ACAI IN THE VALLEY. Up North Acai food truck makes fresh acai bowls topped with local honey and syrup.
Eau Claire and the Chippewa Valley are short on dining options, and locals complain that in our burger- and beer-saturated scene, there’s one category that doesn’t stand out: organic food. Yes, you can order a salad at almost any restaurant, and there are certainly a growing number of places that offer allergen-friendly options—and even N/A drinks—but it’s not really the same thing.
Perhaps the most recent attempt to open a healthier restaurant locally was Fast Fuel. Although it quickly grew from a small shop in Banbury Place to a storefront on Water Street in 2023—with the goal of offering healthy fast food with its pressed juices and grain bowls—it closed its doors in less than a year (though it now partners with Whirlybird Coffee in Chippewa Falls).
Brittany Peterson, a nurse at Marshfield Clinic, and Mike Peterson, an accountant, are not restaurant owners. After seven years as a traveling nurse, Brittany and her husband frequently enjoyed acai bowls around the country and the world—particularly in Hawaii and Brazil—and were surprised to find no acai restaurants after moving to the area. Their longing for it and hearing other people talk about the gap locally inspired them to take the plunge with Up North Acai.
The food truck opened for the first time just a few weeks ago on Monday, August 19th, and for the second time later that same week, and has already become one of the hottest restaurants of the summer.
Up North Acai’s menu features whole, fresh foods and locally sourced honey and maple syrup. The owners are negotiating with a local berry farm to supply them next summer. The base for the food truck’s acai bowl took about 30 tries over the course of a month to get right, Brittany said.
“People think they’re eating something healthier (by choosing acai bowls over other sweets), but some of the bases we looked at contained 7-8 teaspoons of sugar in half a scoop of acai,” Brittany said. “We made it our mission to figure out how to make it without all the added sugar so we could feel good about giving it to our kids.”
“I thought that if I felt good about giving something to my own children, then other people and parents would also be grateful for something like that.”
BRITTANY Peterson
IN THE NORTH ACAI
“I thought if I made my own kids feel good, then other people and parents would appreciate it too,” she continued. That feeling is reflected in the pricing. When the Petersons looked at what other acai restaurants were charging, they knew they wanted to offer a more affordable price. Their mini bowl (8 oz.) costs $8 and the regular bowl (16 oz.) costs $12.
Up North Acai bowls are made with a superfood base – consisting of organic acai berries, bananas, strawberries, apple juice, almond milk and granola (gluten-free available) – plus your choice of honey or maple syrup drizzle. The bowls can be customized with up to five toppings from a list of nine topping options: strawberries, blueberries, bananas, mangos, pineapple, coconut, chia seeds, cacao nibs, hemp hearts, peanut butter, almond butter, Nutella, slivered almonds or protein crumbles.
Acai bowl shops have been a popular sweet spot for several years, but like so many things, no acai shop has taken off in our part of the Midwest. The closest acai bowl shop is about an hour’s drive from Eau Claire in the Hudson area, where Simply Bowls and Nautical Bowls are located. (The latter is slated to open in Eau Claire at the former Mega! Co-op gas station on Craig Road, though no date has been announced.)
For now, stay tuned to Up North Acai and their next appearances on Facebook. They’ll be appearing at Riverbend Winery and Marshfield Clinic and a few other locations this fall (dates to be announced).
Find the Up North Acai food truck on Facebook • For inquiries, contact [email protected]
