Smoothie Bowl Chain Drops First Michigan Outpost in Downtown Detroit

Fast-casual smoothie bowl chain Rush Bowls will drop its first Michigan restaurant in downtown Detroit’s entertainment district next year. Franchisee Beth Lehman confirmed in a release on Wednesday that her first outpost of Colorado-based Rush Bowls is heading to the Ilitch family’s Columbia Street development near the Fox Theatre.

Rush Bowls’ menus features bowls filled with a mixture of fruits, frozen yogurt, acai, granola, and toppings such as graham crackers and honey. There are also lots of smoothies. Lehman told Crain’s in December that she was aiming to open her first location downtown this year — one of five planned for Michigan. Rush Bowls was also reportedly targeting Ann Arbor and East Lansing.

Royal Oak’s Von Staden Architects is designing the first 1,000-square-foot restaurant in the so-called District Detroit. Eater has reached out for more details on the timeline for the opening of the Detroit outpost.

Rush Bowls joins a growing lineup of restaurants filling in the retail space along Columbia Street, which the Ilitches are turning into a pedestrian promenade. Chef Eve Aronoff’s Cuban-influenced Ann Arbor burger spot Frita Batidos is opening in the area in July alongside Middle Eastern restaurant Sahara Restaurant & Grill and an as-of-yet-unnamed Union Joints project. Nearby a new Little Caesars World Headquarters is under construction.

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