Review No. 75: Tropical Smoothie Cafe
705 Club Lane
(501) 764-4800
38.0 percent finished reviewing Conway restaurants
The Situation
She Said: I was pre-birthday dieting (to prep for eating all the foods the entire weekend I turned 48), so I wanted to find somewhere I could ingest nutrients at a low rate of calorie consumption. Of course, I thought of Tropical Smoothie Café, since I sometimes make smoothies at home for this very purpose. After Pilates, I picked up He Said at home, and we headed for our first visit to Tropical Smoothie Café.
He Said: I have to say, to me a smoothie is a slick guy trying to pick up girls, so I was hoping they might have some actual food of some sort in this place I was being dragged to.
Seriously, though, there are some 17 Tropical Smoothie cafes within a 50-mile radius of my house, including at least six in Little Rock. You can order online from any of these, if you are so inclined. You can also look up a nutritional guide to help you choose the meal that may be best for you.
Ambience:
She Said: I love the bright, and cheery color scheme of the restaurant. The Caribbean blue-green, and huge beach photos contribute to a chill vibe. You know what else contributes to a chill vibe? A restaurant so cold due to air conditioning excess that once I started sipping my cold smoothie, I was shivering so hard He Said gave me the jacket he had brought in for himself. Seriously, I was having trouble talking, my teeth were chattering so hard. Why is this necessary in life?
He Said: This seems to be a tendency in the South that I’ve commented on before: Just because it’s 90 degrees outside doesn’t mean you have to go crazy in the other direction and set the air at 60 on the inside, restaurants. Whether it’s 95 or 25 outside, 72 degrees is a comfortable temperature inside. Just keep it set there and we won’t need to quarrel, OK? Because, of course, I then froze after giving She Said my jacket. Thus endeth today’s rant.
As for the inside, yes, it was bright and cheery. Actually, I was reminded of Subway, I suppose because of the tables and the layout, though the interior was quite a bit larger.
Drinks
She Said: I didn’t have food, just a smoothie, as planned. I perused the online nutrition data before I went, and I was glad I did, because I think of this place as somewhere you can go for healthy food—and I’m sure it is—but I think of healthy as lower calorie, and many of these smoothies have more calories than I eat in a meal, or two (though you can reduce the calories of many of the offerings by choosing Splenda instead of sugar). In the interest of my low-calorie quest, I chose the least calorically-offensive smoothie on the list, the “detox island green” smoothie. This smoothie includes spinach, kale, mango, pineapple, banana and ginger. Knowing my metabolic tendency to freak out over too many carbs, even fruit sugars, I added almonds (33 calories) and chia seeds (not listed on the nutrition page). TSC also offers supplements, like whey or pea protein powders, but I don’t favor processed foods when I can get the whole thing, so I eschewed that option.
The smoothie was HUGE, and it took me awhile to drink it all. It was yummy, and tasted a lot like the ones I make at home with handfuls of all the things I like, so that was reassuring to me. I did have to eat some cashews when I got home because it was still a little carby for me, and I had a little sweetness headache, but that’s just me. I would order this again. I thought it was delicious, fresh and healthy. The corporate Website states that its restaurants use fresh ingredients, which makes me feel better about these than some of the places I call “fake shake” purveyors, who sell you powdered ingredients in a “health” drink.
He Said: They did have some soft drinks by the bottle, and I grabbed a Coke.
Food
He Said: I discovered that they do, indeed, have actual food here, in the form of sandwiches, bowls, wraps, and healthy sides. I opted for a wrap, and chose the one with the least fat, which was the Caribbean Jerk Chicken, with 17 grams of fat, though it did contain 590 calories, which is not all that healthy. Still, it was within a reasonable diet if I didn’t go hog wild at dinner. I also added a bag of oven-baked Lays potato chips, which added 100 calories but only 1.5 grams of fat.
A jerk is a kind of Jamaican cooking, for those of you who thought it might be She Said’s pet name for me. It involves a spice rub or marinade usually made with Scotch bonnet peppers that give it a hot flavor. This wrap had plenty of chicken, a good bit of the jerk sauce which gave it some heat (though not uncomfortably so) and a smoky flavor, along with some rice and a few other veggies. It was quite flavorful, not too hot, and there was plenty of it!
She Said: He Said’s food looked delicious, but I did not partake.
Service
She Said: Our staffer was patient with us, as we were first-timers. Everyone was very friendly, and it was a pleasant lunch spot overall. I imagine a lot of people get their food to go, but I would eat in here—if I’m wearing a sweater or winter coat.
He Said: Yes, you order here at the counter (you can grab a soft drink or bag of chips there as well) and then they bring you the order a few minutes later. It’s friendly, snappy service.
What We Got and What We Paid: One detox island green smoothie (with added almonds and chia seeds), one Caribbean chicken jerk wrap, one bottled Coke and one baked Lays chips, all for $16.22.
Elapsed Time from Entry to Food Arrival: 9 minutes.
Rating:
She Said: I’ll be back at TSC for low-calorie smoothies. They taste like I made it myself!
He Said: The chicken wrap was a tasty and relatively healthy lunch. It may be worth coming back here to try a different sandwich or wrap. Or maybe I could go to one of the other 16 locations in the area.
So…He Said and She Said: Go here for fresh, healthy food, but check the calorie counts and options online if you’re trying to reduce.
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