Tropical Smoothie Cafe — Restaurant in Indian Harbour Beach

Tropical Smoothie Cafe- Indian Harbour Beach, FL- 3 Stars

As I glanced down at the name blinking on my name generator, I came to the conclusion that like all repeated tasks and movements, my long foray into the world of chain reviews is going to continue as I was headed to the Tropical Smoothie Cafe location in Indian Harbour Beach, FL. With 850 locations nationwide, it is easy to see how they survived the nationwide COVID mandated lockdowns and state-wide mandates still in effect in some states.

Upon entering I wasn't immediately wowed by the décor. It was pleasant enough, but nothing spectacular. No lights were on so it was very dark and unpleasant. I also noticed that they were apparently very COVID conscience as 6 feet spacing is still the standard and all employees were masked. The employees were friendly, competent and showed up to work, so "yay" for them! I placed an order for an avocado grilled cheese, a Baja chicken wrap and a Triple Berry Oat Smoothie.

The food was ready in no time and I snapped a few pictures before the taste test began. As you can see, the food looked edible enough and while I didn't include a picture of the smoothie, imagine if you will, a berry-looking smoothie looking freshly blended. I found the avocado grilled cheese to be a pleasant twist on an old American favorite for today's beard and sandal crowd. It was grilled to perfection and was lubriciously delivered to my taste buds via the natural avocado oil and I found this delightful.

If you are a regular reader you should recall my review of Da Kine Diego's. If not, let me remind you or inform you if you are new to the fact that this is easily the worst operating slop house in all of Brevard. I mention this only as the Baja chicken wrap was a step above Da Kine's sludge by a smidgen owing to the fresh greens and flavor they contributed to the dish. Other than that, it was just this side of edible.

The Triple Berry Oat smoothie was exceedingly enjoyable. You could tell it was assembled with perfervidity and the berry mix was the fronting flavor. For not being made from fresh ingredients (nothing here is cooked, it is all combined) it was just this side of captivating on the palate.

The Big Boy says, "If you are of the beard and sandal crowd, I'm sure you already know, if not if you are in the mood for freshly fabricated eats and smoothies, Tropical Smoothie Cafe is solidly mediocre." #iamthebigboy...

2018: 5 stars! Usually quick service. Friendly staff. Love the avocoladas! Great wraps and flatbreads. Ordering via the app in advance works great!

Update for winter 2024: The service from the staff has gone way down. They are mostly still friendly, but they constantly seem understaffed and they make a lot of mistakes. I have had to make multiple returns after products were wrong or of bad quality. In general, TSC products seem to have reduced in quality over the last three years. The Kale Slaw now has less apples and often the Kale is old or the sauce is missing. We used to be big fans, now we know not to order it anymore. Three of my last four bowl orders have not been in stock. I only found out when I came to pickup. Then I, unexpectedly, had to wait 10 minutes for them to prepare the replacement.

June 2024: On our last visit, they put Banana in our Avocoladas. This is not part of the recipe and my wife hates banana, so she was unable to finish her smoothie. Our pickup order wasn't ready until 15 minutes after the time indicated in the app. They seemed to have more staff, but they all seemed to be scrambling and unable to keep up. This last visit, all of our food was correct. Another visit, this time the Avocoladas seemed like they had no avocado and I got someone else's Pesto Flatbread in my bag instead of my Buffalo Chicken Wrap. The staff always seem overwhelmed and rushed. They make far more mistakes than at other TSC locations. In the last two months, mobile orders are always ready 10-20 minutes later than what the app says. It used to be quick and efficient, now it's a regretful waste of time!Management/ownership need to make some significant changes.

Update August 2024: We ordered in the app today during a really busy day when we couldn't cook and just needed some reliable food delivered. After a wait of about 30 minutes, we received an email saying that our order was canceled due to some communication issues with the store. This left us with some really hangry people! As I can no longer count on this store to deliver or even accept our order through their app, it's going to the bottom of my list for consideration when ordering. It's sad. I like the food (when it isn't messed up). But we just can't keep doing this to ourselves and wasting so much...

This was probably the worst experience I've had at any Tropical Smoothie location. Not a single employee acknowledged me, or the group ahead of me waiting to order for a solid 4-5 minutes. The group left annoyed without ordering, but I stayed because I ordered online. I waited at the online order pickup area for another 2-3 minutes before an exasperated employee finally came over to help me. After receiving my smoothie and leaving I took a sip as I was driving away and this smoothie was probably the chunkiest and most watery smoothie I've ever had. It wasn't blended all the way and was full of ice chunks and pieces of unblended fruit and spinach. It's a shame because I was really looking forward to this smoothie. At least I know to stay away from...