A Tampa-born fast-casual chain known for its warm grain bowls is set to open in Valrico this winter, joining Little Greek Fresh Grill and Panera Bread at 3482 Lithia Pinecrest Rd. SoFresh, which serves wraps, quesadillas and bowls built around healthy ingredients, plans to open its doors in December or January.
The Valrico location is being brought to the area by franchisees Mario Canal and his wife, who bring several years of food-industry experience to the venture, according to WhatNow. The couple learned about SoFresh through a close friend who had opened a location in Trinity about a year earlier, and Canal said the decision to plant a store in Valrico centered on the area's nearby gyms and a perceived need for a healthy dining option. “Bringing a clean food option to the area will be great,” Canal said, per the same account.
SoFresh got its start in Tampa in 2013 near the University of South Florida, founded by John Williams. The chain's now-signature warm grain bowls weren't part of the original concept — Williams added them in 2015 after guest feedback, according to SoFresh. Today the brand operates in Arkansas, Florida, Pennsylvania and Tennessee, per WhatNow's report.
What's on the Menu
The Valrico menu will include the Cali Warm Bowl, made with red quinoa, lemon, romaine, black beans, tomatoes, avocado, bacon and sweet citrus mustard. Also on offer: the Asian Fusion Wrap, packed with romaine, broccoli, carrots, onions, green peppers and teriyaki sauce in a multi-grain wrap, and the Hummus Veggie Quesadilla, filled with feta cheese, black beans, onions, green peppers, tomatoes, hummus and tzatziki.
Corporate Growth Behind the Storefront
The Valrico opening comes as SoFresh pushes a broader expansion strategy shaped by former UNC tennis player and Bulk Nation founder Clay Donato, who joined the company as a partner in 2020 to lead its multi-state franchising push, according to SoFresh's own account. The chain now counts 26 open locations with another 14 in active development across six states, and it requires prospective franchisees to show $85,000 in liquidity and a $500,000 net worth to buy in.
Hillsborough County is seeing more than one new SoFresh storefront. Another location is headed to The Yard at Waterset in Apollo Beach, a master-planned commercial development in South Hillsborough County, as reported by the Osprey Observer. Farther afield, SoFresh filed a $374,734 construction permit in April for a 1,373-square-foot space at the Publix-anchored Marketplace at Nocatee in Ponte Vedra, a project Hoodline covered this summer.
A Changing Corridor
SoFresh's arrival lines up with a larger transformation underway at Lithia Crossing, the shopping center along Lithia Pinecrest Road. The plaza is under construction for a 38,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market, only the third in Hillsborough County, replacing the former Fresh Market and Stein Mart spaces, the Osprey Observer reported. That kind of anchor tenant suggests the corridor is shifting toward a health-and-lifestyle retail identity, with SoFresh's warm bowls and wraps fitting neatly alongside it.
The demographics help explain the interest. Valrico recorded a median household income of $104,839 in 2024, well above the national median of $80,734, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The area's population reached 40,239 residents with a median age of 44.5 as of 2024, per Census Reporter — a portrait of an established suburban community with the buying power to support premium fast-casual concepts.
Getting to that new Whole Foods and the incoming SoFresh may not always be quick, though. Lithia Pinecrest Road is known for severe rush-hour congestion, carrying up to 30,000 vehicles a day along its corridor, according to Florida Politics. The Florida Department of Transportation programmed $100 million in funding this past May to widen and add safety features along a 7.5-mile stretch of the road, a project Hoodline detailed in a prior report on the funding.
For now, Valrico residents will have to wait for winter to try SoFresh's bowls and wraps for themselves. Industry benchmarking reports for 2026 show that fast-casual bowl and salad franchises typically require total startup investments between $250,000 and $692,000, with operators generally reaching breakeven within six to 18 months, according to Small Business Trends — figures that offer a sense of what's riding on Canal and his wife's new storefront as it takes shape along one of South Hillsborough's busiest, and busiest-changing, stretches of road.
