Smoothie King — Restaurant in Cincinnati

During a recent visit to Smoothie King, the employees were not appropriately wearing their masks. All had their masks pulled below their nose, and an employee headed to the back room and reentered the main space with his mask completely pulled below his chin and at no point pulled the mask back up. Lack of professionalism aside, I felt uncomfortable in the space due their lack of willingness to adhere to basic (mandated) precautions. I ended up throwing out my order after seeing an employee with an exposed nose placing his face near my open order after he had to remake the smoothie when he spilled the first attempt at the order. They got the smoothie wrong as well, but can't complain when I didn't even drink the germ juice.

Approximately three months prior, I had noticed someone who looked like they may be a manager/supervisor entering the same dining area from the exterior of the store with no mask. At no point did she wear a mask during the three or so more minutes I spent in the area. I have consistently felt uncomfortable in this location and will no longer be ordering from them or from Smoothie King in general. Gross, unprofessional, and unsafe, and I don't trust a company that could let this happen when it's one of the busiest locations in the area.

Oh, and I spent more time in the space than necessary due to the fact that my to-go order was not ready, despite my arriving a few minutes late to my scheduled pick-up time and being the only customer in the...

3rd visit update: I tried another smoothie the other day and I don’t think I will like anything there. There’s something that they put in all the shakes that give I’d a playdoh-y taste. I think it might be the turbinado or whatever.

Original Review:

I had never tried any Smoothie king before and idk if this is a representation of just this location or all Smoothie King. First time I went store was empty and I now understand the reason why. My smoothie tasted like a small child got ahold of the cinnamon and went to town on my smoothie.

Second time, I went through the drive thru (which I love that they have). Again no other customers. My smoothie tasted like PLAY-DOUGH. Like how?

Both times speed was efficient, Service was fine, nothing exceptional as far as friendliness or anything but nothing that makes me want to avoid them like many other restaurants. Though they did almost hand me someone else’s order and I kinda wish I would have accepted it because maybe it would have been better than mine.

So based on this ehhh my consensus is Smoothie King is gross. And not to mention,...

Usually I have a good experience at this location, but recently there was an incident that needs to be addressed:

I was the only car in the drive thru, I pulled up to the window and was greeted politely. Immediately after, one of the staff, probably a manager, barked at another worker (who sounded like she was cleaning dishes, an essential task) that the drive thru time was at 5 minutes (I had been there for 60 seconds). A blatant lie to control a subordinate.

The worker put together the smoothie and another staff member took it off the blender before it was even ready so I got a nasty, chunky beverage and had them remake it.

I work in fine-dining so I know how staff are meant to be respected by their superiors. This was inappropriate and should never happen in any establishment.

PS. Please, for everyone’s sakes, change the pre-recorded message at the speaker. It sounds so unnatural and...