Mateo’s: Smoothies, Ice Cream and Juice to make you forget Jamba Juice

Filed under: San Gabriel Valley, Westside, Midtown, Eat — StyleGuide @ 8:19 pm

This stuff is so addicting they should be selling it in little packets on the corner. 

Instead, the smoothies that will hook you like a junkie are sold out of bright, clean shops in dingy neighborhood strip malls.

The local Mateo’s mini-chain serves up smoothies, juices, ice cream and popsicles in the Oaxacan tradition — rich, creamy, and chock-a-block with fresh ingredients.

The best way to get started?  Choose a smoothie — something fun like orange/papaya/mango.  Consider it a gateway to their 100 percent vegetable and orange juices.  Called Vampiros, a single sip will make you feel like you’ve added a year to your life.  Beets — the not-so-secret ingredient — give them their blood-red hue and a slight sweetness (think sugar beets).  I personally know of people who would pawn grandma’s pearl necklace for carrot/beet/celery/strawberry Vampiros.

You can get your pleasure to-go with Mateo’s rich, fruity popsicles, $1.50 apiece.  Scoops of ice cream or sorbet in flavors ranging from the familiar (strawberry, cookies and cream), to the interesting (watermelon, walnut) to the exotic (smoked milk, soursop), are stimulating choices as well.

Just don’t come crying to me when you blow your paycheck on a wild, fruit-crammed weekend, and your pants get a little snug.

Price: $

Where:  Four locations:

1250 S. Vermont Avenue #105, Los Angeles, Ca, 213.738.7288

4222 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, Ca, 323.931.5500

4929 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City, Ca, 310.313.7625

522-B  E. Vine Avenue, West Covina, Ca, 626.919.2090

Posted in San Gabriel Valley, Westside, Midtown, Eat |