Tutti Frutti has opened its Columbia location -- bringing sour frozen yogurt and do-it-yourself toppings to the Dobbin Road area.
Tutti Frutti
started out with a shop on Rte 40 in Ellicott City. The second location is in the Columbia Crossing shopping center near Dick's and Target. The new store shares the "son of Pink Berry" modern decor that dominates the yogurt trend, and it has been one of my favorite spots for a summer treat.
Next door, construction continues on BGR The Burger Joint, a small chain of burger, well, of burger joints that
announced its Howard County spot in January. (For a fan's predictions, check out
Jason's guest post.) On Sunday, it looked like they had already delivered kitchen equipment, so I hope that it will open in the next few weeks.
Words cannot contain my excitement over this development. I loved my visits to BGR in Bethesda (try the Cuban!) and it's doubly amazing that you can then just walk next door for frozen yogurt. That is, if you can turn down a handspun BGR milkshake.
ReplyDeleteI like the frozen yogurt at the BP station in Maple Lawn. One does not get the selections that are available at Tutti Fruti, but it is much cheaper.
ReplyDeletewent to tutti fruti the other night and it was YUMMY
ReplyDeleteThere are at least three frozen yogurt places along Route 40. I think YogiCastle is by far the best.
ReplyDeleteWent to Tutti Fruiti on back to back days. Day 1 was great. Day 2... not so much. a couple of the machines were not working. Half of the toppings were missing, and there weren't many people there to account for the missing items. Had day 2 been my first time, it would seriously make me reconsider going back. But, since it wasn't, it's a moot point. Just saying.
ReplyDeleteI too, like YogiCastle.
ReplyDeleteCause all I got is a logo of BGR to comment on...I'll comment. That logo is horrible.
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't envy them going up against 5 Guys. I predict bankruptcy within 2 years.
I went to Tutti Fruti last night and it was OK. The one on Rt 40 has more toppings and keeps them stocked better. This Columbia location is also a lot smaller with only a small handful of tables. Because both are separate franchises, they only honor their own store's frequent member card (kinda sucks since we were 1 off from a free cup).
ReplyDeleteThe BGR website states that it will open tomorrow 5/17, and it sure looks ready for business. I would think they would have a soft opening today to prepare?
My wife and I went to Tutti Fruiti on Saturday and were not impressed at all.
ReplyDeleteFirst, the location is poorly set up. It is a real narrow store front and a line can quickly build up leading people to feel rushed as they make their froyo sundae. Plus the seating isn't the greatest, but that's what you get in a lot of ice cream shops, so that's okay.
Second, there are some weird flavored froyos there with very little description (e.g., Green Tea and Tutti Fruiti...who knows what they taste like unless you've had them before?). In other similar businesses, there are sampling spoons on hand to help you narrow down your search. Not here. You had to go to the register to get a sampling cup which is 1) tough to eat out of and 2) inconvenient because you have to push you way back through people to get your sample.
Third, none of the toppings are labeled and are in a "salad bar" type area. Some of the items in there are pretty strange looking and I had no clue what they were. The lack of signage lead to me going with a pretty standard sundae, when in fact I like to try different things, only I want to know what it is before I try it.
Finally, the kids working behind the counter weren't much help. That's understandable because it's a new joint and I'm sure there's some training that still needs to be done. So I'm not going to knock them too hard for that.
I'll pass on going there for a while and see if they improve the process. It's an interesting concept though. In the meantime, I'll continue to hit up Cindy's on Rt 1 in Elkridge as they got a good process down.
-Brent
Tried both BGR & Tutti-Fruti the other day. BGR was inconsistent - I had the wellington burger which was quite tasty, and my son got a regular cheese burger, also good, but my daughter got the sliders which were little charcoal hockey pucks.
ReplyDeleteI liked the fries, and the asparagus was good as well. The most interesting thing about BGR is the coke machine with dozens of flavors.
Tutti-Fruti was disappointing - the base yogurt was good, but the toppings were sad and unlabeled. The mochi stuck together in clumps and the other topings consisted mainly of cereal and droopy looking fruit. Given the number of yogurt options on Rt 40, the only reason to go to this Tutti Fruti is location.
Our family is HAPPY to have Tutti Frutti so close now! It is so tasty and would rather we go split some fro yo than a milkshake (esp since we're all lactose intolerant).
ReplyDeleteWe've been going for 2 weeks and service has IMPROVED alot. There are more toppings now and all their machines are being used. Our favorite is Taro which is a coconutty, nutty, sesame seed like flavor. Taro with mango and blue berries. My son likes Tutti Frutti and Melon with chocolate and nuts. My husband enjoys the Original Tart with the tapioca bits/mango and peanuts.
It's a great place to hang out and enjoy the summer weather! And the owner will answer any questions and has no issues with handing out samples so you know what you're getting.
Was not impressed with Tutti Fruiti. When we went the toppings were either soggy or stale.. A real disappointment. Also, the tastes of the frozen yogurt's in comparison to the fresh flavors we are used to in SoCo we're a real disappointment. To say the least they were bland.
ReplyDelete