Smoothie King First Impressions and a Contest
UPDATE: Contest has ended. The two random winners are Terri Wells and Luisa. Emails sent. Congrats!
My First Impressions of Smoothie King
I love giving stuff away, I just love it. Especially when it’s not mine. I’m not likening myself to Robin Hood or nothing. I’m just saying, I like giving stuff away. Recently, Smoothie King contacted me about trying out their brand of specially blended smoothies. I had never tasted one and figured this was the perfect chance to see what all the smoothie fuss was about. Note: I say fuss because I have been seeing and hearing about smoothie-madness for quite some time.
Their representative sent me a thank you card and a $25 King Card gift card that I could use at any Smoothie King. I’m in the Florida area and decided to have a smoothie for lunch. I originally wanted to record my entering the store, all of the inside and the staff on camera as they prepared the drink, but the store manager was too scared to let me record without the owners permission so I didn’t get to do that. Little did they know that I was going to give them a shout out, with address and everything. Oh well. Moving right along.
The store is packed with a bunch of health supplements, protein powders, weight loss pills, and of course, smoothie making materials. It’s a huge cross-sell factory, which isn’t necessarily bad considering they are catering to health conscious folks. I can now see why they have smoothie stores next to gyms. It’s a one stop shop for protein shakes and supplements. Forgot to take your creatine? No worries, hop into your neighborhood Smoothie King after your workout for a shot of creatine, or whatever supplement you need. It’s a smart concept actually.
Okay, so after I tried my very best to decipher their menu, I just gave up and asked the girl behind the counter to give me something with protein and chocolate. She said The Hulk would be good. So I had a Chocolate Hulk. Now the ingredients in it made the drink have way more calories (approximately 919 calories for their 20 oz cup) than I would normally allow for a shake, but it was my lunch and 2 snacks replacement for the day. It doesn’t help that it’s their weight gain shake either. No worries. I lived to tell about it. And after you see my video below, you will tell it was well worth it. It’s one of the best tasting protein shakes/smoothies I have ever had. Not something I would do often though.
After buying the shake I still had some extra money on the gift card so I purchased a few Pure Protein bars and called it a day. It’s important to keep in mind that I purposely did not order a shake with fewer calories. I could have easily ordered a “skinny” or something with a lot less calories like a Low-Carb Chocolate. Smoothie King has a list of nutritional information on their different smoothies that is worth taking a look at. It’s also important to note that you should always ask about what you are about to consume. In this case I didn’t really care because I was excited about tasting the smoothie, but if you are not sure about ingredients or calories…just ask the staff or ask for a nutritional guide. Do your research and stay informed.
The Smoothie King Contest
So, either you managed to get through my way-too-long Smoothie King nonsense above or you skipped right down to this part because you only care about the contest. Either way, thanks for visiting. Time for the contest right? It’s pretty simple.
The video explains it. Watch the video. Watch the video, now. Please buy my product.
For the video impaired, the contest is short. It will last one week from today and all you have to do to enter is leave a meaningful comment below. Two lucky winners will each win a $25 gift card to Smoothie King. I will choose the 2 winners based on who I feel left the best comments, sprinkled with a little bit of randomness. Thanks!
Looks good Israel, wish I had one right now… We don’t have those chains here, but other stuff… So are those fruit smoothies? Cause you said chocolate, and chocolate means it’s a milkshake, not a smoothie…
anyways, looks delicious, you made me totally jealous…
They have fruit and powder based smoothies. I specifically asked for a chocolate, milk-shaky one.
I have never heard of Smoothie King before reading your blog post. I just visited their website — and actually found a location near where I work. I’ll definitely have to give them a try. Delicious and healthy — you can’t beat that!
Awesome, there aren’t as many as I thought around but here in Florida its common for them to be near gyms.
I love Smoothie King’s Muscle Punch. The Smoothies are very filling and all made with fresh fruit and juice.
Gonna need to try that one too.
Hey Israel! This is the first time I’ve visited your site; I like your writing style. I’ve had smoothies myself, but not at Smoothie King; a free card would encourage me to check it out. 😉 As I understand it, not all smoothies are meal replacements or meant to be “health drinks” with proteins added. I had one that was simply all fruit blended together and wonderfully tasty not long ago; plus, it was very refreshing, which is important when you’re out walking in the hot Florida sun.
Here’s hoping for a long and healthy future for both of us (I just started exercising three weeks ago and need to lose between 30 and 50 pounds).
Terri, thanks for stopping by. I am used to smoothies being classified under fruity, juicy types. Good luck on the health, and I wish you success.
I’ve never had Smoothie King before. I’ve only had a few protein shakes before, and unless I added a lot of extra ingredients (in copious amounts) it was not very good at all. I think health shakes and smoothies can be a good source of nutrition, but it can be difficult to actually replace an entire meal and/or snacks with a drink like you did. It’s important not to overdo the calories when drinking a shake or smoothie.
Its not really that difficult to replace a meal with a shake. It’s what Slim Fast was based on, meal replacement shakes/drinks. Also, keep in mind I NEVER do meal replacement with shakes, I just did that his one time because of the high calories it had, plus it filled me up really good.
I Love the place they just opened one not to far from me… I got a buy one get one free and got the power drink…. My wife like it so much she made me go and get her one almost every week… but the cost for them are a bit steep…. Yet once you have a sip you get hooked.
Well if I win it would be be for my wife…. 🙂 You have the power to make her happy…
Power in the wrong hands, can be dangerous….
Chato: There’s a saying. Ïf Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!
We don’t have mamy smoothie places here in Canada. The most popular one seems to be Booster Juice. After reading some of the ingredients, some of them are packed with calories! Four hundred plus.. Definately, in many cases a meal replacement. It makes me laugh when someone in the food court orders fast food and then has the drink because it is healthy! All about choice..
Interesting article and video.
Haha, good point. It’s like having 2 meals. That’s why I say to “stay informed!”
I’ve never heard of the place, but according to Google there is one not far up the road. What I am trying to say is, show some love and give me that gift card. HA!
Well, consider yourself entered into the running!
I really enjoy having smoothies, i have never tried Smoothie King or any protein base smoothies. I will have to try one. It was a good post about staying inform on what you eat.
Luisa,
The protein smoothies taste excellent and can be a good way to absorb protein quickly.
I just moved to Texas from upstate New York. I’m melting and a smoothie would be just the thing to keep me solid after my workouts!
Alyssa, thanks for commenting. So Texas is a hot place?
I love smoothie king. I love the carribean way…it is so good! I really enjoy your blog too by the way!
Andy, I have never tasted the Caribbean Way, maybe on my next visit I will.
Mmm Smoothie King. I’m so glad you’re doing a contest for Smoooothie Kiiiiing. I know what you mean by “Smoothie Fuss,” it’s become such a big thing these days (ironic because for the most part Smoothies aren’t a good choice when it comes to dieting), but smoothies have been a treat I’ve enjoyed since I was a wee ‘un playing tennis and going bikeriding and fishing with my dad — he likes to replace his meals with smoothies occasionally and to the best of my knowledge he also occasionally favors the Hulk!
Smoothie King was, as a result, always a stop in my childhood — much better comfort food than McDonald’s. Having moved from Florida to Illinois, I miss them so. When I got older and started caring about my appearance and health, Smoothie King still managed to weedle its way into my diet and it would be lovely to have them up here in the Midwest. Their menu is so extensive and I love having tons of choices, not all of which are aimed at making me thinner, but all of which are aimed at making me healthier. For the calorie conscious they have not a measly three smoothies, but over 20 choices — all of which you can “trim down” more by “making it skinny,” another incredible option because they don’t add sucralose or aspartame, but instead just remove the turbinado and rely on natural honey for a sweetener. Skillz to you, Smoothie King! I’m so glad that they do that because artificial sweeteners hurt me and are the opposite of healthy.
Anyways I’m going home to visit the parents two weeks from now and I’m most definitely going to have to take my dad over to Smoothie King. Gimme a giftcard so I can treat him and myself at the same time! C’mon C’mon please!
Wow Eli, I didn’t Smoothie King was around for so long. Memories…
I’m flabbergasted on the delay of Smoothie Kinging, but better now then never. I remember my first time; I stood staring in the abyss of their menu. It took a good five to ten minutes to make up my mind. Luckily, the employees are typically kind and helpful. They never have a problem adding, subtracting, or substituting ingredients. This creates a wonderful, personal smoothie and adds to their already massive menu. Now, I’m an every other day Smoothie Kinger. Their smoothies are absolutely amazing with a wide variety of flavors and additives. I’ve discovered a few price solutions. They offer a “punch” card, which allows one to buy nine smoothies and get the tenth free. Also on their website, if one joins their kingdom then a buy one get one free coupon is sent via email. It does take about twenty-four hours before receiving the email, but is well worth the wait. Every penny helps for a broke college student! I’m ecstatic that you enjoyed your first time smoothie and I hope you join the rest of the dedicated Smoothie Kingers!
The winners have been randomly chosen and emailed. Now send me your info so I can send you the gift cards. I want to thank everyone that participated.
Thanks, for the gift card. I enjoyed a strawberry smoothie it was delicious.thanks again
I’m glad you did!
HI Israel,
Enjoyed your article! If you like a chocolate shake type smoothie, I’d really try the Chocolate High Protein – that’s my favorite at Smoothie King. That one has half the calories of the Hulk, higher in protien, EFA’s and actually makes a very balanced meal. Probably the perfect after-workout.
I will have to try that some day. Thanks Greg.
Hey, thank you for that article. I review different freebies on my site and maybe you could contact me and we can chat. Anyways thanks for sharing.
Hi Mark, email sent…