Life Alive Organic Cafe Lowell — Restaurant in Lowell

Hey, it's me :)... Most call me Zeus, but times are different now so you can just call me daddy haha... its whatever. Some may know me as the God of the sky, lightning, thunder, law, order, and justice, as well as the king of mount Olympus. However, no one knows or remembers that above all, I am the God of the smoothie. With this, I have been on the quest to find smoothies that reach the level of the Gods. I approached Lowell, Massachusetts to bestow myself onto a meir mortal, which legend describes this mortal, as the woman with the passion of a thousand suns. She was woven into this realm from Aphrodite's hands herself. You may be thinking to yourself, Zeus? I thought he didn't fornicate with mortals anymore... and to that, I say, of course I do, but these days I get consent first... I dont want to become the Bill Cosby of Mount Olympus. Us Gods evolve too, you know?!?! We are in fact products of your imagination. If you didn't know I had any demigods out there, you can thank me for my last son since you may have heard of him... Obama. Oh yes, Obama is a product of my loins... but back to the point. Among my journey and after I encountered the passion on which my new mortal-lady obtained, I became rather parched. From there, I Yelp out to the Gods to direct my path to the nearest quarters on which I could enjoy the refreshing taste of a fruit smoothie. My mortal woman (Carol btw) and I came to a place of refuge from the blazing heat of the sun known around these lands as Life Alive, as we traded for our smoothies. The man behind the counter with the black mane of a horse pulled back acted in complete respect, however, he was also in the presence of a God. After the exchange, myself and Lady Carol step out to stroll around the city as we discussed future prospects for our now conceived child... and then I stopped and shouted. This smoothie is good enough to be enjoyed among the Gods!... and now I will use this establishment as the smoothie caters for my next baby shower within the clouds. Thank you for this truly Heavenly experience. -...

It's always hot in here, crammed with people and the staff here are slow as molasses. They all look shell shocked as well. The tables and chairs are beat up and it's not comfortable to hang here. Again, this is all my opinion but last time in, I ordered off of their website for 'to go'. Website says it was to be ready at 11:53. Had to make a stop on my way over. I arrived at about 12:07 and the cashier was busy talking to someone behind the counter and refuses to look at me. They had about 15 receipts taped to the counter. I wait a while go over to the pick up table and see my smoothie with no name attached to it mind you and then go over and wait til the cashier is finished talking to whoever. I tell her my name and of course she can't hear me because it's so loud there. Finally she understands what my name is and she begins to walk around and do some things, then I mention that my order said it was going to be ready 15 minutes ago. She starts making excuses regarding the website. I wait another 5 minutes and get my order. By this time my smoothie is not a smoothie anymore. They never get the drinks and food out together.

Putting up a negative review isn't going to get anything done but I am done with this place. Even the food is slacking now. I wanted to contact the owner to see if they were going to change anything and discovered the following:

The founder Heidi Feinstein sold Life Alive to Panera Bread in early 2017, then in late 2017, Panera was bought by Krispy Kreme and the CEO of Panera stepped down. Who knows who is responsible now. This restaurant is not the same as it once was. What expansion or improvements have they made to this place in the last 15 years? Still cramped, loud and hot. If it weren't for the college students, this place...

I've lived in Lowell for a year and a half and my girlfriend and I are big fans of Life Alive. It's falls in line with what and how we eat at home so it's nice to have somewhere we can go when we don't feel like cooking.

I hate to give this location only two stars because we've had good experiences here, but lately the service has been so lousey that we're giving it a break for awhile.

Let me explain - the people who work there are incrediblely nice so that's not the issue. Last night, specifically, my food came out after a long wait. Another 10 minutes went by before my girlfriend's food came out. When we finally finished our meal, her Chai tea came out, but we had to take it to go because we were running behind on getting to the second half of our date. The lady who brought the Chai tea was so kind and understood and we really appreciate her demeanor.

Two separate visits prior - similar issue with dine-in wait. In addition, items being left off my plate and not being acknowledged when I'm at the register waiting to order.

Any of these instances no big deal once or twice, but accumulatively and consistently these issues don't give me the confidence I can come back soon and not experience the same.

Regarding atmosphere - it's tight in there which likely has a lot to do with their lack of efficiency. I empathize with that from a team member standpoint. It [appears] older than their other locations and can add to its charm, but it teeders on the side of outdated and really needs to be spruced up.

My apologies for a harsh review, but I hope this place gets the attention it deserves. I can tell there's good people and goodness here, but...