Pictured: A variety of bowls from Playa Bowls. Photo Courtesy of Playa Bowls.

Sometimes, we all need a sweet and refreshing treat to brighten up the day. At Playa Bowls Sarasota, a new location of the popular nationwide brand, brothers and franchise owners Ethan and Jacob McGowan are sharing the company’s fruit bowls, smoothies, juices and other delights with our community. After working together in the real estate industry, the McGowan brothers decided to break into the restaurant world with Playa Bowls.

While Jacob was attending college in California, he and Ethan enjoyed sampling the acai bowls that had become ubiquitous on the West Coast. Upon moving to the New York metropolitan and north New Jersey area, they discovered Playa Bowls. “Ethan and I thought, ‘We’ve had them in California, but Playa Bowls is way better than anything that we had out there.’ Going to school in California, I thought that since they started there, they’d be best there, but Rob and Abby, the founders of Playa Bowls, did a really good job creating the formula in Jersey,” says Jacob. During the pandemic, Ethan vacationed in Sarasota and recognized the need for this unique business in the area.

Playa Bowls was founded by Robert Giuliani and Abby Taylor, avid surfers who sampled acai and pitaya bowls throughout their travels and wanted to bring their version of the dish to the United States. “A lot of people will just serve acai, but Rob and Abby went to the source; they went to Brazil and found distributors, and they created a facility,” Ethan adds. “They do that with all of the fruit bases. They go to the fruit’s country of origin, find the best producers of fruit there and then make the bases in-house in New Jersey. What made us love Playa Bowls is their love for creating a high-quality product that’s presented well and in an awesome environment.” Each store has a welcoming, on-vacation vibe, beckoning diners to come in and relax.

“They do a good job of sourcing and finding the best products before we bring them onto our menu,” says Jacob. For first-timers, he recommends trying the classic acai, whether in bowl or smoothie form. “We get positive feedback on our pitaya and coconut, which are also original bases,” adds Ethan, suggesting the Electric Mermaid, a pitaya bowl topped with granola, kiwi, pineapple, mango, coconut flakes and honey. “Because we have seven or eight bases, tons of different fruits and drizzles,” he says, “you can tell us what you like and we can make a bowl around you.”

Playa Bowls Sarasota, 1427 S Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, 941-260-9941, playabowls.com.

Pictured: A variety of bowls from Playa Bowls. Photo Courtesy of Playa Bowls.

Playa Bowls