Playa Bowls, the fast-growing fruit bowl and smoothie chain with more than 400 locations nationwide, is opening its first St. Louis area location later this summer at 8853-Q Ladue Road in Ladue.
The 1,200-square-foot storefront was most recently home to JARS by Fabio Viviani, the celebrity chef’s gourmet desserts-in-a-jar concept, which closed earlier this year, after a 19-month run. Before that, the space housed MaggieMoo’s.
The opening was first announced in a February press release that identified Clayton as the location but did not disclose an address. Window signage installed earlier this week confirmed the Ladue storefront, just west of Clayton.
In February, the St. Louis Business Journal reported that Brittany and Jeff Ciaramita had signed a five-unit development agreement to bring Playa Bowls to the St. Louis metro area.
According to Playa Bowls, Jeff Ciaramita is a cardiologist and senior vice president and chief development officer for St. Louis-based nonprofit health system Mercy, bringing operational and financial management experience to the franchise. Brittany Ciaramita is a board-certified orthopedic physical therapy specialist who has spent more than 16 years working with Division I athletes.
SLM has reached out to the Ciaramitas for additional information.
The Concept and Backstory
Playa Bowls traces its roots to the Jersey Shore. While traveling to surf destinations around the world, founders Rob Giuliani and Abby Taylor noticed that nearly every beach town had its own take on acai and pitaya bowls. In 2014, they began selling their version using a table blender, a fridge, and a freezer at a makeshift sidewalk stand in Belmar, New Jersey.
As demand grew, they opened a permanent storefront and expanded first to other beach communities along the East Coast, then college towns, and eventually across the country. Today, Playa Bowls has more than 400 locations in 30 states. The interiors feature bleached wood, tables resembling surfboards, action photos of surfers, and fish scale motif wallpaper.
Kellen Jordan, who grew up near Belmar, recalls the concept’s early popularity: “People would grab a bowl in the late morning and eat it at the beach. Playa Bowls—’beach bowls’—took off from there.”
The menu is built around customizable fruit bowls featuring seven different bases: acai, pitaya, coconut, green, mango, banana, and oatmeal.
Customers first choose a base—with each explained on a chalkboard above the order counter—and then select from a variety of signature bowl combinations. In all, the menu features 37 signature bowls, along with smoothies, fresh juices, cold brew coffee, and bottled cold-pressed juices.
“If for some reason, one of the bowls doesn’t jump out at you,” says Jordan, “the options to create a custom bowl are nearly limitless.”
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