Food: Smoothie Places in Gainesville

After doing "The Burrito Circuit," I thought it might be time to cover some of the myriad smoothie places that we have here in Gainesville.

Planet Smoothie - A huge smoothie chain, with locations in a couple dozen states all across the country. They don't have too many locations in South Florida, though, so it was only when I went to college that I encountered them. They serve up a typical, decent-tasting smoothie, with heavy reliance on sweet sugared fruit rather than yogurt (though they do serve yogurt-based smoothies). Like all these places, they offer nutritional supplements (vitamin and protein powders, mostly) to mix in with their drinks. My go-to smoothie there is the "Big Bang."

2/4 stars

Freshëns - Another big chain. They have a location in the Reitz Union ground floor (next to the game room) that seems like it's been there for decades. They separate their smoothie lines into yogurt-based and "10 juice blend" based. I had a blueberry yogurt smoothie there, and it tasted like I was drinking medicine. The juice blended smoothies taste okay, though.

2/4 stars

Boost Smoothies - Formerly "Smoothie King," they've relocated up University Ave. near Leonardo's Pizzeria. This is a smallish place run by an Iranian couple, and they have the highest prices in town. They have the widest variety of ingredients and the best service, though, so I suppose it's to be expected. I had a pineapple-papaya smoothie that tasted pretty good, though it was a bit light on the papaya for my taste.

2/4 stars