My husband and I have visited a few times. We were lucky yesterday (Friday) around 530pm and found parking in front of the store. No line when we walked in, too. Always lots of choices for drinks and fruit bowls. I ordered a matcha replacing the banana with mango and replacing coconut with almond milk. My husband got a mermaid mango bowl and matcha green with mango and almond milk. Consistently a clean shop and the staff are friendly. Restrooms are single-occupancy and for customers only (require a code to use). Always nice to get a window seat while we enjoy our smoothies and fruit We will definitely be back again! read more

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This is located on the campus of the University of Florida. It is conveniently placed right off the road. They have a parking lot where you pay cents to park for a short amount of time. When you walk inside, it is very cute. There is several seating areas at tables and by the window. There is a plethora of options to choose from on their menu. I made my own bowl. You can tell that all of their items are fresh. My bowl consisted of half mango and half açai base with banana, pineapple, strawberry, and peanut butter. read more

Playa Bowls - Juice Bars & Smoothies Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

This was our first time ordering from this place and from this chain. We really liked it -- very tasty, huge portions. One bowl is enough for two people. The only thing I didn't like in my bowl was the açaí base. It had an unpleasant aftertaste -- it felt like it wasn't very fresh and had been stored in the freezer for a long time, as it had that kind of flavor. Otherwise, everything was great. Sorry, 4 stars. read more

Playa Bowls - Nutella Bowl - Juice Bars & Smoothies Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

Can't go wrong with a Playa Bowl or a fresh juice. This location is clean and Busy. Very Busy. Sometimes they forget about an order, so a gentle reminder may be needed. Overalll, great for a quick bite. Indoor seating available. Fun seasonal stickers are available and fun merchandise for purchase. read more

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I decided to stop by today into Playa Bowls for a refreshing treat post mid-day walk. Since the students aren't in town, parking was not an issue. I have not had Playa Bowls in a while since I lived in South Florida, but immediately loved the interior and bright coloring of the building. The menu is very extensive and can be intimidating if you have never have a smoothie bowl, however they do offer samples of the base bowl flavors. The bases ranges from traditional acai, pitaya, coconut, mango and more. There's something here for everyone's taste buds here. I went with the dragon berry bowl which was a pitaya base with strawberries, blueberries, honey, and granola. It was $11 which isn't bad at all. While I waited I noticed some students taking pics against their picture worthy walls. I waited for about 5 minutes and decided to take it outside to the nice seating area near the business. Even with this Florida heat, I was surprisingly pleased that the base did not melt once I started eating it. Playa Bowls states that they use organic ingredients and the base has black seeds like a dragon fruit. It wasn't sweet or have a remarkable taste to it. However, the toppings were so fresh and ripe. The granola was so crunchy and tasty. I really enjoyed this bowl for a sunny Saturday afternoon. I will return before the fall semester begins to try out the coconut base or the traditional acai base. read more

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I have received two Ubers orders that were incorrect. The first time I ignored it. But I ordered a second time with a friend and they got both of our orders wrong. And both times the orders were made the ticket reads what the correct order. It's robbery to not get the modifications on my smoothies bowl that I paid for. I tried calling the store but a busy dial tone is heard and I've searched other platforms for the phone number. So that's why I'm writing a review. read more

Playa Bowls - 2nd time I ordered - Juice Bars & Smoothies Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

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I usually love acai bowls but I was not a big fan of this one. The texture was great and the fruit on top was very fresh & ripe, but there was some taste in there that was just off to me and it made it difficult to eat. I'm thinking it was either the granola or the acai base, but I just really didn't like that taste. The inside of the place is very cute and has a fun beach vibe, and the service is very quick. I just wish I liked the bowls more! read more

Playa Bowls - 8th Ave Acai Bowl + strawberries and peanut butter - Juice Bars & Smoothies Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

This health conscious chain serving smoothies and healthy bowls located in Gainesville has sustainability and community in mind. The decor is clean, bright and tropical. I ordered the Aloha Smoothie. It was good but did take a while to make. The flavor could have been better. read more

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love plays bowls so much guys. i tried their summer special bowl and it was really good! you should definitely try it if you like pineapple!!! the workers were super friendly and everything came out super fast!! their menu has a really wide variety so there's something for everyone!! read more

Playa Bowls - Juice Bars & Smoothies Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

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I really hate to give this place less than 5 stars. I've visited a couple of times now, and I lovveeee the variety of made to order smoothie bowls!! The menu is massive, and as someone who loves a good smoothie bowl (hi, it's me! Lol) I was honestly so excited the first time I visited with a friend. The service was good imo, cashiers were friendly enough, and our orders came out correct. My smoothie bowl was delicious and sooo filling, it was decadent like a dessert. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I love that you can choose your base: açai, pitaya, banana, kale, or you can mix and match! I'm obsessed with the sheer number of toppings and add-ins as well. My dislikes are small but will unfortunately keep me from coming back as often as I would like though: Location, location, location. It's very very close to the university, which in itself isn't a bad thing BUT parking? Impossible to find. Like, it's really really bad. If you have a car and plan to drive here, plan to spend extra time looking for parking. I can't forget to mention that they aggressively ticket in this neighborhood. One last small thing I would note is the noise level: It's very loud. Not so loud that you can't hold a conversation, but loud enough to notice. I wouldn't be able to study or work here personally, but it's a nice place for a quick lunch date with a friend. This is probably a place for college students, given the location. I just haven't been able to find a comparable place in GNV. Maybe I'll make the trek to their Jacksonville location, bc this is such an excellent concept. read more

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I heard so much about this place and decided to try a playa bowl for my lunch. I selected the Pura Vida bowl and it was very fresh and filling. The place is very cute but I did pick up due to some errands that day, once I reached my destination I actually ended up eating it in the car. I will definitely return. read more

Wow, delicious acai bowls! Must go hungry because they are massive. Seem really clean ingredients. Also were very fast, ordered online easily and picked up within 10min. read more

Really good açaí bowls here! my friend was raving about this place, so I decided to try it. However, they were out of all things banana flavor today, which was kind of sad. The workers were very nice and accommodating, though. I got the power bowl which was good but it would've been better with banana instead of blueberries. Really awesome vibe in here. Makes me feel like I'm in Hawaii! read more

Playa Bowls - Power Acai Bowl - Juice Bars & Smoothies Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

went here again recently and though wait time is better, they messed up my order 3 times and i had to ask them to remake it properly (they would scrape off whatever they messed up and transfer the rest in to a new bowl, with half of the base still left in the other bowl. i did not pay $13 to get a crappy bowl????). on top of that my friend got incredibly sick after eating her bowl, was throwing up like crazy. she was the only one with passionfruit base so i'm thinking it's old and being reused from summer. read more

I love playa bowls! The açaí is so incredibly delicious but i personally always go for the coconut bowl with vanilla whey protein bc the base is so yummy. I highly recommend getting granola as a topping is always so crunchy and delicious. This Gainesville location gets incredibly busy especially when the weather gets warmer so I will say if you go during peak hours it will be a very annoyingly long wait. I do really appreciate how they have stickers of the month for free though it always keeps me coming back each month! read more

Playa Bowls - Nutelloco bowl - Juice Bars & Smoothies Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

Playa Bowls offers one of the best açaí bowls I've ever had. The combination of high-quality ingredients, excellent service, and inviting atmosphere makes it a standout spot for anyone looking to enjoy a nutritious and delicious treat. I highly recommend giving it a try! read more

Was in there for 20 minutes as both employees continued to work on every online order and ignoring the 15 people in line in front of them, with 5 people leaving the line, and by the time I finally left, I had not seen employees tend to a single customer in the store. Makes no sense to work on every online order (ones that came in WHILE customers in store) with plenty of people waiting. read more

I have visited this location before, but I recently went again a couple weeks ago and had a wonderful experience. The worker Grace did a great job with helping me with the menu and got my order out super fast. Looked and tasted great. The worker had a great vibe and was very smiley. My only concern is it started to get busy in the store while I was eating and there were only 2 workers to deal with it. There should be more people on staff with how busy that place is! read more

Great bowls , but customer service isn't it. Also wait time is ridiculous most of the time.

I give it four stars because the bowls are great and the workers are pretty nice, but their system is still not super efficient yet. I waited an hour for an açaí bowl which is a bit wild if you think about it for too long. read more

Playa Bowls - a plastic container filled with fruit and nuts - Juice Bars & Smoothies Near Me - Gainesville, Florida

bruh they so slow here like they fr just stand there not doing nothing even when it's not busy...

is way way too slow and overpriced. i have been here countless times and have never gotten my bowl in less than 10 mins, even if there is a person or two ahead of me. every time you go expect to be waiting 20 mins. prices are also unfortunately way too high. read more

This place is so terrible. Every single worker here is so rude and they expect a TIP!! That's crazy. They are idiots here that can't do their job correctly. My açaí bowl took an hour to make! HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE! read more

this is by far the best playa bowls location i've been to yet. sergio, one of the managers has such an uplifting personality that fills the place with good vibes. being in gainesville for school sucks but having a good playa bowls near by makes it all worth it read more

Everytime we come in here they are the rudest, customer service is terrible and expect to wait atleast 45 minutes for a bowl. Seems like the employees all have a stick up their ***. We order a bowl with the gluten free granola and came in 30 minutes after we placed the order online. They still haven't even started it then told me that it's because they have to clean off the entire station before they could start it. Makes no sense cus it's all going in a plastic container so not sure why the station would have to be cleaned off first. Then I said they don't have to clean the whole station because it's just the gluten free granola we wanted. They said it would be awhile still, as I walked away one of the employees whispered so it's not even an allergy? "Why did they even put that ", and the other employee said i know lol and they started laughing and shaking their heads. I told them well I don't wanna wait another 30 minutes for you guys to clean the whole station if you are changing your gloves to put the gluten free granola on. They then ignored me and walked away. Then they did not put allergy stickers on and were confused as to which ones were with the gluten free granola. So rude. read more