Everbowl held its grand opening at Sacramento State's River Front Center on Tuesday, bringing layered acai bowls, smoothies, and sweet and savory toasts to a campus dining scene that already includes national chains and regional favorites. The fast-casual superfood brand, built around ingredients like chia seeds, spirulina, and hemp seeds, is the latest addition to a university food lineup that keeps expanding alongside record student enrollment.
Josh Feldman, who owns the River Front Center location, said the placement was deliberate. “Opening at the Riverfront puts us right where students live, so grabbing something better-for-you is as easy as stepping out of the residence halls,” Feldman said in a statement, as reported by the Sacramento Bee. Feldman described Everbowl as a fast-casual superfood brand, and the Bee's reporting is the main source behind most of the opening-day details in this story.
Everbowl isn't stopping at one Sac State storefront. A second location inside the University Union is scheduled to open in fall 2026, and that outpost is already hiring staff, according to the same report. Sacramento State sits at 6000 J St., and the campus's food offerings now span both ends of the grounds, from the River Front Center on the north side to the University Union to the south.
A Crowded Campus Dining Scene
Everbowl joins an already varied roster of eateries at Sac State, including national names like Panda Express and The Habit Burger Grill alongside regional concepts such as Midtown Taqueria and Choolaah Indian BBQ, per the university's own dining directory. Those retail vendors operate under an arrangement in which auxiliary organization University Enterprises, Inc. manages campus dining and contracts with foodservice operator Aramark to run the retail food vendors across campus. UEI awarded that dining management contract to Aramark following a competitive proposal process in 2020.
Students paying for their bowls have several options: cash, credit cards, Apple Pay, or the university's student OneCard flex funds, which are built directly into Sac State's campus dining system. That flexibility matters on a campus that just hit a post-COVID record, with fall 2025 enrollment reaching 31,307 students after a spring 2025 enrollment of 30,164, according to Sacramento State. The university says its enrollment has grown 6.7% over the past decade through expanded outreach and new academic programs, a trend that keeps foot traffic high across dining hubs like the River Front Center and University Union.
A Brand Built on Celebrity Backing and Rapid Growth
Everbowl was founded in 2016 and has grown to more than 100 locations nationwide. The chain is headquartered in Carlsbad and was built by CEO Jeff Fenster around a trademarked “Unevolve” philosophy centered on unrefined, natural superfoods, according to VoyageKC Magazine. Fenster initially opened corporate-owned stores before shifting to a national franchise model in 2020.
That expansion has leaned on star power. NBA All-Star Jayson Tatum has purchased Everbowl stores and co-designed an Everbowl-themed Jordan sneaker, while retired NFL quarterback Drew Brees has also backed the brand, VoyageKC reports. Those celebrity partnerships have helped Everbowl scale past 100 locations, with more than 100 additional stores reportedly in development.
Sac State now joins a growing list of major university campuses hosting Everbowl outposts, including Arizona State University, San Diego State University, the University of Arizona, and Ole Miss, according to Everbowl's own job listings. SDSU added its campus Everbowl back in 2019, part of a pattern the company has followed at colleges nationwide — including in Hoodline's earlier coverage of an Everbowl launch in Pearl City, Hawaii, where franchise owners handed out roughly 300 free acai bowls to line-waiting customers during an April soft opening.
Regulatory and Neighborhood Context
Not all of Everbowl's news this year has been about growth. Environmental Health Advocates, Inc. issued a Proposition 65 notice of violation to Everbowl in September 2025, alleging chemical exposure to bisphenol S from thermal paper transaction receipts at California stores, according to filings with the California Department of Justice. Proposition 65 requires warnings or remedies for consumer exposures to chemicals on the state's regulated list.
The new campus location also arrives amid other shifts near Sac State's borders. The commercial property owner of Element Student Living, a major off-campus housing complex serving Sac State undergraduates, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May amid lender disputes, Hoodline previously reported. That complex provides furnished housing and shuttle access for students living near campus, underscoring how the neighborhood around Sac State continues to shift even as new retail dining options move in.
