Red Sangria, Gingerbread, and Peanut Paradise à la smoothie: Tropical Smoothie Cafe opens in Newington near CCSU
Tropical Smoothie Cafe, a Georgia-based franchise with hundreds of shops nationwide, opened its first Hartford-area location Monday, at 12 Fenn Road in Newington near the Central Connecticut State University campus.
It is Tropical’s third Connecticut location after Milford and New Haven.
The shop is owned by Abdallah and Sanaa Alsaqri of Newington. Both of them work in IT, he in cybersecurity for Raytheon, she as a tech writer. But fast-casual food service runs in Sanaa Alsaqri’s blood.
“I grew up in the back of a Subway,” she said. Her parents owned Subway franchises in Virginia for 30 years. Now they own three Tropical Smoothie Cafes in that state.
Sanaa Alsaqri moved to Connecticut when she got married. She and her husband plan to stay at their jobs, but when the opportunity arose to open a Tropical franchise, they jumped at it.
“It was the logical next step for me and my husband,” she said. “It’s a great franchise and there are none close to us.”
The shop’s opening day saw a steady stream of customers, most of them college-aged, often lined up through the shop and out the door.
“Maybe some day we’ll leave our jobs and just do this, but we’re going to see how it goes,” Sanaa Alsaqri said.
The newly constructed strip mall where Tropical is located is growing fast. Recently a Jersey Mike’s opened next door to Tropical, and a Salsa Fresca is coming soon.
Menu
Tropical’s menu is divided into smoothies, sandwiches, salads, wraps, flatbreads, quesadillas and all-day breakfast items. Kids’ smoothies and food also are offered.
Smoothies are $6.99 to $7.99 for 24-ounce, and $4.59 for a kids’ size 12-ounce. When added to a food order, 24-ounce smoothies are $4.99. Among the ingredients, in a wide variety of combinations that are adjustable by request, are spinach, kale, mango, pineapple, banana, avocado, coconut, lime, ginger, peanut butter, yogurt, chia seeds, almonds, oats, cinnamon, dates, strawberries, blueberries, cranberries, flaxseed, acai, pomegranate, orange juice, kiwi, chocolate, white chocolate, peanut butter, coffee and cappuccino. Fruit, vegetable and vitamin supplement add-ins are available.
Wraps, for $9.79, are jerk chicken, Buffalo chicken, Baja chicken, Thai chicken, hummus-veggie and Supergreen Caesar with chicken. Sandwiches, for $6.99 to $10.19, are turkey-bacon ranch, chicken caprese, grilled cheese and avocado grilled cheese. Flatbreads, for $7.39, are chipotle chicken club, chicken-bacon ranch and chicken pesto. Salads, for $8.69, are Supergreen Caesar, beach club with chicken and Thai chicken. Quesadillas, for $6.99 to $7.99, are Santa Fe chicken and three-cheese chicken.
Breakfast items are an egg-bacon-cheese wrap for $4.29, a Southwest wrap with chicken for $5.69 and a peanut butter-banana flatbread for $6.49.
Tropical Smoothie Cafe, 12 Fenn Road in Newington, is open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. More information at locations.tropicalsmoothiecafe.com/ct/newington/12c-fenn-road.
Susan Dunne can be reached at sdunne@courant.com.
