The sun was baking me alive as I hit mile three on my walk in the sweltering 98-degree heat. I knew I needed to rehydrate; ZL Smoothie was the perfect refuge.
I walked into the little shop off Moro and was enveloped in air conditioning and blinded by lime green. The walls are painted floor-to-ceiling in green and lined with supplement after supplement. Behind the counter are industrial-sized blenders, steel countertops and rows of fruits and ingredients. My first thought: “Now this place knows how to make a smoothie.”
You know that sweet, fruity smell that hits you when you walk into a Smoothie King? This place has it too, but more natural. It’s the kind of smell that makes your stomach growl.
The menu, while large, groups smoothies into categories so it’s easy to skim and find what you’re craving. I wanted a fruit smoothie, which can be easily found on the left-hand side under the “Fruit Smoothie” section. Banana Berry looked refreshing and classic, so I ordered it from the friendly staff.
The Banana Berry smoothie is perfect in its simplicity; the strawberries, bananas and vanilla yogurt were blended together flawlessly. The smoothie had a silky texture and wasn’t too icy or too runny — both qualities that can ruin a smoothie experience. The flavors were balanced and consistent throughout the entire drink.
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My walking companion ordered the Peanut Butter Cup, made with bananas, chocolate yogurt, chocolate protein, PB2 and oats. The smoothie was delightfully chocolatey but still light and refreshing. I have no idea how they did it and I applaud them for it.
The beauty of ZL Smoothie’s products is that they’re simple; the average drink has about four ingredients. They don’t need extra add-ins to make healthy and tasty products. You can tell the ZL Smoothie staff selects their ingredients meticulously to ensure their smoothies are high-quality every time.
I will note that the store itself is a bit overwhelming — the sheer amount of supplements, drinks and CBD products they’re attempting to sell just seems like too much. They might consider backing off the extras and focusing their marketing efforts on their drinks. Customers might not visit the shop for the aesthetics, but ZL Smoothie sure can make masterfully blended drinks.
Stop into ZL Smoothie if you want to beat the heat and treat yourself. Located at 1101 Moro St., you really can’t go wrong.
