Can delicious and healthful coexist in the same comestibles? The old Rolling Stones tune seems to suggest otherwise. “You can\u2019t always get what you want,” goes the song. “But if you try sometimes . . . you get what you need.” Despite that truism, it is now possible to have both what one wants and what one needs, combined deliciously at the new Tropical Smoothie Caf\u00e9 in Liberty Station. Here, it\u2019s no longer an either\/or proposition: Customers can enjoy luscious smoothies along with delectable yet healthful food. Here\u2019s the history. Ton Lee, George Tateno and Alex Raymundo met while working out eight years ago at a 24-hour gym in La Jolla. Following their workouts, the three healthful-living aficionados enjoyed sipping smoothies. The problem was that if they were also hungry, they had to go elsewhere to find something healthful to eat. They eventually decided to go into business together and opened a Tropical Smoothie Caf\u00e9 franchise. Now other fitness buffs need look no further. They can find both delicious smoothies and healthful, tasty food all in one place. The tropical motif extends beyond the victuals, with the caf\u00e9\u2019s interior brimming with a lush tropical atmosphere and vivid island colors, all designed to make customers feel as if they\u2019re on vacation. One customer, Dan Hall, eats there almost every day. Hall, who lives at Liberty Station, works as a pharmaceutical sales representative. Not only do he and his family enjoy the Tropical Smoothies\u2019 menu, he also uses the caf\u00e9\u2019s catering service for his work. “The people at the caf\u00e9 are great,” said Hall. “They\u2019re very family-oriented. The food is delicious and healthy and the smoothies don\u2019t include too much sugar.” Hall appreciates the children\u2019s portions and the “great and affordable sandwich trays” which can be served to the physicians with whom he works \u2014 even those who are vegans. “They cater to your needs,” he said. “I would recommend it to anybody.” Lee said the Liberty Station location appealed to him and his partners because it has so much to offer in terms of its history, architecture, natural beauty and range of offerings there \u2014 from residential and sports to restaurants and cultural activities. In addition, “San Diego is a very health-oriented city with an outdoor lifestyle,” Lee said. He lived in San Diego for four years but now resides in Las Vegas, where he operates two dental offices. Lee first encountered Tropical Smoothie Caf\u00e9 in Las Vegas. He talks about how he and his wife used to stop for a quick lunch and how she would always get something from Tropical Smoothie while he usually opted for a sandwich from a nearby sandwich shop. One day at home, he ate some of his wife\u2019s leftover wrap. “I tried it and I loved it,” he said. That was enough to convince Lee to begin ordering from his wife\u2019s favorite place. And later, when he and his two partners decided to open a franchise, Tropical Smoothie was the obvious choice. The three owners plan to open up to 20 Tropical Smoothie Caf\u00e9s throughout San Diego County over the next five years. All three men work in the operations side of the caf\u00e9, although Tateno and Raymundo can often be found on the premises. The menu features a variety of offerings, including low-fat smoothies, power smoothies, dessert smoothies \u2014 such as mocha madness, with Ghirardelli chocolate, coffee, cappuccino and nonfat yogurt \u2014 and splendid smoothies made with Splenda. One of the most popular drinks, though, is the jetty punch smoothie, which combines the flavors of fresh strawberries, bananas and turbinado sugar, all blended to perfection. When it comes to edibles, there are scrumptious wraps for any meal, including breakfast wraps. Other options include sandwiches and gourmet salads. One of the caf\u00e9\u2019s signature sandwiches is the cranberry walnut chicken salad sandwich. It\u2019s made of all-white-meat chicken blended with cranberries, walnuts, celery and mayo, topped with fresh field greens and tomato and served on nine-grain wheat bread. Also available is a kids menu and a catering menu. Discounts at the caf\u00e9 are available to Liberty Station employees and often for local students and the community, as well, says Lee. Tropical Smoothie Caf\u00e9 is located at 2751 Roosevelt Road, Suite 103. For more information, call (619) 241-2753, or visit www.tropicalsmoothiecafe.com.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Can delicious and healthful coexist in the same comestibles? The old Rolling Stones tune seems to suggest otherwise. “You can\u2019t always get what you want,” goes the song. “But if you try sometimes . . . you get what you need.” Despite that truism, it is now possible to have both what one wants and […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":279857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11561","_seopress_titles_title":"Tropical Smoothie serves up healthful blend of flavor","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11561,11550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-279856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-peninsula-beacon","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}