Place: Yogurtland
Lunch: Frozen yogurt topped with fruits and love and harmony and stuff
This is technically the after-lunch treat, but since it fits today's blog theme, you are none the wiser. Except that I just told you. Forget I said that.
Remember when the only place you could get soft-serve frozen yogurt was TCBY? And they had like three flavors if you were lucky?
Your options have increased exponentially in recent years. Frozen Yogurt (known as 'fro-yo' in youthful hipster circles) has gone upscale with newcomers like Pinkberry and Red Mango, both who offer traditional treat shops where counter people make your treat. Both outlets offer limited standard and seasonal flavors with several available toppings.
But the big craze emerging is self-serve frozen yogurt. These stores offer a bunch of different flavors, and you get to make your own concoction.
There are several players with dreams of becoming the king of the concept. The players include (but are not limited to): Yogurtland, Orange Leaf, Cherry Berry, Yogurt Story, Yogurtini, Fiji Yogurt, Josie's, Peachwave, and Menchie's, just to name a few. And about a bajillion independent imitators are going up too, lots of whom seem to like to use the name "Yogurt World" or some variation (I can find lots of Yogurt Worlds, but no sign of an organized chain).
Don't think the older chains aren't noticing. Both Red Mango and TCBY are now offering a self-serve format to potential franchisees.
So over the past couple of weeks, I've been checking some of these places out. Here's what I've found...
They all work exactly the same way. You walk in and grab an empty container. You face the imposing wall of soft-serve dispensers. You pick your flavor...or mix a bunch of flavors. You move to the topping bar. You add toppings, which usually include a variety of fruits, candy, fake cookie batter and cheesecake pieces, nuts, and even breakfast cereal. I put Cap'n Crunch on something somewhere. It was WEIRD. The cashier weighs your concoction and charges you a flat by-the-ounce price ($.35 to $.43 depending on store). Oh...and most of these places have a tip jar. Because the counter person did such a good job of...taking your money.
(Note to self: Write ranting blog post about fast food tip jars.)
They usually have decor packages that look like they were designed by teenage girls. Funky modern plastic seating is almost universally mandatory, as is colorful mosaic tiles surrounding the self-serve yogurt dispensers. Heck...even their websites mostly look like they were designed by the same person. Now that I think about it, the yogurt dispensers all look like they're made by the same company. I wonder if there's a single individual out there going door-to-door selling people yogurt machines and an instruction manual on how to create a franchising empire.
The popularity of the concept seems to be three-fold...Some people are under the impression yogurt is healthier than ice cream, so eating this instead should automatically increase their life expectancy by sixty-three years. Some people like this because they can actually make a treat in a smaller, more reasonable portion size and pay a lower price. Some like it because it's just fun to go nuts making a really awesome treat.
ONE guess which camp I fall in.
Here's a lovely summary of the visits I made and the fro-yo that was had...
Yogurt Story - I was innocently driving down the road minding my own business when I saw the signage and thought "Hey, that's clever." So I pulled in.
At first, I had no idea what was going on. I'd never heard of a self-serve treat joint before. Smiling Counter Girl, who had absolutely nothing better to do, didn't make any effort to relieve my obvious confusion. But I got the idea after watching others.
I grabbed a cup and made three mini-treats, a pattern which I've since continued. I had Strawberry, Cake Batter, and NY Cheesecake. I put blackberries on the Strawberry, strawberries on the NY Cheesecake, and cookie dough bits on the Cake Batter. The NY Cheesecake was sort of disappointing. The Cake Batter was incredible.
Yogurtini - Yogurtini's decor looked like they pillaged a Spring Hill Suites lobby. They had sixteen flavors available. Their topping bar was by far the most extensive of any I've been to. The two guys working there were friendly and went out of their way to be helpful to obvious newbies, a standout example compared to the other stores. I tried Birthday Cake Batter, Chelsey's Cheesecake, and Orange Creamsicle. I was hoping Orange Creamsicle would be a worthy successor to the amazing Orange Sherbet Twist I used to get at the nearly extinct Hogi Yogi chain. Yeah, not so much. Chelsey's Cheesecake was easily my favorite here. (A couple of the chains have an orange sorbet in their rotation, but it wasn't available at the stores when I visited them.)
Peachwave - Peachwave's decor looked like they pillaged a Spring Hill Suites lobby, but painted it all green and orange. There were twelve flavors on hand. I tried Cookies and Cream, Cheese Cake (really...the sign separated the words), Cupcake, and Vanilla. The flavors here were much more mellow and the yogurt seemed a little creamier. Vanilla won out here.
Orange Leaf - Orange Leaf's decor looked like they pillaged a Peachwave after Peachave pillaged a Spring Hill Suites lobby and painted everything green and orange. Except for the awesome orange vinyl couches. Peachwave didn't have those. Orange Leaf's spoons were shaped like a little plastic shovel. Cute. Sixteen flavors, one noted as being Greek-style. Ever tried Greek-style yogurt? It's gross. Icelandic yogurt, which Wikipedia tells me is technically not yogurt but soft cheese, is also gross. Actually, I don't even eat ordinary lowfat store yogurt anymore since I discovered Brown Cow Cream Top whole milk yogurt (available at Whole Foods, some health stores, and if you live in Utah, Harmon's.) I sure seem to like these low fat frozen yogurts, though.
Anyway, I had Raspberry Lemonade, Brownie Batter, Confetti Cake, and Red Velvet. Which one was the best? Too close to call. I guess I'll go with Brownie Batter for originality. I could taste the Raspberry Lemonade flavor for hours after eating it.
Josie's - Josie's looks like an Orange Leaf after they...oh forget it. They had this whole rambling diatribe posted on the wall about how they use 'pure crystalline fructose' instead of high fructose corn syrup in their yogurts. They go on to claim that you can parallel the growth of type 2 diabetes with the growth of HFCS. They also claim that pure crystalline fructose is sweeter than table sugar, so they use less of it. If you ever went on a blind date with somebody who talked like this read, you'd probably be bored to tears and hope they never call you again.
Josie's had ten flavors, including a lovely watermelon sorbet. I had that and New York Cheese Cake (again, like Peachwave, two words) and Mountain Ripe Strawberry, which I piled some real strawberries on. The watermelon sorbet won, but the strawberry was also excellent.
Frogurt - A small chain of a half dozen stores in the Salt Lake City area. There's another two-store operation in North Carolina and Virginia using this brand, but they're not related. The eastern operation has a frog in their logo, because frog-flavored yogurt would be AWESOME.
Utah's Frogurt is the only chain with a manly decor that I've seen. Yellow walls. Brownish yellow walls. A faux sandy stone tile facade around the yogurt machines. Dark brown leather sofas. Chrome-backed chairs. Dude.
Their signage said "over 16 flavors to choose from", but they only had twelve dispensers, and only seven of them were in service. I tried Cookies & Cream, French Vanilla, Hawaiian Delight Sorbet, Cheesecake, and Strawberry. My favorite would have to be a toss-up between Cheesecake and Cookies & Cream, but truth be known, they were all really good.
(**UPDATE** At least some of Utah's Frogurt stores were being converted to 'U-Swirl' franchisees by the end of 2011. I've had them in Vegas. Nothing remarkable to report.)
Menchie's - The name comes from a mistranslation gone horribly wrong. But it reminds me of one of those made-up words like "Qdoba" or "Panera", so there you go.
Menchie's differs from the pack in a few ways. First off, their decor is a little more original. Not much, but a little. Second, they offer an optional waffle bowl to use instead of a regular cup. Third, they have pre-packed take-home containers for sale. Finally, they sell all sorts of Menchie's-branded merchandise. Buttons. Stickers. T-shirts. Hats. Koozies. And a plushie version of the Menchie's mascot. Jeepers.
Most of their flavors were labeled non-fat. I tried German Chocolate Cake, Very Berry Sorbet, Cake Batter, Pecan Nut, Hart(?) Tart, and Vanilla Snow. I'll note that the last two don't actually appear as choices on their website. My favorite? None of the above. I really didn't care for any of these. I think it was the lack of creaminess.
Their topping bar had an extensive selection of nuts and candy toppings. They were short on fruits.
Lemon Tree - Two-store franchising empire out of Kansas City. Total rip-off. Their flavors didn't include lemon OR tree. And the idiots who work there can't print a receipt to save their lives. The machine prints one just fine, but they insist they need it, and getting a re-print turns into a major production. The third (and last) time I went there, the girl actually hand wrote one on a post-it for me. None of the other fro-yo joints I went to had a problem printing me a receipt. NONE. And I don't like any of Lemon Tree's flavors. NONE of them. Naturally, this is the ONLY fro-yo place that's available locally, or even in my entire STATE.
CherryBerry - Apple green interior with glossy red mini-brick tiles around the machines. I forgot to write down what I had or how many machines there were, but the standout flavor was Snickerdoodle Cookie Batter. That was awesome.
Yogurtland - Super Nice Counter Guy: "It's slow today."
Me: "Well, it's Sunday."
SNCG: "It's always slow during the day. It's busier at night."
Me: "Probably because of the (neighboring) movie theatre."
SNCG: "Yeah. But it's nice during the day because we have everything topped off and people can take their time making their yogurt."
Upon paying, he asks me what color spoon I like. "Doesn't matter." I get green.
16 flavors. I tried Devil's Food Cupcake Batter, Madagascar Vanilla Bean, Irish Mint Creme, New York Cheesecake, Red Velvet Cupcake Batter, and Blood Orange Tart. Devil's Food Cupcake Batter was my favorite. They NAILED that flavor. It's promoted on a window poster as being available for a limited time only. Are they NUTS? This NEEDS to be here full-time.
Mix Devil's Food with a little of the Blood Orange Tart and you have a really nice chocolate-orange flavor with an international flair.
Decor was more conservative than others with non-funky chairs. Sort of disappointing given their overly cute logo.
So who's the winner? I think I'd have to go with Orange Leaf, but most of them were good. Menchie's and Lemon Tree are the only ones I might not see the point of returning to.
Financially, they ALL seem to be big winners currently.
