Frozen Yogurt

[MBK]

Okay, so I'm a total sucker for the frozen yogurt at Tangysweet. Are there any other places in the city that sell it? I know that Sweetgreen place in G'town does, but I'm hoping for closer to Metro Center/Gallery Place. Am having a huge craving right now.

If I don't find any, the other option is to get ice cream at the Penn Quarter market... not a bad alternative

---

[The following posts have been split into individual threads:

TangySweet (WWZ)
Mr. Yogato (Apples & Bananas)
Yogun Fruz (cheezepowder)
Red Mango (cheezepowder)
Iceberry (cheezepowder)
City Market (synaesthesia)
Yogiberry (KeithA)
Jonathan's Gourmet Deli (squidsdc)
Greenberry's Coffee and Tea (cheezepowder)

Edited April 20, 2015 by DonRocks

[TedE]

Okay, so I'm a total sucker for the frozen yogurt at Tangysweet. Are there any other places in the city that sell it? I know that Sweetgreen place in G'town does, but I'm hoping for closer to Metro Center/Gallery Place. Am having a huge craving right now.

If I don't find any, the other option is to get ice cream at the Penn Quarter market... not a bad alternative

As I walked down 17th street today I passed a big banner for Mr. Yogato ("Domo arigato, Mr. Yogato", it said. Really!). Website says opening day is this Saturday, June 28. I will be sure to stop by. It's on the same block as Komi between the little pharmacy and the 17th Street Cafe.

On the subject of other yogurt chains we went to Red Mango in Chicago, and I just visited TangySweet the other day. If there is not some corporate connection between those two I'll eat my hat. I couldn't find anything on their respective websites, but the menus are identical right down to the selection of quirky breakfast cereal toppings.

[Apples & Bananas]

On the subject of other yogurt chains we went to Red Mango in Chicago, and I just visited TangySweet the other day. If there is not some corporate connection between those two I'll eat my hat. I couldn't find anything on their respective websites, but the menus are identical right down to the selection of quirky breakfast cereal toppings.

I hope you saved room for that hat, there's no connection between the two.

[mame11]

As I walked down 17th street today I passed a big banner for Mr. Yogato ("Domo arigato, Mr. Yogato", it said. Really!). Website says opening day is this Saturday, June 28. I will be sure to stop by. It's on the same block as Komi between the little pharmacy and the 17th Street Cafe.

On the subject of other yogurt chains we went to Red Mango in Chicago, and I just visited TangySweet the other day. If there is not some corporate connection between those two I'll eat my hat. I couldn't find anything on their respective websites, but the menus are identical right down to the selection of quirky breakfast cereal toppings.

And they are not identical. In New York at Red Mango you can have toppings of all kinds of fruit including watermelon and cantelope. Not at TangySweet.

[TedE]

And they are not identical. In New York at Red Mango you can have toppings of all kinds of fruit including watermelon and cantelope. Not at TangySweet.

Well, the selection at the Evanston Red Mango shop and TangySweet were identical. I swear! And that's not just my hat talking

[blakegwinn]

Well, the selection at the Evanston Red Mango shop and TangySweet were identical. I swear! And that's not just my hat talking

In NY a tangy fro yo stand has popped up on every block now and all of them have the exact same toppings/layout/decor. Many of them are chains but even from chain to chain there aren't really any distinguishing factors. The only slight difference is one I mentioned over on the NYC thread that you can pump your own.

By the way Mr. Yogato is a freaking SWEET name.

[synaesthesia]

For those who are disappointed by the trend of tangy frozen yogurt, City Market has a machine that is more along the lines of the creamy ice cream-style froyo. Little bit more icy, teensy tiny bit of tang. Just chocolate and vanilla flavors with kiwi, strawberry or banana as toppings.

[goodeats]

synaesthesia said:

For those who are disappointed by the trend of tangy frozen yogurt, City Market has a machine that is more along the lines of the creamy ice cream-style froyo.

Where is City Market?

[synaesthesia]

goodeats said:

Where is City Market?

17th and M SW corner

[goodeats]

Finally found one near Metro Center for a quick fix! On H Street, next to 1250 H Street is Coffee Espress, which is serving Angelberry (another chain, I presume, but can't find a link for it) frozen yogurt. It is $3.50 for a large and $2.50 small pre-tax. 2 flavors: Original and Mango. There are some fruit toppings, but don't expect the options offered at some of the other places. The original is not as tart as TangySweet and a bit icier, but it hits the spot. Plus, I don't have to trek to Dupont Circle. Quick fix, hits the spot, cool for the last days of summer.

[TedE]

Angelberry (another chain, I presume, but can't find a link for it)

Does anybody know the origin of the X-berry designation for fro-yo joints? I always assumed that there was no significance except places trying to cash in on the Pinkberry name recognition, but it sure is rampant. Just pray that Rep. Dingell doesn't decide to open a shop in D.C.!

[togflx]

Does anybody know the origin of the X-berry designation for fro-yo joints? I always assumed that there was no significance except places trying to cash in on the Pinkberry name recognition, but it sure is rampant. Just pray that Rep. Dingell doesn't decide to open a shop in D.C.!

Pretty sure it's just the Pinkberry association that has spawned the x-berry knockoffs. When the craze was really starting to hit there was a somewhat useful article in the NYTimes that kinda discusses the origin of the recent froyo madness: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/21/dining/2...;pagewanted=all

FWIW there's another yogurt place going in up in Adams Morgan, Cali Yogurt, opening up near the top of 18th, in the old Miss Pixie's spot.

[goodeats]

Frozen Yogurt Indulgence (FYI) (FB page. Looks like a kiosk outside of Union Station.) Posting because it's right outside of Union Station.

[DonRocks]

And it continues ...

Next door to Backyard Barbecue: Zinga! is opening.

Next door to X.O. Taste: SweetFrog is open.

If there's a higher power, I beseech you to please make it stop.

[Heather]

And it continues ...

Next door to Backyard Barbecue: Zinga! is opening.

Next door to X.O. Taste: SweetFrog is open.

If there's a higher power, I beseech you to please make it stop.

FroZenYo seems to be popping up everywhere, like mushrooms. I always wonder how clean the machines are at all of these places.

[Kibbee Nayee]

If there's a higher power, I beseech you to please make it stop.

Amen.

[Can we extend this beseeching to cupcake shops and world's new best hamburger places?]

[DC Deb]

This makes me think of TCBY everywhere in the 90's. Ugh.

I agree--I am done with cupcakes and burgers too.

[cheezepowder]

Next door to X.O. Taste: http://sweetfrogyogurt.com]SweetFrog[/url] is open.If there's a higher power, I beseech you to please make it stop.

Sweet frog started in the Richmond area. Franchises are popping up all around the DC area and, looking at their locations list, nationwide. I've been to one in Richmond, one in the White Oak shopping center, and one in a little strip on Route 50 a little ways east from the Lotte in Chantilly. Like Frozenyo, they have self serve machines and toppings, and you pay based on weight. The location in Glen Allen (Richmond) is a favorite of mine because of the wide variety of their topping selection. They have a lot of candy bar based toppings. The White Oak location seemed to have less toppings, but I haven't been to the Glen Allen location in a while so I'm not sure.

Menchies www.menchies.com opened recently in Penrose Square on Columbia Pike. Also self serve and the toppings are presented nicely in bins with lids. The decor is high on the cutesy factor, and they have mascot merchandise for sale.

[squidsdc]

The ones that first started out maintained the selection I liked the best. Now very few offer the green tea, and taro is difficult to find as well.

[DonRocks]

And it continues ...

Next door to Backyard Barbecue: Zinga! is opening.

Next door to X.O. Taste: SweetFrog is open.

If there's a higher power, I beseech you to please make it stop.

Zinga! has singlehandedly doubled the traffic in tiny little Williamsburg Shopping Center. Depending on your point of view, this has gone from being an empty, desolate parking lot / low-key easy-in, easy-out place to buy Coors Light; to a nightmarish traffic hell-snarl / bustling, vibrant center of commerce.

Sweet frog started in the Richmond area. Franchises are popping up all around the DC area and, looking at their locations list, nationwide. I've been to one in Richmond, one in the White Oak shopping center, and one in a little strip on Route 50 a little ways east from the Lotte in Chantilly. Like Frozenyo, they have self serve machines and toppings, and you pay based on weight. The location in Glen Allen (Richmond) is a favorite of mine because of the wide variety of their topping selection. They have a lot of candy bar based toppings. The White Oak location seemed to have less toppings, but I haven't been to the Glen Allen location in a while so I'm not sure.

Menchies www.menchies.com opened recently in Penrose Square on Columbia Pike. Also self serve and the toppings are presented nicely in bins with lids. The decor is high on the cutesy factor, and they have mascot merchandise for sale.

What on earth were you doing in White Oak Shopping Center, going to Bombay?

I used to walk to work there, at the Sears. I used to sell boy's clothing. (I was 15.)

[Justin Bittner]

Coincidentally since you mentioned Sears, the only way two guys can share frozen yogurt just happens to be off the back of a wrench.

[DonRocks]

Coincidentally since you mentioned Sears, the only way two guys can share frozen yogurt just happens to be off the back of a wrench.

Or off the back of a wench.

[DonRocks]

I am head over heels for Red Mango. 

Does anyone on this website just flat-out, somersault, head-over-heels, jump-up-and-down LOVE frozen yogurt? And I mean jump at it, study it, analyze it, love it, and treat it like a best friend?

If so, please send me a PM.

[DonRocks]

This is pretty much what I've always assumed, but have never read before now.

"How Frozen Yogurt Went Bad" by Vani Hari on foodbabe.com

In my eyes, the only good yogurt we've ever had in the DC area is Yola in South Dupont. Everything else is fast-food / junk-food garbage and just as bad for you as a Snickers bar.

[Justin Bittner]

I was in books a million in arundel mills a few weeks back and said wtf is this crap the second I saw the the frozen yogurt topping bar. Seriously there were gummy candies m&m reces pieces, cups, toffee, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, Oreo pieces, marshmallows, sugary cereals. And also there were three gallon pump containers with Godiva caramel chocolate and some other shit. It was ridiculous.

[jasonc]

Sorry, but that is just an awful article.  She might as well just delete every other word and replace it with "NATURALISTIC FALLACY."

[DonRocks]

Sorry, but that is just an awful article.  She might as well just delete every other word and replace it with "NATURALISTIC FALLACY."

I'm not convinced "she" wrote it, but why do you think it's awful? Honestly, I didn't read every word - I skimmed the facts off the surface.

[PollyG]

Does anyone on this website just flat-out, somersault, head-over-heels, jump-up-and-down LOVE frozen yogurt? And I mean jump at it, study it, analyze it, love it, and treat it like a best friend?

If so, please send me a PM.

Not even close for me, but I do like the current trend in self-serve with the toppings bars, which can be a welcome relief from oversized portion-mania.  Red Mango is the best incarnation of this we've encountered to date.  I like the fresh fruit toppings and their fro-yo is very good.  OTOH, my daughter and I have been known to position ourselves where we can see the weight indicator as other people overfill their cups and walk out with over a pound of fro-yo and toppings at the local Crunchy Sweet Frog.  It's frightening.

[jasonc]

That was a bit knee jerk, and I do think the general point, that it's not particularly healthy is correct.  But a lot of it was based on her listing ingredients that are hard to pronounce and saying, "Well I don't want that in my body, do you?"  While the science simply doesn't support the conclusion that these fillers and preservatives have any adverse health effects. 

[jasonc]

My reaction can be explained by the following series of comments on the article.

In these comments, someone replies to the Babe's article -  a very well reasoned reply.  The Babe's assistant responds to most comments but she left this one alone.  The reaction of the Babe's readers portrays the type of anti-scientific, undiscerning promotion of anything natural that I was talking about, and really gets under my skin.

Melissa:

Do you realize that ALL foods that are consumed are processed in some way? The organic milk you buy from your grocer? Yep"¦ PROCESSED (pasteurization is a form of processing). Unless you're milking your own cow (which I don't recommend because the pasteurization makes your milk safe to drink), your milk is processed. Spray-drying skim milk is simply removing the water from milk. And the carrageenan you so vehemently abhor? Made from, you guessed it! SEAWEED! Do you eat sushi? What's the difference?

...

Also, good luck trying to make frozen yogurt maintain its consistency without stabilizers and emulsifiers (the gums I just mentioned). Unless you're going to make homemade ice cream/frozen yogurt to eat immediately, those things HAVE to be in there. What's wrong with corn? What's wrong with processing? If you don't want processed foods, grow your own garden and livestock so that you can feed them whatever, whenever, however. That's the only way to get around processed foods.

Some Replies:

Melissa, Don't you understand that God made it just the way you need it"“complete and ready to go. All of this "we make it better" is what is causing the terrible health problems in this country.

"What's wrong with corn?" Are you kidding? And the PROCESSING of natural foods, like seaweed, is the problem, not the food itself.

Whatever it is you're eating, it sure doesn't seem to be making you very happy.

[DonRocks]

I've had a "feeling" (I put that in quotes because I'm not sure it's justified) that the frozen yogurt fad (and I do think it's a fad) is slowing down, so I searched for that on the web, and found this from over a year ago:

"The Frozen Yogurt Craze Is Slowing Down" by Ashley Lutz on businessinsider.com

And here's something just from the past week:

"FroZenYo Rethinks Model As It Closes Unprofitable Stores" by Rebecca Cooper on bizjournals.com

Here's something you may be hearing for the first time: the same thing is going to happen with the quick-serve model of restaurants in general. The reason you might be hearing this for the first time is because I just thought of it.

From where I sit, the time to get into the quick-serve industry has come and gone - oh, I might be off by a few years, and who knows if the market for it will keep rising in the short term? But there is a *huge* amount of competition out there right now, still opening up with fury, and I'm sensing the beginnings of a pushback in the public psyche - nothing I can quantify; just a feeling I have. I wonder if the Shake Shack IPO will be looked back upon as the height of the market (typing that makes me think what a gutsy thing that is to say - who am I to be questioning these experts?)

I guess people have to eat, and most people want to eat lunch quickly. Fast food is dead, and quick-serve is the next fastest thing, I suppose. So where else is there to turn? Vending machines? Didn't Archie Bunker brown bag it?

[lovehockey]

But isn't quick-serve lunch a lot different from frozen yogurt?  As an example, you have to eat lunch 7 times a week, generally.  How many times a week, month, or year do you eat frozen yogurt?

I think the quick-serve model is based upon the local economy.  Frozen yogurt is a whole other thing.

[DonRocks]

But isn't quick-serve lunch a lot different from frozen yogurt?  

Yes. Sorry, I abruptly changed topics in the middle of a brainstorm. (The Quick-Serve topic is here.)

[DonRocks]

7 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

What I don't get is, if Cleveland Park has no foot traffic, how do places like California Tortilla survive? It seems to me that Fast-Casual restaurants would need foot traffic (or easy parking) to survive - Cleveland Park has neither. I can't remember if Sam's Parking Lot gives a free hour - if so, that might explain it (although I think Yogiberry closed there).

PS - Has anyone noticed that the Frozen Yogurt craze fad seems to have crested? Or, perhaps, we've just become numb to it.

Man, you talk about junk food - every bit as much as Lucky Charms (which actually may be a topping at Yogiberry).