hill.

“When I first came to Atlanta (from New Jersey) working for Playa Bowls corporate, I never would have thought that four years later I would be living here and owning/operating six of my own locations,” said Ransom. "We have searched high and low for the best of the best mixed-use developments in the suburbs of Atlanta and have been able to strike deals.

"We look forward to becoming an integral part of these communities and words cannot explain the excitement to open in Athens."

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Playa Bowls to open Athens location in fall 2023