An acai bowl shop will soon debut its fruity beach-themed bowls in Johnson County.
New Jersey-based Playa Bowls will celebrate its grand opening on Saturday in Prairie Village.
Cynthia Duncan, local franchise owner of Playa Bowls, said the event will offer festivities like a live DJ, custom T-shirts, free bowls for the first 50 guests in line.
Playa Bowls is opening at 6927 Tomahawk Road
- The shop moved into a space at the Shops of Prairie Village, just off 71st Street and Mission Road.
- Real estate agency Malfer & Associates previously occupied that space.
- The shop is also near French Market and The Little Gym.
Playa Bowls offers “a taste of beach vibes”
The menu at Playa Bowls features bowls with a range of bases, from acai and pitaya to coconut and banana.
Some of the pre-curated base and topping combinations include the “Pura Vida” (acai topped with blueberry flax granola, strawberry, blueberry, and honey) and the “mango power” (mango blended with vanilla protein and topped with blueberry flax granola, banana and peanut butter).
In addition to bowls, the menu at Playa Bowls also features juices and smoothies.
“You really can taste the difference in the ingredients,” Duncan said. “We source our acai directly from Brazil, and everything is just incredibly fresh.”
This marks the first Playa Bowls in Johnson County
The Prairie Village shop also serves as the first Playa Bowls shop in the wider Kansas City metro area.
The brand was founded roughly a decade ago by Abby Taylor and Rob Giuliani, New Jersey natives and surfers.
Beyond its first store, Duncan is already eyeing local expansion — potentially in Overland Park and Lawrence.
She and her husband, Steven Duncan, were inspired to bring the concept to their native Johnson County after frequent trips to the shop during vacations in Florida.
“It got to the point where we’d ask our kids, ‘What are you most excited about for vacation? And my daughter would say, ‘Playa Bowls’,” she said.
Since signage went up outside of the new Prairie Village shop, she said, many visitors at the Shops of Prairie Village have stopped and peeked inside — some out of curiosity, others out of excitement.
“(Prairie Village) is a vibrant area, very walkable,” she said. “It just feels like a good place to introduce something like this, that’s fun and fresh and healthy.”
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