When you think of fast-casual restaurants, you probably think of places like TGI Fridays, Applebee’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, etc.

If you’ve heard a restaurant called “Tropical Smoothie Café,” you might think that’s all they serve: smoothies and maybe a yogurt parfait here and there.

No. This place has a lot more to offer. And a new one is opening in North Brunswick.

Tropical Smoothie Café not only serves freshly made smoothies and acai, chia and yogurt bowls made from fresh ingredients, they also have sandwiches, flatbreads, wraps and salads. Yes, they are on the healthy side, but their menu offers a lot.

Their Greek yogurt bowl with mixed berries sounds amazing. It’s Greek yogurt topped with fresh strawberries, fresh blueberries, granola, almonds, chia seeds, and honey. But I know I’d probably go with their Chipotle Chicken Club Flatbread with bacon, tomatoes, romaine lettuce, pepper jack cheese, and chipotle mayo.

Tropical Smoothie Café has 1,400 locations nationwide and 10 in the Garden State. It was founded in 1997.

A new location will open in the Brunswick Shopping Center on Milltown Road just off Route 1. The same shopping center already has a McDonald’s and a Rita’s Italian Ice, as well as other places, but nothing even close to this one.

In a press release from the leasing management company that manages Brunswick Shopping Center, representative Jennifer Harrison is quoted as saying, “With many consumers’ growing interest in healthy eating, Tropical Smoothie Café adds another great option to the dining offerings at Brunswick Shopping Center. Tropical Smoothie Café is a leader in its segment and we are excited to offer this nationally recognized concept to the community.”

The opinions expressed in the above post are solely those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski.

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