Shaka Club (Café & Smoothie) — Restaurant in Montreal

My friend and I shared a smoothie bowl over the weekend and when I asked for a takeout container, I was given a dirty plastic bowl. I wanted to give the employee the benefit of the doubt in case it was an accident so I approached the counter to let her know. To my surprise, before I could say anything, she asked me “is it dirty?” as if she already knew it might not be clean. She then proceeded to take the lid to the back of the store and when she returned, the lid had clearly been hand washed. I’m all for saving the environment and I would never want to purposefully waste plastic but this doesn’t pass any cleanliness standards in my books. The lid wasn’t even properly dried. There was also no explanation as to why the container was dirty in the first place and no apology was given. For those wondering why I didn’t ask for a new lid all together, I was totally caught off guard and I didn’t think that the employee was going to hand wash it in the back, so all I could really do was try to make the most of a bizarre situation.

When I returned to my table, I also noticed that there were brown spots on the inside of the bowl. I can’t even comprehend why a supposedly brand new container would be dirty. To say I’m disappointed would be an understatement. I hope this review encourages Shaka Club to do better in the future and re-evaluate their hygiene practices.

My final thoughts: It’s one thing if there was weird residue on the outside of the bowl, but the fact that it was on the inside of both the lid and bowl left me utterly baffled. The most upsetting part is this place has good reviews so I was expecting amazing food, service and atmosphere, but in the end, I left knowing that I would never return or recommend this place to any of my friends.

I also noticed that Shaka Club says they offer a 100% refund if you're not satisfied. I don't want a refund. I want them to take accountability for...

I absolutely fell in love with Shaka Club’s smoothie bowls when I first discovered this place. I’ve visited the store in person and also order from them regularly—it’s become a weekly routine for us.

However, I’ve noticed that the food quality is not consistent. The Coast Bowl was amazing the first time I tried it, but when I ordered it again, something was noticeably off. I also ordered the Zen Bowl two weeks in a row, and both times it looked completely different.

I’ve attached two photos (apologies for the low quality—they weren’t taken with the intention of posting), but you can clearly see the difference. One bowl is more pink and is generously topped, with plenty of blackberries and a good amount of almond butter. The other is sparse, with very little topping, hardly any blackberry, and no almond butter at all. The texture was also too watery and lacked the signature flavor I was looking forward to.

It’s honestly frustrating to crave something, only to be disappointed when it arrives. I really hope Shaka Club can implement a more consistent standard for preparation. The concept and flavors are fantastic—it would be great to see the quality match that potential every time, especially considering the...

The only positive point about this place is that its conveniently located. Other than that, the food is overpriced and the customer service is actually despicable 😭

The employees looked exhausted/overworked yet there were only 2-3 customers inside (including myself). I work in customer service too and I know it can be tough but it seemed like the employees were being intentionally cold, one of them in particular. When another customer was looking at the menu to order something, the employee looked visibly annoyed and when i was leaving i told one of them ‘have a good day’ and they didn’t say anything at all. I understand it can be hard to manage production and customer service, but this wasn’t even the bare minimum.

More importantly, the smoothies are mid at best, just very bland, liquid and meh. They do have supplements but it seems like a gimmick more than anything. This place is exactly what you’d imagine a smoothie place in...