Tropical Smoothie Cafe — Restaurant in Houston

If I could give this review zero stars I would. We visited this location on 2/10/24. My husband & I were greeted by a young gentleman and he immediately took our order. We ordered 1 acai bowl. Once we got it, the bottom layer was extremely frozen and unedible (spoon was unable to go through). We attempted to get the 2 employees attention but clearly they were unable to hear us due to them both having headphones/ airpods in and having personal conversations on their phones. Finally, my husband was able to get the young lady's attention (African American female, with box braids & brown beads on the ends.) requesting politely that it be either made over or if we could swap out what we had for something else. Not only did she talk to him as if she were not interested (rolling her eyes, walking away while he was talking, ignoring him attempting to gain her attention) she had a horrible attitude and told him "What don't you understand, It is common sense that the Acai bowl is frozen". Following that statement, he asked to speak with the manager. There was no manager present in the building the entire time we were there. She proceeded to walk away & call the manager who told her that a refund could not be issued & we could not switch our order. Each time we tried to speak to the other employee she would call him to the back and say things to him mid conversation, making him appear as a "middle man" or "run boy" ultimately leading to our requests being ignored several times again. We asked him for a copy of our receipt as we walked to the register, he attempted to give it to us and before he could, the young lady began to constantly call him away from us each time we talked. This continued to happen each time we spoke with him. Generally in customer service it is understood that employees should help the paying customer with all inquiries. We are simply choosing to spend our money at this location with the expectation that we would leave with a great experience, not to be treated as if we are forcing the employees to be somewhere they don't want to be. After our experience, I looked online and noticed that this was not the first complaint this location has received due to poor customer service describing the same individual. I was able to retrieve the sticker initially placed on the Acai bowl and the server's name was listed as Shweta P (not sure if this was the manager's name or the rude employee). I truly hope that this provides insight to the franchise owner of this location so that he/she is aware of the individuals who are operating their business and fail to establish an inviting environment for...

Place is a dump. Asked if they used fresh fruit or fruit in syrup. They told me fresh so I ordered a smoothie. The peaches and strawberries are in syrup. When I saw this, I asked that they use the fresh mango and blueberries instead. I saw it wasn't blending, so they added lots of water. What they gave me was watery and disgusting. They said it was because I changed the recipe. They smirked and were rude. Never apologized, never offered to fix the problem. I was just supposed to accept it. I asked for my money back.

I asked for the manager. One of the boys said he wasn't in. I asked when he'd come in, he said, "I don't know" and refused to give me the manager's name. I asked for his name, he hesitated and said Luis. I lthen learned the boy's name is actually David. I told him I needed to talk to the manager about the poor customer service. He responded, "I ain't trippin" and smirked again. I couldn't believe it.

First, this place is not "healthy." Employees don't know difference between fresh fruit and fruit in syrup. Second, the two Davids who work there are unprofessional and provide AWFUL customer service. NEVER GOING AGAIN. Avoid this place...

I’ve been coming to Tropical Cafe for five years now, and somehow I still get the same look from the staff—like I’m about to rob them or pitch solar panels during happy hour.

You’d think after all those Peanut Butter and Granola Tacos and Sunrise Smoothies, I’d blend in better. Nope. Every time I walk in, it’s like I just showed up with a briefcase full of bad ideas. Maybe it’s my “suspiciously loyal customer” vibe?

But honestly, Tropical Cafe is too good to stop coming to, even if they eye me like I’m the new neighborhood drunk. Great food, amazing drinks, and staff who secretly love me even if their faces say otherwise.

Five years of suspicion, and I’m still here—because nobody else makes a Sausage Egg and Cheese 'Dilla that hits...