Steph C.
Yelp
I've probably been to Jamba Juice a hundred-odd times over the years, mostly when I was in college and there was a location right on campus. It had been several years, though, when I went to this one in Koreatown. Apparently Jamba Juice got bought and rebranded as Jamba in the interim, to sell an expanded menu and distance itself from the word "juice." Sounds like a particularly nonsensical soulless corporate move.
The place still felt like a Jamba Juice. Same aesthetic, same uniformed youngster weaving between cashier and blender. This one was in a kind of desolate ground-floor office building space at Wilshire and Western, with easy free parking and not a lot else going on.
I guess there were maybe more snacks and non-juice menu items available. My toddler immediately spotted the basket of Pirate's Booty and demanded "fire blooties" until he was handed his smoothie.
Service was fast and friendly, and we were able to get the kids' smoothie split in two for them to share. They got a Strawberries Wild, with strawberry and banana, and my husband got a customized Razzmatazz, swapping out banana for more raspberry to go with the strawberry and orange. I'd been planning to get my old favorite, the Citrus Squeeze, but found it was no longer on the menu. Time is a goon.
I had some of both my husband's and kids' smoothies, though, and they were good, sweet and juicy, if not quite as satisfying to my taste buds as they were twenty years ago. I don't crave Jamba anymore, but no matter--I'm sure my boys will want to come back.