A superfood and acai bowl brand that was born in the Garden State is heading toward the Hudson River and will be opening their latest outpost in a space along Chilltown’s waterfront.
Frutta Bowls officially pulled construction permits last month and has begun work renovating their latest storefront at 100 Town Square Place, which will replace one of Newport’s former leasing offices. The café will be directly next to the neighborhood’s PATH station and is the most recent expansion of the company’s franchise, which includes over 50 stores across 14 states as far west as Wisconsin and Louisiana.
Despite their national aspirations, Frutta Bowls has strong Jersey roots. The company was founded by Brooke Gagliano, who spent her college career focused on health, wellness, and sports. She opened the first two Frutta Bowls locations in 2016 near her hometown of Freehold and her family later became involved in the business after the launch.
The brand has rapidly expanded but has also seen struggles; in February this year, Frutta Bowls Franchising LLC filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the District Court of New Jersey. Despite the move, they continue to work on expanding their presence, which includes a just-opened shop in Philadelphia and another upcoming location on Kean University’s campus.
The café serves organic brewed coffee from Pennsylvania’s Golden Valley Farms and features a wide variety of smoothies. Healthier options like a Green Machine with avocado, kale, coconut milk, pineapple, mango, and honey sit alongside a Chocolate Explosion that’s made up of chocolate whey protein, banana, Nutella, peanut butter, and almond milk.
The food menu consists of acai, pitaya, kale, and hot oatmeal bowls including their signature Frutta Bowl, which consists of organic açaí, banana, granola, strawberry, pineapple, kiwi, Nutella, peanut butter, honey, and coconut flakes. The café also serves various toast combinations including a savory avocado with goat cheese, red pepper flakes, sea salt, and sriracha. Frutta Bowls is soy and dairy-free friendly and includes gluten-free bread as an option on their toast menu.
A representative for Frutta Bowls said that the café is hoping to open sometime this summer but does not yet have a firm launch date set.
