Tropical Smoothie Cafe — Restaurant in Columbia

I ordered ahead and waited to go inside for my order so that I didn’t show up too early. I walked in the store maybe 5 minutes before promise time. I was willing to wait and be patient. When I walked in, there was a very off putting and awkward vibe in the store. The 2 girls working did not look up to anyone walking in, no acknowledgment, or greeting. The one was wearing an AirPod, took orders, and made smoothies. She wasn’t engaged and seemed upset or irritated. I stood at the counter to let them know I was picking up an online order, but they never asked what I was waiting on or made eye contact with me. I am a manager at a quick service restaurant and understand the factors that can play into rushes. Someone called in or not staffed accordingly, not anticipating a rush, maybe the shift before didn’t set them up for success, etc. However, what I witnessed actively turned guests away. While I waited, I watched a mom and daughter walk in and stand at the counter to order. Again, the one making smoothies and taking orders didn’t greet or acknowledge them. She caught up on smoothies that were backed up, but because of the lack of communication and engagement the woman and child left. She also kind of aggressively sat blenders on the counter next to where a guest was sitting to wait on her order. There were also some guys that were at the counter waiting on a smoothie or 2, so when she was done with their last one she also sat it on the counter with force and almost seemed like she wanted to roll her eyes. The other part I noticed was that the girls working weren’t communicating with each other, which in my experience makes shifts or rushes worse. I’m not one to complain, but I do feel feedback is useful and especially in this situation, critical. I hope the team takes the feedback and uses it to work on their people skills...

I am a frequent customer of this Tropical Smoothie location, but today was my last visit. I have noticed that the service has gotten slower and slower over the past few months. It's frustrating when you're on a lunch break and it takes 20-30 minutes to get a smoothie when there are only two people in front of you. I could see if the place was packed, but it's rarely super busy when I get there. Today, it was a little busier than usual, but my issue wasn't the wait. I ordered a detox island green smoothie. This is the only smoothie I ever get. The first time my smoothie was made, I watched the girl pour my smoothie into a cup and when some spilled over the side of the cup, she used her bare hand to slide the smoothie back into the cup and shook it off her finger into the cup. 🤢 She put the lid on, slapped the sticker on the cup and tried to give it to me. When I asked her to remake the smoothie, she asked why. I explained to her what I just saw. She rade the smoothie without touching it, but the smoothie was as made wrong. There was sugar added to it (the detox island green smoothie doesn't come with turbinado) and it was missing ginger. I'm pretty sure the girl was new and I'm not unempethetic to that; however, a team lead oranager should have been overseeing such a new employee. In the end, I ended up having my time and money wasted today. I didn't drink the smoothie because it was way too sweet and I needed to get back to work, so I didn't have time to wait for a third...

I usually like going to Tropical Cafe. I go to the one on Stadium. They were a little slow the last two times but chalked it up to being busy. My order was to be ready at 11:59am. I got there at 11:55am, none of the 3 employees greeted me. I was pretty sure my green smoothie was by the sink behind the counter and not on the to-go counter. I watched the 3 employees take care of 2 customers at the counter, make smoothies and cook food. The older lady making smoothies were no gloves, licked her finger with the smoothie that got on it. Then I saw her put gloveless hands in the ice bin to move ice around!! They were cleaning up and still no one said anything to me as I waited. I finally asked the older lady and she seemed perturbed that I bothered it. Yep, it was my drink they had sitting behind the counter by the sink where they were washing dishes by it. I only got an apology for the delay after I...