Founded only about two and half years ago, “Miami’s home grown acai restaurant” Ernie’s Acai Bowls is growing startlingly quick. The brand started the year with three locations—in Coral Gables, Pinecrest, and Miami Lakes—and, just last week, it launched a fourth in Miami Beach’s Sunset Harbor neighborhood, at 1935 West Ave, Suite 102.
“We’re a homegrown brand,” co-owner Andrew Platt told What Now on Friday. Platt is a partner in the company with founder Hernando Caicedo. “We’ve done it very bootstrap, with no fancy bank backing, no paid influencers, no PR. It’s the old way of working; word of mouth, great business, great product.”
The product is genuinely unique. Ernie’s proprietary acai blend is made using five fruit juices and nothing more, Platt says. It’s processed by a custard machine, making it appear almost like ice cream. But in fact, thanks to its unique preparation, Ernie’s acai blend contains much less sugar than those of its competitors and melts a lot slower.
The menu features acai bowl varieties like The Automatic (topped with strawberries, banana, granola, honey), Chocolisto (topped with strawberries, shaved chocolate, cashews, granola, honey, chocolate coconut oil), and Ernie’s Delight (topped with granola, pineapple, blueberries, strawberries, cashews, golden raisins). You can also build your own, choosing from a wide variety of toppings.
Having now expanded to its fourth location, Ernie’s acai is already at work on a fifth: Platt says the brand signed a lease for a new location in Boca Raton this week.
You can keep up with all things Ernie’s Acai by following @erniesacai on Instagram.
