Monday, July 10, 2017

[UPDATE] Bowl Lab to Open Tuesday, Grand Opening Planned For Thursday

Bowl Lab, a new quick-serve Hawaiian Poké and Brazilian Açaí bowl concept that ToNeTo Atlanta was first to announce as coming soon this past May, will open its first location this  Thursday in Vinings.  Located in the Vinings Main Retail Centre on Vinings Slope, the new 1,455 square foot eatery opens in place of a former Subway restaurant.

Bowl Lab features a number of different meals in a bowl such as poke, acai and meat bowls.  The restaurant joins a growing number of concepts opening or coming soon to metro Atlanta that feature poke and acai bowls.  

Atlanta based Kale Me Crazy, which started in Inman Park in 2013 and focused on smoothies, juices and acai bowls, has since expanded both its store count and menu offerings to  include poke.  Kale Me Crazy currently has nine locations in Atlanta including Inman Park, Decatur, Midtown Brookhaven, Roswell, Virginia Highland, Sandy Springs, Buckhead, and East Cobb.  New Atlanta area locations are planned for Larkin on Memorial in "East Atlanta," and the Village Green shopping center on Dallas Highway in West Cobb. As I noted earlier this month, Kale Me Crazy opened their first out of state location in Cary, North Carolina late last month. 

Poké Perfect, with U.S. headquarters in Atlanta, opened their first domestic location this past May in downtown Decatur.  A second location is planned for the Westside Provision District in a few weeks will be followed by a third location near Krog Street Market late this year or early next year.  


A number of other poke joints exist around Atlanta including Fish Bowl Poké on Broad Street downtown, Budi's Sushi on Decatur Street near Sweet Auburn, and Poké Bar with a location in Sandy Springs and one coming soon to the Edgewood Retail District.  


Acai bowls are also offered at a number of places around Atlanta including Veda Juice on Peachtree Hills Avenue near the Lindbergh MARTA station, Vitality Bowls, a national franchise with locations in midtown and Peachtree City, and at Upbeet, the new eatery on the Westside from the creators of YEAH! Burger. 


Bowl Lab describes the popularity of the bowl on its website:

"A Bowl Is Used Very Commonly In Asian Cuisine, And Asians Have Been Eating Out Of Bowls For Generations. We Love A Bowl Because Of Its Efficient Way To Eat And Efficient Way To Heap A Bowl With Food. With This Concept, We Aim To Share With Atlanta Community Fun Ways Of Enjoying Bowls. A Bowl Of Fresh, Healthy And Delicious Ingredients! How Can You Not Fall In Love? We Have Come Up With Three Ways To Enjoy A Bowl At Bowl Lab: Poké, Açaí, And Meat. We Purposely Do Not Pre-Marinate, And We Build Your Bowl To Order. There Are Endless Combinations Of Bases, Sauces, And Toppings For You To Customize And Enjoy."     

"Bowl Lab’s Mission Is To Become The Premier Fast-Casual Dining Experience. This Will Be Accomplished By Offering An Unprecedented Experience Coupled With Fresh, Great Quality Food And Reasonable Prices. We Hope To Grow And Be Of Success Together As We Start This New Journey Of The “POKE” Concept."   

Bowl Lab recently launched its full website - it previously just had a splash page - and it's rather nice.  The menu is broken down into sections similar to an earlier iteration of the now defunct Chipotle Mexican Grill concept ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen.     

In recent weeks, Bowl Lab has been advertising heavily on a variety of social media platforms including Instagram and Facebook.     

Korean entrepreneur Steve Taek Jee, is the restaurateur behind Bowl Lab.   

According to the Bowl Lab website, additional locations are planned for  Marietta, Kennesaw, Sandy Springs, Midtown and Buckhead.  The company also has plans for "five additional locations."  It's unclear what the timeline is for any of the additional openings and or if leases have been signed on any of them.       

In celebration of the Grand Opening in Vinings, Bowl Lab is offering all patrons "Buy one, get one free bowls" all day Thursday-Saturday from 11AM until 9PM.  A "soft" opening is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday for lunch only from 11AM to 3PM.   

Are you excited for the opening of of Bowl Lab in Vinings?  Where else would you like to see Bowl Lab open?  Do you think poké has more staying power than fro-yo or is this just a trend?  What do you consider the ideal price for a poké and açaí bowl?     

Please share your thoughts below.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Trendy niche. No thank you to eating at a lab to experiment with food.

fbenario said...

"Budi's Sushi on Decatur Street near Sweet Auburn"

While Budi's is near (4 blocks) the Sweet Auburn Curb Market, it is actually located inside (as opposed to near) Sweet Auburn, if you are referring to the historical district.

Anonymous said...

I give it 6 months.

Anonymous said...

Pretty neat concept! The neighborhood welcomes you. We need more of healthy concepts like this here. Very nice good job Bowl Lab!

Anonymous said...

Ive been waiting for this little spot to open as it's right next to the gym I go to in Vinings. After my workout today I had to go in and try it. The space is on the smaller side but they have utilized it very well. There are a couple tables on the inside as well as outside. They have several different options when it comes to selection. Customers have the option to either build their own bowl or choose one of the pre made selections. This being my first time I went with one of the premade bowls the Hawaiian Unami with spring mix as the base instead of rice which was so delicious with fresh tuna seaweed salad, fresh ginger, cucumber, red and green onion and tossed in soy sauce. I will definitely be back as they have great pre and post workout meal options. If your in the Vinings area this is great place for lunch breakfast or even light take out dinner.

Unknown said...

Please come to Kennesaw location.

Barry Scott said...

I live in Kennesaw and have for the last 31 years. I love a good bowl restaurant and Bowl Lab is the best I can find anywhere in Atlanta. I , on father's day spent hours looking online for bowl restaurants that I have not been to.....there are none...I noticed there was talk about opening one up either in Kennesaw or in the Marietta area. What is the latest news on that front? If this is not the format to get to those who may be able to answer this request, I would appreciate it if you can give me some contact information....My email address is below:

scot1064@bellsouth.net

Barry Scott

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...