Following a year that brought franchise favorites Chipotle and Panera Bread to the Elm City, Yalies can soon add one more chain to their local dining options: Smoothie King.

Offering custom-blended smoothies, nutritional supplements, and healthy snacks, Smoothie King announced Monday it plans to open five restaurants in the New Haven area over the next three years, including one that will open by the end of the year.

While the New Orleans-based company has not officially disclosed the five locations, planning officials in Orange, CT approved an application for Smoothie King to open one of the locations at 350 Boston Post Road. The smoothie franchise announced that it signed seven other area development agreements to expand into several markets across the country.

“Smoothie King has been incredibly well-received across the Midwest and Northeast, and we are confident the brand has great potential for further development,” said Tom O’Keefe, president and chief operating officer of Smoothie King, in a statement. “We look forward to building a stronger presence in these areas, in addition to introducing our healthy products to consumers in Chicago, Connecticut and Tallahassee for the first time.”

Through these eight new area development agreements, Smoothie King will open a total of 28 new stores. In addition to the five New Haven locations, the franchise will set up shop in three Chicago locations, four in the North Dallas suburbs, two in the Atlanta market, five in Tallahassee, three in Jackson, three in Sarasota, and three in Wichita.

Smoothie King has more than 600 locations nationwide and plans to add 1,000 new franchised and corporate locations domestically over the next five years.

J.R. REED