Surf City Squeeze and Jamba Juice both specialize in offering a refreshing and healthy alternative: the smoothie. Surf City Squeeze, only a five-minute walk from Stuyvesant, shares its space with Samurai Sam’s, an Asian fast-food restaurant.
This smoothie place offers slushies, three flavors of lemonade and four types of smoothies: power, functional, sweet and traditional. Power smoothies have an added supplement of protein powder, wheat germ or bee pollen. Functional smoothies promise weight loss or an increase in muscle mass. Sweet smoothies blend dessert with a low-fat smoothie base.
The mango and banana smoothie ($2.77, small) and the Vanillaccino are two of Surf City’s most popular menu items. Unfortunately, the mango and banana smoothie has a strong banana taste with only a hint of mango. The Vanillaccino ($3.70, small), a sweet smoothie, doesn’t taste much like vanilla—it has a strong soy taste and no coffee flavor. “Surf City doesn’t have a balance in its drinks, usually one flavor can only be tasted,” junior Lauren Shamen said.
Cookies ‘n’ Creme ($4.62, small), another sweet smoothie, is the most delectable. Though the drink contains only two or three Oreos, the flavor is potent and addictive.
According to cashier Chong Palk, the most popular menu item is “definitely the strawberry and banana combo. It’s the flavor we hand out as samples and people love it,” he said.
Stuyvesant students like Surf City is because of its prices. “I just need a cheap drink and since smoothies are healthier than carbonated drinks, I choose to go to Surf City,” junior Joshua Pulinat said.
Jamba Juice is a strong competitor of Surf City Squeeze. Though it is more expensive and farther down Chambers Street on West Broadway, students say the store’s flavorful beverages are worth it. The place offers many types of smoothies, including Jamba Tea, Jamba Classics and Functionals.
According to cashier Robert Carter, one of the most popular drinks is Chocolate Mood. “People love the rich creamy taste of the frozen yogurt,” he said.
Unlike Surf City, which charges extra for supplements like protein powder and wheat germ, Jamba Juice includes a free “boost,” a powder drink supplement that offers different results based on the boost choice.
“Green caffeine boost” when added to Tahiti Green Tea ($4.95, small) provides a quick burst of energy. Tahiti Green Tea is packed with lemonade, orange juice, nonfat frozen yogurt and orange sherbet, balanced so that no one flavor overpowers the others.
An “immunity boost” offers a healthy dose of vitamin C, zinc and plant extracts to strengthen one’s defenses against cold weather. Carter said, “Whenever I feel a cold coming on, I get myself a Coldbuster [a fruit smoothie with an immunity boost] to reinforce my defenses.”
At Jamba Juice, all the fruits used are visible in baskets behind the counter, a comfort to customers who want fresh ingredients in their smoothies. Junior Christopher Cusack loves Jamba Juice smoothies because he “can taste the freshness of it,” he said. It’s “a fruit symphony that has been brilliantly composed.”
Jamba Juice beverages are fluid yet satisfyingly thick due to a better blending process, while Surf City smoothies are viscous and gravy-like—and hard to drink through the straw, since they are blended with too much ice.
The combination of nonfat yogurt, fresh fruits, lemonade and a medley of other fruits and flavors makes Jamba Juice smoothies far more satisfying than those of Surf City. They find a balance that satisfies the taste buds immensely.
Jamba Juice smoothies cost more than those of Surf City, but Cusack said, “It’s worth it. Anything else is just a waste of money.”
Surf City Squeeze
165 Chambers St
Jamba Juice
88 West Broadway
