Boost Bowls — Restaurant in Newtown

I've been looking for a decent acai bowl place near my mom's house for a while now, and I've found it. We stopped by for lunch this past Saturday after an excellent estate sale a few blocks away (very reasonably priced teacups); my mother has never had acai before so this was a pretty notable moment in time. These have been a regular part of my diet for years now, and both the exterior and interior of this establishment are super reminiscent of the NJ-based Playa Bowls chain - kind of a beachy, almost tiki bar vibe. We came in around 1:15pm, and it was fairly busy but not a significant wait to order or receive our food.

The menu is pretty diverse (offering bowls, smoothies, sandwiches, salads, etc.) but it IS limited in terms of the specific types of bowls they offer. A Playa Bowl easily has 20 or so listed bowls, but Boost relies more on their build-your-own bowl concept. Not a negative per se, but something to keep in mind if you typically rely on those pre-designed options. I could tell it was a little overwhelming for my mother (who is not their target demo, to be fair), but she figured it out. I went with an acai bowl, featuring strawberries, bananas and peanut butter. Each bowl comes with granola, but I think they should make that more obvious on the menu; my mother was caught off guard and didn't actually want granola due to some recent dental drama, though I saw a small, almost throwaway line about it. Other bowl places I've been to just list granola as one of the ingredients each time, which is probably the better option. The other mild issue is that they don't have different sizes for the bowls - all of them are basically large. It was a big serving and we didn't totally finish ours.

The bowl itself was tasty. I think Playa is a LITTLE better; I'm not sure if it's because Playa has a sweeter acai, which is my preference. I've noticed that my palate isn't insanely pro vegan when it comes to these types of meals, though they do mix in bananas and pineapple to the acai to give it more of a taste. The fruit was fresh and all of the options within the bowl were legit servings - nothing was skimped on.

For some reason I also thought it was a good idea to order avocado toast. I don't know why - bowls are filling. I went with the Avoseed Toast, which was good. I think if I did it again, I'd opt out of the balsamic glaze since it's such a strong flavor and always seems to crowd out the other ingredients. But it's a generous helping (which was definitely a theme of this visit) and I didn't come close to finishing it because I basically ate a meal first. That's on me.

The service was really good. As mentioned, the employees behind the counter did have other customers on the premises and were clearly dealing with numerous orders at the same time as ours. Even with that though, it took less than 10 minutes to get everything, which was reasonable to me under the circumstances. I'm starting to be much more aware of how my parents are treated by staff at places like this as they're getting older and aren't necessarily "ideal fits" for this type of business model, but the girl behind the counter was very nice and patient. Thumbs up in that regard.

Very solid, healthy option if you don't feel like shoving the nearby excellent Detroit-style pizza at Good Old Days down your gullet. Just don't order two meals...

We had the worst experience. If the situation we were in was handle differently, we wouldn’t be writing this review.

This was my first time going with my kids. I had never heard of this place before and was excited to try some healthy items for my kids.

We had planned to meet a few moms and kids here to complete a craft. We prepped - bringing plastic coverings to ensure we didn’t get anything on their furniture, all with washable supplies and plenty of adult supervision. We understand there could have been some hesitation so we wanted to ensure we were respectful of their space.

We had asked the girls if it was ok - stating we were doing a craft while the kids would be having their smoothies and bowls. The girls looked unsure and called their manager/ owner. There was some confusion - stating it seems we were setting up a party. We made it VERY clear we were not setting up a party, nor bringing outside food. And let me be clear, we had already bought $40 or more worth of food/ drinks with more people coming.

The owner, Val, wanted to speak to someone. I answered politely and Val wanted clarification - which I would have happily provided IF Val had let me speak without talking over me. Val not once gave me a moment to explain what was going on, continuing to talk despite wanting clarification. I stated we were leaving and to not worry.

The 3 young girls working were nothing but sweet, polite, and kind. Understandable that they were put in the middle and this is not a reflection of them at all. The owner, Val, is all this review is a reflection of. If we had to opportunity to speak our side, and if it still was going to be an issue, then we would have understood.

But, for the pure fact that Val had done nothing but speak over me and not even want to get clarification was enough to lose my business, our family and friends business. One of our group owns a local company, another manages a local company, we all work locally with the community. We will be sharing our experience with others.

It’s a shame that a local business could have such a lack of customer service to handle situations...

Hi! I have been a long time client of Boost bowls in Newtown mainly also Bettel when I’m there. I have so much to say but I’ll keep it short. From the owners to the owners brother in law Kevin I adore them all!! They are like family. They are family. I must pay the mortgage at one of the locations because I either uber it when I can’t get there or go EVERY SINGLE DAY!! It’s that good. The other “bowl” places are filled with sugar. Boost is not!!! When I uber it my angel girls at the at Newtown (bethel too they are my family) but Newtowwn usually us where I go and uber from my sweet girls that I truly adore write me little notes of love and inspiration and it literally brings tears of joy every morning. They are so beautiful inside out. They shine. I’ll never be able to thank them enough!! It’s makes everyday of mine. I love you so much. Lily, Jordan, Maddy in Newtown you are my heart. Thank you. I adore you so much. My hearts...