Playa Bowls, an açaí, pitaya, and coconut bowl and smoothie shop, opened its Athens location on Friday, located at 63 S. Court St. next to Raising Cane's.
Owners Brett Coleman and Amy Coleman both own five Playa Bowl locations in the Columbus area. The new location will be their first outside of Columbus. Playa Bowls has reached over 375 locations nationwide.
Brett and Amy Coleman were recently awarded the 2026 franchise award winners with their five Columbus locations. They were just one of 50 franchise owners selected from many nominees across North America.
“Playa Bowls corporate nominated us for that,” Brett Coleman said. “To win it is a great honor. My wife and I have worked really hard. We're super passionate about the brand and the things we stand for.”
Brett and Amy Coleman have expanded their locations all over the Columbus area, including Ohio State University, New Albany, Dublin, Quarry Trails and Polaris. They will open a seventh location in Clintonville this spring.
When asked about expanding beyond Columbus, Brett commented on why they opened an Athens location.
“My sister went to OU, and she just thinks it's the greatest place on earth,” Brett Coleman said. “I’ve been there and visited, and it's just an awesome college community … The college kids are just so much fun.”
The first of the five locations the Colemans opened was their location at OSU in 2021. College campus locations are not something new to them. Rather, they consider them important.
“In Athens, I really haven’t found anything really healthy like what we do, so we’re just super excited to be here,” Brett Coleman said. “This location is the dream location. Just seeing it finished, it’s a super cool store.”
Regional manager Kristen Gregory has been with the company for four and a half years and conducts training for new employees. She discussed what it is like to work at the college locations and with young adults.
“The college campus locations are always the most fun,” Gregory said. “It’s a really cool group of people we get to see … It’s a bit of our vibe to have younger staff. They can run the shop as well as I can. Besides our managers, everybody is younger and part-time, and it's just a fun little job.”
She said she is excited to see students enjoy Playa Bowls around campus.
“I’m excited to see people grab a Playa Bowl and head to the park and eat it in their hammock, so that sounds fun,” Gregory said.
The original opening date was scheduled for fall 2025. However, it was pushed back to early 2026, and in March, Brett Coleman said the setback was frustrating.
“It's an old building that has lots of nuances, so we just had to work through some of that. But we feel like we're in the clear now,” Brett Coleman said. “We feel pretty good that we're good to go.”Playa Bowls posted on Instagram on March 13 to announce its grand opening.
The grand opening was Friday, March 20. The first 100 people in line received a free bowl and Playa Bowls Athens t-shirt. Many people lined up for the grand opening in hopes of being one of the 100 customers to receive a free bowl.
Students and Athens natives Calla Martino and Reese Rogers were two of the many in line.
“I saw the Instagram, and then I was like, I've never sat in line before, so I was just like ‘I'll just do it to do it,’” Martino said. “I've never had it before.”
Reese commented on her favorite menu item and on her views on a chain business opening in Athens.
“Probably the Nutella Bowl,” Rogers said. “It's exciting getting new stuff, (Martino) was born here, and I’ve lived here since I was like 3 or 4. Some people like it more local, but I like the chains, that’s who I am, I like both.”
The typical pricing for their popular items, such as the Pura Vida Acai Bowl, is $12.99. Most bowls range from $12.99 to $13.99; however, custom Acai Bowls start at $10.99.
Playa Bowls’ smoothies, such as Strawberry Banana, are priced at $8.99. All smoothies are priced from $8.99 to $9.99.
They also offer a small selection of cold-pressed juices starting at $5.00, ranging up to $7.99.
Finally, they offer a range of iced coffees, such as a Playola Cold Brew at $4.50. The highest-priced coffee is the Dolce Latte Smoothie at $8.99.
OPENING DAY COVERAGE
With a promotion to give the first 100 customers a free bowl and t-shirt, the line outside the new Playa Bowls location formed early.
If the long line that wrapped around Court Street before the official opening was any indication of how business will be, the location should have many loyal customers.
The first person in line, Madysen Adkins-Smith, a sophomore studying nursing, got in line at 9:30 a.m. Friday. She said she was looking forward to having a new study spot inside.
Aside from the scenery inside, Adkins-Smith also likes the smoothie bowls; her go-to order is a Nutella Bowl with no coconut. The bowl comes with an acai, blueberry flax granola, strawberry, banana, coconut flakes and Nutella.
“It's fresh,” Adkins-Smith said. “It's always fresh. And it's kind of like a refreshing thing to have as a meal replacer.”
Riley Wilkerson and Anna Eizenga, both freshmen studying animation, were later to join the line but still part of the first 100 people, having arrived at around 1:15 p.m.
Eizenga is from Oakwood, Ohio, which is less than 10 minutes away from the Playa Bowls location in Dayton. Eizenga said she goes there all the time for her bowl of choice: the Nica Bowl featuring a banana base, blueberry flax granola, banana, strawberry, walnuts, cacao nibs and peanut butter.
Wilkerson had never been to Playa Bowls, but Eizenga convinced her to go to the opening with her.
“(Eizenga) said, ‘First 100 people get a free bowl and a free shirt’ and I was like, ‘I'm not doing anything, might as well,’” Wilkerson said.
Riley Mayer and Cammy Arias, sophomores studying hearing, speech and language sciences, were numbers 101 and 102 in line, just missing the free bowl cut-off with their 1:45 arrival.
“We’re waiting it out,” Mayer said. “… I actually have a nut allergy, so I don’t know if I can even eat it, but I'm here for it.”
The pair of friends had never had Playa Bowls before, though Arias said she likes acai bowls and Meyer said she gets a smoothie from Smooth Moves in Boyd Market every day.
“We have hope,” Arias said. “We think some people are gonna be quitters, and we're stronger than that …We're dedicated, and it's a nice day outside, so we're just sitting here.”
After the doors finally opened and the line began to slowly grow shorter, the new Playa Bowls location finished a very busy day of serving new and frequent customers.
“Just give us a try,” Coleman said. “You will love it, I promise you.”
