Healthy food options in the Myrtle Beach area are about to expand this summer with the addition of a Sweetberry franchise in Carolina Forest.
The owners are preparing the interior of a 1,200-square-foot space for an opening that is expected by Aug. 1 at The Shoppes at Forest Square Shopping Center on Carolina Forest Boulevard, just off U.S. 501.
A late July opening is a possibility, depending on the timing of construction, permitting and inspections.
Sweetberry is a healthy fast-casual restaurant chain founded in New Jersey with 13 locations across six states.
The restaurant will specialize in custom acai bowls, coconut bowls, super green bowls, pitaya (dragon fruit) bowls, poke bowls, smoothies, wraps, salads and “good vibes.”
Owners Anthony Jadra and Peter Polgar both moved south to Myrtle Beach – Jadra from Maryland and Polgar from New Jersey – in the past couple years after semi-retiring from businesses they owned.
“There’s not a whole lot of healthy eating choices here, and the acai and smoothie type stuff is taking off and people are beginning to be a little more conscious of some of the food they’re eating, so we thought why not? This looks like a great opportunity,” Jadra said. “We’re both kind of young to retire so we took some time to come up with something we thought we’d like to do.”
Jadra and Polgar hope to open a second location on the north side of Carolina Forest Blvd. near International Boulevard and River Oaks Drive. Jadra said they are currently negotiating a lease.
“When we did our demographic study the numbers showed that because of the amount of houses they’re building per year and the way the developments are we should be able to support both stores,” Jadra said.
Poke bowl options include tofu, salmon, tunea, shrimp and chicken, and wrap options include chicken Caesar, buffalo chicken, veggie and a Popeye wrap with grilled chicken, spinach, feta cheese and balsamic vinaigrette.
Bowls can be tailored to breakfast such as oatmeal bowls, including a Havana Oat bowl with strawberry, blueberry and honey.
Most items can be customized to a customer’s liking.
“This franchise’s culture is very happy. It’s a very cool culture,” co-owner Anthony Jadra said. “People are going to love working there because of the promotion we do. People are first and we’re going to do a lot with the community. We just think the type of food and our business model is going to fit very well with people in Myrtle Beach and the Carolina Forest area.”
Alan Blondin covers golf, Coastal Carolina university and athletics, and numerous other sports-related topics that warrant coverage. Well-versed in all things Myrtle Beach, Horry County and the Grand Strand, the 1992 Northeastern University journalism school valedictorian has been a reporter at The Sun News since 1993 after working at papers in Texas and Massachusetts. He has earned eight top-10 Associated Press Sports Editors national writing awards and 20 top-three S.C. Press Association writing awards since 2007.
