Tropical Smoothie Café // Eat Better Feel Better

Tropical Smoothie Café // Eat Better Feel Better

Tuscaloosa has been booming lately with the number of healthy eateries in town. Though grabbing a smoothie for a meal may have seemed like a feat several years ago, the trends in healthy eating options have made this a commonplace choice in our college town. After a fairly intense workout earlier this week, I knew I wanted something light yet filling. Driving towards the Midtown Village side of town, I remembered seeing deals for Tropical Smoothie Café on my Hooked app. Even though it was too early in the day to get a Hooked discount, I knew I wanted to try something at Tropical Smoothie.

Heading into the store during the early 6 a.m. hour, I was surprised to see the amount of folks in line and waiting for a smoothie concoction. Taking a look around the store, I realized that much of the café’s branding looked different from the last time I had been in. Gone were the greens and purples reminiscent of a cheesy Rainforest Café. Now the look reflected a modern take on clean lines and colors with soothing greens, oranges, and sunflower yellow reflected in the logo. Though the menu items looked vaguely familiar from my initial visit to the café 2 years ago, the revamp of the menu layout gave new life to the photos of flatbread sandwiches, wraps, bowls, and smoothies. My mouth started watering as I read through the menu items. The Thai chicken salad sounded amazing while the Caribbean jerk chicken bowl boasted rice, black beans, cheddar and roasted pineapple salsa. Remembering that it was only 6:30 in the morning, I made my way over to the smoothie menu to find a more breakfast appropriate option for the day.

Despite the overwhelming number of delicious sounding smoothies on the menu, I finally decided on the detox island green smoothie featuring spinach, kale, mango, pineapple, banana, and fresh ginger. After ordering I made my way to a table to relax as others waited for their order to come up. Glancing back at the menu, I had a moment of order regret as I noticed the restaurant also offered a peanut butter banana crunch flatbread, southwest breakfast wrap, and a few other breakfast specific sandwich options. Ensuring I wouldn’t miss anything else during my next visit, I noted the kids menu which included kid friendly smoothies and sandwiches. Combos could be done with regular item menus combining a half sandwich and smoothie option of your choice…all given me ideas to make an excuse to head back in to Tropical Smoothie Café for lunch.

It wasn’t long before my detox island smoothie was delivered to me. Taking that initial sip, I was excited to taste that the smoothie wasn’t overly sweet, indicating that it was only naturally sweetened by the combination of fruits in the smoothie without having to add any artificial sweeteners or high fructose corn syrup. Overall, I believe that Tropical Smoothie Café will be on my regular rotation of breakfast and lunch options during these remaining months.

With frequent discount deals featured on the Hooked app, Tropical Smoothie Café combines my passions for tasty food at a bargain price. I will be back!

Tropical Smoothie Café is located in the Midtown Village Shopping Center and opened daily. Tweet us @ThePlanetWeekly and let us know where you are eating!

Sheena Gregg, MS, RDN,LD is a registered dietitian and local Filipino Foodie. Follow her on Twitter @TheThriftyRD