Yelp is a funny thing... with some places, like mom & pop operations, every detail matters. With others, like the big chains, one usually enters into the establishment with some sort of expectations about the upcoming experience. Personally, I find such chains a little harder to review, because the factors that go into the experience extend far beyond the people who were in the building at the time of my visit. It can get a little silly -- I once saw a customer take a complaint all the way to the home office (and she attempted to take it to the CEO...) because she saw an employee wearing some sort of band pin, and she had heard that some political candidate liked the band. While her sentiments may have come from a legitimate place, I cannot fathom how the sight of that pin could have changed the taste of her food or the friendliness of the employee.
That sounds like a rant, but it's just me admitting that sometimes employees in entry-level positions are not perfect. And for minimum wage, I think if someone expects 100% perfection 100% of the time, that person is nuts. I have seen people with doctorates from Ivy League schools who pull six figures a year make mistakes, so I am not going to be the jerk who cannot accept them from the smoothie shop crew. I have ordered smoothies several times from this location since my original review and I am pretty sure most have had mistakes, including the two I mobile ordered today.
But I don't care. I have a true and honest respect for this location now. Why?
Cañada Davis. He is the current store manager and he is the dream machine! I posted my review on a Thursday night, I think. By Friday morning, he had already called me to follow up. Right there, that's a big plus. But that's not really what impressed me. Most managers do have to learn to take their blows. What impressed me what his earnest concern about my experiences and my input on the differences between the customer-vs.-the-team-member experiences. He convinced me to update the app, which also helped me understand how the ingredients (and I think possibly the process, as well), has changed since I was a team member, so he also deflated my ego in a way that was really positive and not in the least demeaning game.
I don't know if you, the reader, have ever worked any type of food-service job. But, in my experience, much more so than other industries, the manager shapes the actual quality of the store. Are the ingredients actually fresh and do employees actually do the required safety checks? If you think the law is protecting you, you are wrong. It is superstar managers who care about doing their jobs well and helping their teams do their best. I am way more likely to return to a business that frequently makes mistakes if I think they are run with integrity than one that say gets my orders correct, but then I notice all the bathroom logs are written in the same color ink with the same amount of smudge and fade... (Bathroom thing did not happen at Jamba. Never noticed their restrooms because they are only a hop-skip-and-a-jump from my home restroom, which is obviously my first choice.)
Anyways, that was legit TL;DR
Point being: as long as Mr. Davis is behind the helm, I will keep giving this location money to blend into juice.
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* Orders always made incorrectly, even when there are no mods to drinks.
* They take forever, even when they're empty
* Awful service. Expect no smiles or chit-chat. They are too busy giggling with each other or arguing about who takes out the trash. read more