Tropical Smoothie Cafe — Restaurant in Blue Ash

Hadn't been to Tropical Smoothie in awhile, yet decided to go for the Fan Fest smoothie promo. Placed a pickup order (wrap and smoothie) at the Blue Ash, Ohio location and had arrived 20 mins past my scheduled pickup. Usually smoothies are kept in the refrigerator below the prep area so they remain cold prior to pickup. But there was a recent facility change - pickup orders are left on shelves far away from the counter. So when I came to the counter like usual, the employee said my order was over on the shelf. That included the smoothie.

By leaving the smoothie in a room-temperature section of the building, it is going to melt the blended ice. And that's exactly what happened. My smoothie had the consistency of water and was lukewarm. Even though I'm placing a pickup order, the fact Tropical Smoothie changed the handling of smoothies is detrimental to the pickup ordering process. This ultimately means the only sufficient way to order is in-person, which I rarely do. Pickup was so convenient, but now it's not. How could management think this was a good idea? Smoothies should not be left outside of a refrigerator, and if they're going to be relegated to a different part of the facility, then there also needs to be a refrigerator where the pickup...

I think the prices and serving sizes are comparable to other smoothie places. I thought that the buffalo chicken wrap was really good. I had to split it up into two meals since the caloric intake is rather high. Even the veggie wrap was high.

Speaking of which, a lot of the smoothies were really high in calories. I did not order one but I watched a couple being made. It may have been the type of smoothie ordered but the preparer put one of those 1 ounce (actually looked like a 2 ounce- I have one in my kitchen) size scoops of turbinado sugar in each of the smoothies. THAT is a lot of sugar and yes, turbinado sugar is sugar so it isn't healthier. Probably tasted excellent but I am glad I didn't order. I will request no sugar added and watch them to make sure. If you are watching your weight, you have to make sure that you know what exactly comes in these smoothies because they are pretty much milkshakes if you don't. You are probably better off making a smoothie at home and not jacking up the sugar.

I am giving 3 stars because of that. It is a nice clean space and worth trying out. One just has to be vigilant if they care about eating healthy food and reducing sugar intake at...

I never write reviews, but I couldn’t let this slide. This was my first time visiting the Blue Ash location, but definitely not my first time eating at Tropical Smoothie Cafe! My main gripe is with the smoothie, it tasted like watered down fruit! The older gentleman who made it had to put in more water on several separate occasions for the mix to actually blend. I also could barely see any fruit in the blender and the smoothie came out an inch lower than the lid. My suspicions were confirmed when watching another employee go to make another smoothie and the older gentleman told her to put less fruit in it! Full disclosure, the Thai Chicken wrap I had was good, and they included the extra sauce I asked and paid for. My only complaint is with the smoothie. All other aspects, customer service, greeting, etc were great. Obviously this individual wants to put his own profits over his customer’s satisfaction and as a result, I won’t...