Playa Bowls Opens at Cumberland Mall

Playa Bowls at the Cumberland Mall opened recently. It is a popular, Jersey Shore-founded chain serving customizable, vibrant smoothie and superfruit bowls (like acai, pitaya, coconut) and smoothies, using fresh ingredients for a healthy, beachy vibe, often with toppings like fruit, granola, nut butters, and honey, appealing to various dietary needs. 

The Playa Bowls™ concept is the vision of founders Robert Giuliani and Abby Taylor—both Jersey Shore natives and  long-time surfers. 

Abby grew up in Ocean Township surfing the beaches of Monmouth County, while Rob grew up surfing in Ocean County. They were inspired by chasing summer on surf trips to Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, California and Hawaii. Almost every exotic surf town they visited offered their own unique version of an acai or pitaya bowl. 

They decided to recreate their favorite recipes with their own twist at home at the Jersey Shore. Eleven years ago, they made a deal with the owner of the pizza shop they lived above on 8th Avenue in Belmar. They bought a blender, a patio table, a fridge and a freezer and set up a makeshift pop-up stand on the sidewalk in front of the pizza shop. They spent a lot of time and effort telling their story and educating customers on the benefits of acai. As word spread of this creative and intuitive pop-up stand, people stood in line on the side of Ocean Avenue to see what Playa Bowls was all about. Rob and Abby realized it was time to take their growing business to the next level.

Hours at the mall are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Playa Bowls is located directly behind Red Lobster restaurant.