Red leather booths fill with students who focus their attention on Full House on the small plasma TV on the wall just above their table.
Amanda Cruz, a sophomore in psychology, and Dori Grossman, a sophomore in communication, break their focus from the TV once in a while to crunch on another bite of cereal from the bowls in front of them.
“I feel like a little kid watching Full House and eating cereal,” Grossman said.
Cruz agreed and said the cereal joint, Bowls, gave the feeling of being at home in her living room.
Bowls is a “cereal joint” on Hillsborough Street next to Melvin’s. It is independently owned and operated.
The decor of Bowls makes use of different decades. The wall decorations vary from a movie poster of Starsky and Hutch to a cutout of Michael Jordan to a Bay City Rollers poster.
In addition to walls covered in pictures, posters, records and cereal boxes, two TVs hang from the wall, and a plasma TV is in each of the eight booths.
According to Rocco Monteleone, owner of Bowls, the eight plasma TVs are hooked up to cable and the hanging TVs have DVD players.
He said he plays his own DVDs on the big TV and sometimes his employees will bring in their own DVDs, including cartoons, TV shows and movies.
On Saturdays during the football season, Monteleone said students like to come in and watch the games, particularly the N.C. State game, on the plasma TVs.
As for the larger TV, when he shows something that has profanity, he said he doesn’t have the sound turned up but displays the captions to reinforce a family atmosphere.
He said he thinks his idea is working because business has been slow but steady in the six weeks Bowls has been open. Getting started was difficult because only two weeks after opening, students left for fall break, which can be a setback for a new business, according to Monteleone.
A plug Monteleone said he is trying is an “all-you-can-eat” deal on Tuesdays. He said the deal is the best one he offers. However the most anyone has eaten was two large bowls and a small bowl.
However, he said the all-you-can-eat deal is good for those who want to try different cereals.
Variety in cereals is something Bowls is not lacking with its average of 40 kinds a day.
“We found cereals we haven’t seen in years,” Grossman said.
Cruz said it was nice to have the option to eat cereal she can’t find in the store.
The ability to try new cereals is not the only plus, in Cruz’s opinion.
“It’s a good change because there’s not really a breakfast place on Hillsborough [Street],” she said.
Monteleone said, as far as he knows, Bowls is the only cereal restaurant in North Carolina.
He said Bowls is a place for grandparents, grandchildren and everyone in between.
“There’s something here for everybody,” Monteleone said. “Everybody loves cereal.”
