Jamba...Can You Hear Me????!!!!

Oh Jamba Juice, Oh Jamba Juice - wherefore art thou Jamba Juice?





I was first introduced to Jamba Juice on Purdue's last visit to the Rose Bowl - where I saw Jamba Juices on just about every street corner in SoCal. I love juice and 'jamba' sounded positive so my friend, Susan, was kind enough to swing by a store and let me try one of the smoothies. Positively delectable. They were SO good. I never forgot about Jamba Juice. When I was working in NYC or visiting the city on a weekend, I would try to swing around to midtown just so I could pick up a Jamba Juice. I was EXCITED that they were making their way to New York. Even on my honeymoon to Hawaii, we managed to find some Jamba Juice stores and get a cool, refreshing, fruit smoothie to enjoy.
When we moved to Virginia, I kind of forgot about Jamba Juice but not for long...because I found that a Whole Foods in Arlington had a Jamba Juice inside....never mind that there was a Jamba-less Whole Foods less than a mile from where we were living - I would make the extra trek into Arlington just to get my fill.

But now...they're gone...the Jamba stand in Whole Foods is no more. The Jamba Juice that existed on GW's campus is no longer. (I never went to that one but it was nice to know it was there.) The replacement that has been popping up in it's place all over town? Robeks. Robeks is what I like to think is a cheap imitation of my beloved Jamba Juice. And there are Robeks closer to my home now than the Jamba Juice in Arlington. But do I make it a point to go for a smoothie at Robeks? No. It's just not the same. Sure they have some of the same fruit blends and the same type of 'boosts' that Jamba provided but there's something missing. I don't understand why they closed - the Jamba Juice line at the Whole Foods was ALWAYS packed....never a clear line when going for a smoothie.

I want my Jamba - I want my Strawberry Tsunami (with lime sorbet) with a Femme Boost because not only was it tasty, in some quirky way, ordering it with the Femme Boost made me think I could become a Femme Bot. Jamba equals FUN. Robeks equals NOT fun.

I miss you Jamba...I'll be thinking about you while I slurp on this 'not-so-tasty' Robeks.