Tropical Smoothie Cafe — Restaurant in Gainesville

I’ve been a Tropical Smoothie fan for several years, so I was happy this location opened near my work office. I perform home healthcare, covering from East Gainesville to Palatka and everywhere in between. I only have to go to the office occasionally, but when I do, I always coordinate it to be around my lunch break so that I can stop here. This Tropical Smoothie is my favorite location & the reason is because of the manager, Avery! He always greets me with a big smile, friendly conversation, and works quickly to prepare my food and smoothie fresh, while providing a little entertainment, frequently singing as he works! One day he saw my name come through on the mobile order and when I arrived, he had “Angie” by The Rolling Stones playing through the speakers in the restaurant, since my name is Angie! This totally made my day and gave me a little pep in my step to get through the rest of the workday! This kind of consistent, friendly service with a smile is typically unheard of at a counter service restaurant, especially in this college town with most places having a revolving door of employees. Thank you Avery for your excellent customer service! The rest of the employees are always nice, friendly, & efficient as well and the pretty, colorful pictures & kind message the girls draw & write on the receipts are...

Horrible service. Waited 40 minutes to get our food out only for them to have forgotten half the order, despite the restaurant being nearly empty. Didn't catch his name but one employee in particular was extremely rude. He was a teenager with glasses who had his airpods in the entire time and complained out loud multiple times about having to make our order (despite the fact we'd come in over an hour before they closed....). He then tried to serve us only half of our order and then complained more when we asked for the sauce that is supposed to come with it because they had "run out" and he "had to prep more." Not to mention, this entire time we were waiting 40 minutes he kept walking out of the kitchen to sit at a table with some random kid who was clearly a friend of his. The other staff was fine but overall it seemed very disorganized and no one seemed to have any sense of urgency or care that people were waiting. I try to be reasonable because I do understand there might be a wait when you order food, but 40+ minutes for a quesadilla when the restaurant is nearly empty coupled with the indifference of the staff and the straight up rude attitude by one employee felt completely avoidable and unnecessary. Tropical smoothie is pretty good but definitely would not recommend...

TLDR - enjoy your smoothies, but avoid this location if you don’t want to be blamed for their mistakes. I usually love Tropical Smoothie, even though I know it’s overpriced and quite honestly not worth it - it’s a guilty pleasure. I ordered online through the app, and was given the wrong item. Didn’t know until I got home, and unfortunately something I hate, but no biggie, I’ll just get it fixed. Unfortunately I was treated rudely in the phone when calling, and then accused of lying even after providing a photo of the incorrectly made item. (Direct quote - “That picture could have come from anywhere”.. Like I keep nasty pictures of food on my phone for scamming?? The time stamp was from 10 minutes before) The woman who accused me (I’m assuming the manager or shift lead based on my own experience in food service) seemed to be proud of this, and proud her overall rude treatment as well. She gave a name similar to “Loanne”, though who knows honestly. I would just avoid this location, unless you want to be accused when they mess up. It’s very obvious this location does not care what their managers or other employees do, including treating customers rudely and making their items...