By Phil Byrd, Staff Writer
When walking through the Student Center, the restaurants offer a sense of comfort: the smell of a chicken sandwich, and the zest of a chicken bacon ranch quesadilla. The menu doesn’t change. It’s comfortable.
The menu didn’t change. Now, the catering service Sodexo has brought a new restaurant in to “mix” up the menu: Botrista
A stark contrast to the tried and true Tiger Grill, Botrista offers smoothies, frappes and its signature boba tea. Sodexo has worked hard to meet the needs and desires of the students it serves, and its new addition to the student union is no different. This new and exciting taste profile promises to bring a new, refreshing flavor to an otherwise familiar menu.
Botrista aims to simplify the smoothie process. With their top-shelf machinery, they have mastered the art of making a drink simply and quickly. With the simple push of a button, their machines can dispense fresh ingredients into the consumer’s choice of beverage, blend them and make them presentable, all in just 20 seconds.
While they offer a variety of cold beverages, what catches most students’ eyes is the unique boba tea Botrista offers. A unique beverage consisting of milk tea and tapioca poppings in its original form, Botrista offers boba tea as it is, or with its own signature twist. By allowing for a fruity spin on the beverage, they’ve found a way to appeal to everyone, boba lovers or not.
“I’ve ordered the dragon fruit mango smoothie with strawberry popping boba each time I’ve visited, and I love it,” Camryn Stroupe, a senior said. “It has great taste and is a delicious treat. They are doing good work and I love the delicious flavor.”
Botrista offers beverages for non-traditional boba drinkers as well. “Though I don’t really like boba, I love the mango smoothie without the poppings,” Emma Millard, a freshman said. “I think they’ve done a good job at really offering something for everybody.
