New Meal Prep & Smoothie Bar In Bristol Has Local Flair

Healthy Plate Meal Preps and Smoothie Bar is off to a strong start in Bristol Borough following the grand opening of the restaurant in August.

The eatery’s menu fluctuates weekly to maintain the interest of customers, the number of which, according to the restaurant’s owner, Matthew Howard, has continued to increase.

“Business has been really, really good. We’ve got tons of new customers each week, and lots and lots of referrals, basically, we haven’t even been doing any marketing or advertising other than word of mouth. It’s been tremendous for us.”

Healthy Plate, located on 247 Mill Street, serves daily meals of under 400 calories to health-conscious customers and offers a weekly delivery plan as well as walk-in service.

Meals have included a plethora of different items in the past, including cheesesteak stuffed peppers, apple cider braised chicken, a pesto tuna wrap and ginger chicken sesame salad, along with hosts of other alternatives.

“Since we’re a meal prep company, we definitely take priority in variety. We definitely don’t want to give the same thing to everybody every week, we want to make sure people have an opportunity to change up,” Howard said.

“Between our two chefs, we come up with between a new menu each week. That’s what makes us different. We like to separate ourselves from the rest, because we never have the same thing on the menu week after week.”

The meal prep company delivers inside Bristol and Bristol Township’s nearby Croydon section, with a delivery fee of $5 per meal, and elsewhere at $10 per meal. The restaurant is open from Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and is also open on Sundays from 1 a.m. through 6 p.m., although it is closed entirely on Tuesdays.

“There’s a lot of walking traffic in Bristol near where we are located. It’s people who are looking for good, wholesome sound nutrition. We’ve reached capacity almost twice already, had to expand our equipment to accommodate,” explained Howard.

The company has gained a notably large social media following, with many Facebook users regularly commenting on the restaurant’s page either to praise the food or, in some cases, wonder what’s coming up in the following week. Healthy Plate’s staff has taken advantage of the situation by frequently posting and interacting with customers’ comments.

Customers’ word of mouth has paid off: “As far as marketing, we haven’t paid a single dime for any marketing. Our services or products speak for themselves,” Howard noted.

What sets Healthy Plate apart from rival meal prep companies, according to Howard, is what comes after those words in the restaurant’s name: “Smoothie Bar.”

“There’s about three or four companies within the area. We wanted to come up with a concept that separates us from the competitors by offering more than just meal preps, and that’s why we came up with the smoothie bar concept.

“The “Big Q,” which everybody knows as the Number 8, is our most popular protein shake. More sales than all of the shakes and smoothies we currently offer. All the shakes and smoothies do really well.”

The company’s smoothies are named after locations or traditions originating in Bristol, highlighting the restaurant’s role in larger redevelopment plans in the area.

“It’s significant that a lot of customers can come in and recognize these, like the Bristol Stomp, our number one,” concluded Howard. “It’s a classic dance that emerged out of Bristol years ago and we figured, ‘Okay, we can’t go wrong with the Bristol Stomp. Everybody recognizes that.’”