Nestled in the corner of Town and Country Village, Palmetto Superfoods takes custom açaí bowls and smoothies to the next level!
CEO of Palmetto and San Francisco native Charles Lee created Palmetto after being inspired by his favorite açaí dish at a SF Brazilian restaurant, “Cafe de Casa.” He and Cafe de Casa’s owners, Thaís Moreira and Amanda Moreira, created a vision centered around Brazilian açaí and other superfoods and expanded it down the Peninsula, starting with Inner Richmond San Francisco.
Palmetto has taken the Bay Area by storm, establishing five locations so far, with plans to further expand.
Palmetto opened in Town and Country, Palo Alto, in April 2023 and has been thriving ever since. Town and Country general manager Kasey Orduna said, “Palmetto started off as a very small business, so it was pretty difficult to turn a profit, but as we expanded to different locations, it got easier.”
Conveniently located next to Palo Alto High School and Stanford University, it offers the perfect mid-day snack to local students and faculty alike. “It’s really fun to manage the Town and Country location, especially because I get to work with a lot of high school and college students,” Orduna said.
Palmetto stands head-and-shoulders above its competition of smoothie hubs in the Bay Area because of its fresh ingredients, affordability, and creativity. Orduna said, “All of our fruits are delivered every single morning and the toppings are all organic. The fruits are locally sourced and the granola is homemade. We can also cater to any dietary restriction or allergy.”
Orduna continued, “Our main goal is to offer healthy and more affordable alternatives to our customers.”
Walking in, we were instantly struck by the cheerful music and modern decor flanking the walls of Palmetto. With smiley staff eager to offer samples, Palmetto’s service alone sets it apart from other açaí eateries in Palo Alto.
After perusing the menu items, we approached the touchscreen kiosk to begin customizing our açaí bowls and chose from an array of refreshing smoothie bases. The wide range of bases—something many açaí restaurants do not offer— included regular açaí, pitaya, coconut, tropical spirulina, passionate mango, and more. Not only does Palmetto offer its signature bowls and smoothies, but it also presents the unique option of customizing your order.
Next up, the kiosk asked us to select which of the homemade granola we wanted to top the bases with. We were then prompted to select fruits to balance out the nutty granola, with Palmetto boasting tropical fruit options as well as seasonal fresh fruit. We also were given the option to add freshly made nut butter to our bowls.
Finally, we added a little crunch to our afternoon snack in the form of delicious toppings. There were plenty of unique options, including their gluten-free and vegan choco-churro granola and caotella butter, a mixture of cacao, maple, and almond butters.
The first bowl we ordered had smoothie bases of pitaya, passionate mango, Tropical Spirulina, and Chia Pudding. The honey-almond granola we added balanced the fresh fruit we topped our bowl with strawberries, banana, pineapple, kiwi, and mango.
The second bowl we ordered had bases of açaí and coconut beach, topped with strawberries, bananas, kiwi, peanut butter, coconut and almond flakes, and cacao nibs. The two sweet bases paired with the salty coconut and almond toppings balanced each other out perfectly. If you want your bowl to serve more as a meal, add nut butter for more protein!
Although we ordered medium-sized, 16-ounce bowls costing $13.25 each, the helpings were generous enough to keep us filled for hours.
Palmetto proved to be the affordable, healthy, and convenient açaí-hub it’s known for. The ample base flavors, varying fruit toppings, and fully customizable experience certainly didn’t disappoint. If you’re in the mood for a fresh smoothie or a delicious açaí bowl, check out Palmetto!
