There's a new acai bowl joint coming to East Memphis. Here's what to expect

There’s a delicious new acai bowl restaurant coming soon to East Memphis.

Playa Bowls (pronounced like plywood, not play) is a rapidly expanding acai bowl chain opening in East Memphis on May 11. Located at 706 S. Mendenhall Road, it’s set to be the first location in both Memphis and Tennessee.

The new franchise is owned and operated by Jack Speed and Amy Lupo, herself the owner of the local Nothing Bundt Cakes locations. During a vacation to Del Ray Beach in January 2022, the two visited a Playa Bowls for the first time, and quickly decided they had to open a location back home. Speed and Lupo said it’s the high quality of their bowls that separate them from the competition.

“Bowls are the focus. A lot of other places do bowls, but they don’t focus on bowls," Speed said. "The couple that started this business 10 years ago, they started sourcing only the best products they could get their hands on. For example, our acai comes directly from Brazil; no additives, it's not watered down, no juices added to it, nothing like that, so it’s a high-quality base.

While they tried and considered other brands before committing to opening a store, Speed said there was “no comparison” to Playa. “For us it came down 100% to the quality of the product, and something that we could stand behind,” Lupo said.

For the uninitiated, acai bowls, or smoothie bowls, are healthy snack foods comprised mainly of fruit. One of eight different base blends rests at the bottom, such as coconut, acai or pitaya. The base is stacked with all kinds of fruit: strawberries, kiwi, pineapples, etc. Finally, they can be topped with things like nuts, granola, seeds, peanut butter, chocolate or Nutella, depending on how healthy you want to be.

Half and half bowls, which split the base into two flavors, are available for those who want to share, something the duo advises. The bowls are more filling than they appear at first glance.

Playa Bowls’ most popular bowl, as well as Speed’s favorite, is the Nutella acai bowl, which comes with Strawberries, banana slices, coconut flakes and of course, Nutella. Lupo’s favorite is something a little more complex, owing to the customizability of Playa’s bowls.

“I kind of like to make my own bowl, because there’s very specific things I like on top of it,” she said. “My favorite’s probably an acai base with bananas, strawberries, blueberries and almond butter on top.”

Playa Bowls also offers a selection of juices, coffee and smoothies. The smoothies are exclusively made with frozen fruit and a milk base – ice is never added, making the drinks rich in flavor and packed with more fruit than the usual smoothie.

Lupo said there’s two additional locations coming to Memphis in late 2025, first in Arlington, and later in Collierville. They’re also exploring further opportunities for expansion in 2026 and beyond. So far in East Memphis, the new location has created 27 jobs, with this being the first job for about a quarter of employees.

Speed and Lupo are both clearly excited to get started. Speed said their door is constantly being opened by guests asking if they've opened yet. A good sign of what's to come.

"We're just really excited to be here, really excited to be a part of the community, and meet our new guests," Lupo said.

Playa Bowls opens Saturday, May 11 at 10 p.m. The first 50 people in line get a free bowl and t-shirt.

Jacob Wilt is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal. You can reach him at jacob.wilt@commercialappeal.com.

Playa Bowls

Address: 706 S Mendenhall Road

Hours: Sunday-Saturday 7 a.m.-8 p.m.

Online: www.playabowls.com

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Bowls and smoothies: everything you can expect from Playa Bowls