Smoothie House

After my dinner at Phở Saigon, I asked my friend if there were any tapioca places in the area and we ended up at Smoothie House. It’s a teeny little storefront in a strip mall, sandwiched between nail salons and auto insurance discounters – blink and you miss it. The interior is claustrophobically small and was a bit on the warm side when we walked in. Like many tapioca destinations, there are several computers set up «for our customer. ENJOY IT!!!» as the signs declare.
I ordered a cream tea with tapioca and egg pudding, at which point I was informed they were out of egg pudding. Okay, slight bummer, seeing as that’s my absolute favorite additive. I backed up to take a look at the menu and chose a peach juice drink with coconut gel. Didn’t have coconut gel either. Okaaaay…
I finally ended up finagling a peach juice with rainbow jelly and my friend got a strawberry blend with tapioca, which we determined tasted pretty much like Quik. I was kind of weirded out by the fact that I got a regular plastic dome over my drink instead of the usual sealed plastic that you have to pierce with your straw. It doesn’t really make it any more sanitary… but I guess it just SEEMS like it would be.
The little bits of weirdness, however – such as a flatscreen TV showing Chinese television and pictures of ice cream sundaes ganked from IHOP lining the walls – kind of ingratiated Smoothie House into my heart. It’s a colorful stop on the west side, and unlike many suburban destinations, it’s open late, until 11 on the weekdays.