ST. MARTIN, Miss. (WLOX) — A business in the St. Martin community is serving smoothie bowls with a Caribbean influence.
Coastal Bowls, located on Lemoyne Boulevard, specializes in acai bowls. The menu includes blended smoothies and smoothie bowls made with a thick, frozen base topped with fruit, granola, and a drizzle of honey or Nutella.
“Acai is a fruit that is recognized for having many antioxidants and many things to help your body,” owner Carolina Matos said.
Matos said the shop offers several flavor options beyond acai.
“We also wanted to introduce some other options. We have the acai bowls, coconut cream bowls, blue cream, the dragon fruit is very popular, the matcha green tea, passion fruit and mango have been popular over the summer. They’re all dairy-free and also not too many filler ingredients, they are very clean,” Matos said.
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Matos said the space was plain when she first moved in. In April 2024, she and her husband began renovations.
“I wanted it to be a colorful and welcoming environment. As soon as you enter the place, it would feel like you were somewhere relaxing and meant to be enjoyed by friends and family,” Matos said.
Renovations were completed by July, and Coastal Bowls opened to the public.
Matos is from Puerto Rico, where acai bowls became popular.
“In my teen years, acai bowls started to become popular in Puerto Rico, and they are so so good. Then all of a sudden you had an acai bowl right around the corner — of every part of Puerto Rico you could get an acai bowl,” Matos said.
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Matos said acai bowls are not originally from Puerto Rico but became a staple there.
“Even though acai bowls are not originally from Puerto Rico, they became very popular, and I would say even a staple of Puerto Rico, even though they are originally from Brazil,” Matos said.
Coastal Bowls is located at 15701 Lemoyne Boulevard in the St. Martin community.
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