Love acai bowls and smoothies? This juice bar is opening 2 more spots in SLO County

The south end of San Luis Obispo will get a new acai and juice bar next spring, and the same company will open a shop in Paso Robles before that in September.

The Neighborhood Acai and Juice Bar will join a host of other eateries set to open at the new SLO Public Market at 120 Tank Farm Road in spring 2019. A second location in downtown Paso Robles is scheduled to open in September at 811 13th St.

Cal Poly alumni Chris Herrera and Doug Wells opened the original Neighborhood Acai and Juice Bar at 973 E. Foothill Blvd., Suite 107, in San Luis Obispo in 2015.

“We are beyond excited to join the SLO Open Market team and can’t wait to bring delicious plant based food to south SLO,” Herrera said. “We are also expanding our menu to more plant based savory foods for the Paso shop, which is double the size of our (existing) SLO location.”

The Neighborhood Acai and Juice Bar offers acai bowls, organic cold pressed juices, smoothies and plant-based foods.

The business currently has 12 employees and it’s starting to hire another 14 to 16 employees for its Paso Robles location in a few weeks, Herrera said.

The business has continued to grow its sales by 10 percent or more year over year, Herrera said.

The Neighborhood’s menu contains a “powerful sources of antioxidants, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals and other health-promoting properties,” SLO Public Market spokeswoman Shala Schultz said in a news release.

Herrera and Wells get their foods from suppliers including local farmers. They cater as well.

The Neighborhood Acai and Juice Bar will occupy a spot inside the historic Granary, which was part of the original Bonetti Ranch on Tank Farm Road and is being reconstructed.

Other businesses already signed on as commercial tenants of SLO Public Market include Mixed Company cocktail lounge and shop, High Street Deli, Kraken Coffee Co., Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co., Negranti Creamery and Central Coast Creamery.

This story was originally published August 7, 2018 at 1:40 PM.