frozen yogurt

Post BBQ Tutti Frutti

Posted on by Amanda @ The Hungry Wanderers

Although we were pretty stuffed from our delicious Honey Pig korean bbq, there’s always room for fro-yo, especially when it’s a new-to-me location.  My brother and sister-in-law decided to stop at Tutti Frutti on our way back down to Silver Spring.  It was a chilly and rainy night so we hopped on inside as quickly as we could from the parking lot (to find a very full Tutti Frutti).

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The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the green tile which I’ve pointed out in other posts about serve-yourself fro-yo places.  What is up with that?!?! It makes me laugh every time Smile

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Just like the others, there were a handful of yogurt options and I believe I was particularly fond of the tart yogurt.  There was a good selection of fruit toppings (more than any other place that I can remember)…

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…and candy and cereal toppings.

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Colorful spoons to go with your bowl!

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And apparently no picture of my actual yogurt – oops! It was good though and stayed frozen through most of the bowl (a key requirement in my judgment of a fro-yo place).  The staff was friendly and the store was clean.  While quite crowded, we were able to grab a table a few minutes after paying and were able to enjoy our dessert comfortably seated.  While I don’t think I’d go out of my way for this place (with how many fro-yo places exist these days), it hit the spot for the location we were in.


Tutti Frutti on Urbanspoon

Froyo Dinner at Yogurtland

Posted on by Amanda @ The Hungry Wanderers

Since the Husband was going to be gone for a while on his most recent business trip, I made big plans in my mind to have a few unique dinners – one of which would be simply frozen yogurt.  (The other plan was a cupcake but I never made it to a cupcake bakery – next time!)  With the Husband’s return imminent, I needed to make my way to a frozen yogurt place and decided to go on Wednesday night.  But where to go? There are SO many options here in Las Vegas/Henderson.  We’ve been to Josie’s, U-Swirl, and Golden Spoon (guess we didn’t blog about the last two!) so I wanted to go to some place new.  Yogurtland is located right at 215 and Eastern with a great view of the highway, so anytime I head west, I pass it.  This was the night to finally see what there was to offer on the inside.

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When I walked in, the place was packed, but the line to get yogurt wasn’t.  I had a chance to look through their many interesting flavors.  However, I want to know who decided serve-yourself frozen yogurt places require this little tile (especially the green tile)?!?!?!  I decided to go with a taste of three:

Red Velvet Cupcake Batter

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Dutch Chocolate

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Honeycomb Tart

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The toppings selection was similar to many serve-yourself places – fruits, candies, cereals, etc..  On top of my three flavors, I had fresh strawberries, mini M&Ms, Ghirardelli chocolate chips, and a bit of Ghirardelli chocolate syrup.  I headed to the cash register, got a spoon, and since it was so crowded inside, headed to my car to enjoy my dinner Smile

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Overall, I enjoyed my froyo dinner.  I loved the variety of unique flavors (both the honeycomb tart and red velvet cupcake batter were awesome).  The staff was very friendly and my frozen yogurt stayed frozen well into my dining on it (something that’s not always the case at serve-yourself places).  This was a winner in my book!


Yogurtland on Urbanspoon

Pretty Toes & Some Yotini’s

Posted on by Amanda @ The Hungry Wanderers

This weekend, I flew to DC and drove down to Virginia Beach to spend some quality time with my sister :-) I arrived late on Friday and we spent Saturday morning lounging, catching up, and watching chick flicks.  As the day wore on, we did was every good girls weekend includes… pedicures and fro yo! With the fro yo place all picked out, my sister chose a nail salon she hadn’t been to before: Great Neck Nails.

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They were great pedicures for a great price.  Like my blue toes and matching blue flip flops they gave me? :-)

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As we walked across the street, my toes were cold! However, I was looking forward to trying out another serve yourself fro yo place (especially since my sister was raving about it!).

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Yotini’s is one of the many serve yourself frozen yogurt locations that have been popping up all over the U.S.  After my last visit to a similar place, I declared that I didn’t like serve yourself places.  Even though I love the ability to choose how much or how little I want in yogurt and toppings, I felt that the yogurt wasn’t cold enough and would be melting by the time I paid for my bowl.  I was willing to give it another shot though :-)

Like many of the others, there’s the wall of multiple flavors with little green tilework.

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Each section has two flavors and the option to swirl (like this one below).  There are also little tasting cups so you can try a flavor without committing to it.

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The topping selection at Yotini’s is HUGE.  There were two counters full of toppings, including lots of fresh fruit and candies.

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Here’s my sister showing me how to pour toppings ;-)

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On an adjacent wall, were a ton more options of candy and cereal toppings.

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They also had three sauce options (hot fudge, caramel, and maple syrup?) as well as magic shell (a chocolate and a blueberry option!)

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Another unique feature of this fro yo place is the option to get smores! The ladies next to us were enjoying one of these themselves.  I also saw a sign that they’re planning on adding a chocolate fondue option in the coming weeks.

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After weighing and paying, we had colorful spoons to choose from :-)

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Hmm, looks like I forgot to take a photo of my bowl! I had the Tart fro yo with strawberries, chocolate chips, and magic shell.  Here’s my sister again with her finished bowl!

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As we chatted and enjoyed our fro yo, I took some quick photos of the decor as well.

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Overall, Yotini won me over and has beaten out all of the other serve yourself fro yo places I’ve been to! My yogurt was still cold when I sat down which made me quite happy :-) And I really loved all of the topping options available to me.  The staff was incredibly friendly and I liked the additional options of smores and chocolate fondue in the future.  There’s even a little room for groups or parties! If you love frozen yogurt (even in this freezing weather!) and live nearby, make your way over to Yotini as soon as possible!

YOtini's Frozen Yogurt Bar on Urbanspoon

Yogiberry

Posted on by Amanda @ The Hungry Wanderers

Last Saturday night I made a healthy dinner at my parents’ house and enjoyed the casual atmosphere with my sister, brother and his wife, and parents.  Since my brother still lives in the area, he knows of many of the new places worth checking out in the area and he recommended that we venture out to Rockville to try a relatively new fro-yo place he’s been to: Yogiberry.  As many of you have noticed, serve-yourself fro-yo is popping up everywhere (Josie’s is the one closest to our house in Las Vegas).  I imagine that people like having control over mixing and matching flavors and toppings.  A trend also seems to be that these locations must be very, very bright and colorful!

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Yogiberry is like the others I’ve been to – many flavors and toppings to choose from.  Their prices are a bit higher (45 cents per ounce compared to 39 cents per ounce at our local Josie’s) but they also have the option of smoothies (I assume you fill your cup and then they throw it in a blender?).

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In addition to their bright colors and modern feel, the floor is a fun material – lots of tiny pebbles glued together.

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When they first opened, it looks like (according to the trusty internet) that they only had 4 flavors, but I believe they’re now up to 10.  They have the “regular” ones like Chocolate and included interesting ones like Green Apple and Lychee.

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Each location had individual dispensers.

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I was impressed with the amount of fresh fruit available and the uniqueness of some of them (they had actual lychees! perhaps why they have higher prices).

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One of the employees was a stickler for cleanliness, vacuuming up the crumbs between the buckets often.

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Lots of cereals and cookies to choose from…

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As well as my favorite section – candy.  I’m a big fan of the mini Reese’s Pieces.

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At the end of the bar, there’s also a handful of sauces to add to your bowl.

I tried to go small with my concoction.  I had a mix of the Original and Oreo flavors plus Reese’s Pieces, Strawberries, Mini Chocolate Chips, and a bit of chocolate syrup.  One of my big pet peeves with serve yourself places – the runniness of the fro yo.  It often doesn’t have any shape when dispensed and if it does, it’s pretty melted by the time you make it to your seat.  Boo to that!

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My sister’s first time at a serve yourself place :-) Went a bit crazy with toppings!

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Both she and I got the Original flavor in our bowls and we were not huge fans.  It was very yogurty tasting.  I know, it’s an odd thing to complain about, but fro yo fans know that fro yo doesn’t completely taste like refrigerator yogurt.  It wasn’t tart (like Tasty Yo – my love) but there was something about it that we didn’t like.  Oh well.

Packed in to our tiny table, we took some family portraits, enjoying our mini family reunion (boo to mine and my sister’s husbands not being there).

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I think I’ll be giving one or two more serve yourself locations a try in Las Vegas, but so far I’m not a fan.

Question: What’s your favorite frozen yogurt place (or ice cream if you prefer)?



Yogiberry on Urbanspoon