The Purple Bowl, the downtown Chapel Hill eatery specializing in acai bowls, will be expanding its retail space next month.
Owned by 2009 Chapel Hill High School alumnus Taylor Gilland, the cafe—located at 306-B West Franklin Street—will take over the vacant suite next door, formerly home to Toppers Pizza.
“We want there to be more of an ‘eat here’ aspect to Purple Bowl,” Taylor Gilland said.
The increased space will allow the business to expand the menu and focus more upon catering, in addition to providing more physical space for the staff.
“We are hoping to have more comfortable space for workers,” Paula Gilland, manager of the café, said.
Taylor Gilland noted the expansion will allow the business to focus more upon its coffee and espresso offerings, as well as bring the Purple Bowl’s offerings to other area stores.
“We want to invest more in our coffee and espresso business and potentially expand the menu. We also want to start selling our energy ball products to other retailers,” he said.
With the new spacing, the Purple Bowl will feature a more spacious—and environmentally friendly—dining room; the restaurant does not currently have a dishwasher, so all food orders are served in biodegradable, disposable containers.
With the expanded space, dine-in customers will have more room to enjoy their meals, and—with the addition of a dishwasher—the food will be served on non-disposable plates and bowls with reusable cutlery.
“We want to reduce our impact to carbon neutral and this is an important step,” Taylor Gilland said. “[The expansion will] allow us to use reusable bowls and such.”
The expansion process is set to happen in mid-May.
