Playa Bowls Knoxville is the newest addition to the Strip.

The acai and smoothie bowl franchise opened its new location with a grand opening on Feb. 21, drawing in over 250 customers eager to feel the summery vibes that Playa Bowls has to offer. The grand opening was complete with free bowls for the first 100 visitors, a DJ and a visit from Cowboy Cannolis for the customers in line.

Owner Henry Anderson has been eyeing Knoxville as a location since the franchise’s beginning. Anderson also owns locations in downtown Nashville and Murfreesboro.

“Knoxville was probably, like, my top market that I wanted to focus on. I thought that the UT campus, somewhere close to campus, would be a great spot for a Playa Bowls. There’s a lot of students here that live out of state and they already know what the brand is. So getting a spot close to campus where we’re on the strip here, and we have students walking down and back all the time,” Anderson said.

Placing importance on clean, healthy options, Playa Bowls has something for everyone. It offers a large variety of acai bowls, smoothies, juices, oatmeal and cold brew. If you can’t decide what you want, you can also customize and make your own creation.

“I think what sets us apart from just like a regular acai shop, is the fact that we have six different bases. We have acai, mango, coconut, and banana. We have a green base that has some kale in it. And then we also have pitaya. And then we’ll always have different limited time specials, seasonal specials,” Anderson said.

The large range of options leave customers coming back for more, eager to try new things. The most popular acai bowls are the Nutella Bowl and the Pura Vida Bowl.

Inside the new Knoxville location, the walls are decorated with a blend of beachy scenes, local tie-ins and an overall unique aesthetic.

“We try to make it kind of a nice beachy chill vibe, so it feels a lot different than a clean modern smoothie shop or something. We try to make it feel like it’s different. Our muralist did a great job of setting that vibe,” Anderson said.

That vibe has been received by students, and word has spread fast.

“I think that it’s going to do really well in the upcoming spring and summer months when people are going to be thinking of going to the pool and the quarry. I think especially the timing is gonna be really good for their business, and also the location is definitely going to help out with it being right in the middle of the dorms and the apartments. They can get a demographic of all of the grades,” freshman Jenny Jaros said.

This beachy vibe also extends to their products, where they pride themselves on finding the cleanest and healthiest options for their customers.

“We try to source the highest quality strawberries, blueberries, all the produce, and then all of our smoothies don’t use any granulated sugar that we’re dumping in. We don’t have a bunch of additives. It’s just a very clean menu,” Anderson said.

This clean and healthy alternative right on Cumberland Avenue is rare, and Playa Bowls is excited to continue to grow in this new space.

“I think it’s really something that we need on campus, because we have a lot of fast food, and that’s not as fresh. I feel like having something like Playa Bowls is really beneficial, and it’s a good location, so I’m really happy about it,” Jaros said.

As this new Playa Bowls location gets their footing, their priority is always the students and the UT campus.

“We’re just excited to be here … we really want to get involved in the school and the community supporting different organizations, different groups, different teams on campus. Always happy to get involved,” Anderson said.