'Superfruit' bowl eatery opening in Newark

Playa Bowls U Del, a health-conscious eatery, is opening this month at 134 E. Main St. in Newark. A grand opening is set for 10 a.m. Jan. 20.

It takes over the location once occupied by SAS Cupcakes and will specialize in the superfood and "superfruit trend," according to Dustin Gee Mushinski, a  managing partner.

Playa Bowls is an acai shop that originated on the boardwalk in Belmar, New Jersey, in 2014.

Founders Rob Giuliani and Abby Taylor are New Jersey shore natives and longtime surfers. They opened the business after being inspired by surf trips to Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, California, Hawaii, Nicaragua and Panama. Almost every town they visited offered versions of acai or pitaya bowls.

The partners first opened a pop-up stand on 8th Avenue in Belmar in front of the pizza shop they lived above. They made bowls and smoothies there using two blenders, a fridge and a patio table with extension cords running out of the apartment.

Playa Bowls has since grown to 25 stores and three food trucks in a little more than three years. More shops are coming to Center City Philadelphia, Wilmington, North Carolina, and Brooklyn, New York.

Playa Bowls is now the largest retailer of acai in the world, Mushinski says.

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Acai (pronounced ah-sigh-EE) is a purplish tropical berry that's known for being richer in antioxidants than cranberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries or blueberries. The acai bowls will cost around $9 to $11.

The eatery also will offer pitaya, also known as dragon fruit, which is a superfruit indigenous to Central and South America.

Pitaya bowls, blended with pitaya, banana, pineapple and coconut milk, also are priced between $9 to $11.  

Other items on the menu will include coconut, banana, green and oatmeal bowls ($8-$10), juices ($4.99 to $6.99), smoothies ($6.99-$7.99) and chia pudding ($8).

Mushinski says in November, Playa Bowls announced on its Instagram page that it would be opening a location in Newark, Delaware, and the post received more than 1 million views and 484 comments. 

For more information, visit playabowls.com or its Instagram @playabowls and Playa Bowls U Del Facebook pages.

Contact Patricia Talorico at (302) 324-2861 or ptalorico@delawareonline.com and on Twitter @pattytalorico