Boost Bowls owners Tatiana and Val Mehmeti were Californians — at least, for a little while. After a short stint on the shore, the young couple moved to Connecticut with inspiration and a vision: “duplicate and grow,” as Tatiana put it.

At first, the two opened a cycling studio here in Newtown at Plaza South, Boostcycle, and were looking to stock wellness juices in the studio for customers.

“Val and I had lived in California for a little bit and we got really inspired in California by health, fitness, and that lifestyle. So when we moved back, we missed that, and we really wanted to open up a business. We really thought the cycling studio was going to be the main thing,” Tatiana said.

She had found a small juice bar in downtown Bethel that she had asked to make juices for Boostcycle. The owner at the time did not wish to expand and was looking to sell the business, so the couple took the business over and expected it to be more of a “wholesale” place for their cycling studio.

“We were like, ‘We’ll make juices,’” Tatiana started. Val and she then said at the same time, “And we’ll sell it at the cycling studio.”

Tatiana said the juice bar took off, lines started to form, and the studio became too difficult to keep up with. Val was teaching nine classes a week.

“It was tough,” he said. “We couldn’t duplicate it.”

“Our vision has always been to duplicate and grow, and we found that with the cycling studio, it just was not going to happen how we had envisioned,” Tatiana explained. She added that one of the instructors wanted to take over the studio, so they sold it to her and focused on Boost Juice, which became Boost Bowls.

Boost Bowls’ Success

The two detailed a story of their first sign that they had “made it.”

It started with a sweet moment of Val detailing his mother’s role in their business. He explained that she had helped them out a lot in the early days, and she would take naps in the “closet.” She eventually put up a bell on the door, and every time she heard it ring, she would wake up and tend to customers. In 2015 when they first started, their business was slow. Tatiana said that it took time for it to grow and see more customers, but it all changed with one Instagram post.

“We started … making our bowls really pretty. We put them in … a pineapple … People came, took pictures, and somehow we went viral on Instagram. And one day, his mom … calls and was like, ‘I need help.’ And we were like, ‘What’s wrong?’ She was like, ‘There’s a line out the door and I don’t know what I’m gonna do.’”

Val said he thought his mom was joking. They had been averaging about ten customers a day, so to hear this sudden plea for help was jarring. Val said he looked at the cameras and saw people waiting outside.

Tatiana said that felt like “the beginning” for them. She admitted that they did not have recipes at the time, and started hiring people, telling them “to figure it out.” From there, the couple focused on “clean ingredients” and keeping things as “natural” as possible. Boost Bowls still handcrafts each bowl, which means all employees know exactly what goes into every bowl.

The couple opened a second location in Southbury in the movie theater, but in 2020, things started to change for them, just like everyone else.

“We were there for about three years,” Val said, “COVID just killed the movie concept.” Tatiana added that the lease was up in 2021, so they decided to not renew the lease as their new Newtown location was doing well.

Val and Tatiana signed their lease for the Newtown location in 2020, just weeks before the world went into lockdown.

“Newtown was … the start of us really developing and perfecting our concept, and that’s when we decided to franchise,” Tatiana said. The first franchisee opened in West Hartford in 2023. Now, there are two other locations the couple own in Danbury and Mystic. Tatiana hopes to sign another lease by the end of the year.

“It’s been quite a journey,” Tatiana said. She explained that Boost Bowls will be doing different specials and deals all November long to celebrate the ten-year anniversary mark.

The couple described this milestone as “surreal” and “amazing.” The two expressed deep gratitude for the community’s support and to their customers and staff. Tatiana said that she thinks Newtown’s Boost Bowls is what gave them the ability to expand and grow their business.

“One of the best decisions I think we actually made is move to Newtown and open a store in Newtown,” Val said, “There’s a lot of great people in this town … Without the Newtown people … we wouldn’t be opening any of these extra stores that we have. We’ve had so much success in this town — it’s been a blessing.”

“Newtown just feels really special,” Tatiana said.

For more information or to see the menu, go to boostbowls.com.

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Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.