Frozen Yogurt - Get On The New Way To Cool Off

Yogurt and toppings from Yogopop in Elkridge

Tart frozen yogurt was once such an exciting idea that we drove to Olney to sample what we'd heard the celebrities were eating in New York and Los Angeles.

Three years later, the serve-yourself yogurt shop has become so popular that I can't even track all the openings, closings and nuances between them.

Tutti Frutti opened in Fulton on Friday, and we stopped by in a crowd to pick from the 16 flavors and spoon on mochi and boba.  I've heard that the Red Mango in Clarksville is close to opening as well.  That means there are at least eight options in Howard County plus more in Catonsville  -- an entirely new way to cool off on a hot summer night.

If you haven't tried this yet, here is the basic idea:  Someone decorates a shopping center bay with white paint and modern design from Ikea and knock-off furniture stores.  They install a bunch of self-serve yogurt machines and a toppings bar that they fill with candy, fruit, breakfast cereal, and Asian items like mochi and boba.  Then they hire young people to weigh bowl and take money.

Yogiberry At The Columbia Mall

Yogiberry has come to the Howard County mall, and it's ironic that I miss the modern design after teasing the Olney location for ripping off Pinkberry.

One of the first weekend's customers at the new Yogiberry at the Columbia Mall was my friend -- who we'll call RDAdoc. RDAdoc had been waiting months since first seeing a "coming soon" sign and discovering that one of the original Yogiberry stores was around the corner from her office in Rockville. On Sunday, she took her taste for frozen yogurt -- and her training as a nutritionist -- to the mall for a little treat:

I was thrilled to find out from HowChow the other day that Yogiberry finally opened. Today I went to the Columbia Mall and walked around the food court expecting Yogiberry to be there. When I didn’t find it in the food court I continued walking in hopes of finding it. I was quite surprised to discover that it was actually a small stand right outside the play area near JC Penny’s. I was a little disappointed because one of the things I really like about the Rockville store is the décor. The Columbia location doesn’t seem to be fully up and running yet. They had a sign saying “cash only temporarily” and also only had plain and berry flavors. They did have a good selection of toppings including delicious fresh fruit; however, they didn’t have mochi which comes highly recommended by HowChow. I had a cup of original yogurt with mango and yogurt and it was delicious!

For those of you like me who are interested in nutrition information, I wanted to bring something to your attention. If you just look at the calories it seems like they are pretty low (green tea= 70, berry and original=90, chocolate=100). However you need to pay attention to the serving size and servings per container. The serving size on the nutrition label is ½ a cup (equals 4 ounces) and there are 1.3 servings per container. Yogiberry offers three sizes- 4 oz, 8 oz and 12 oz. That means an 8 oz cup of chocolate yogurt contains 260 calories. Remember that is just for the yogurt and doesn’t include toppings. So even though Yogiberry offers healthy options the calories can still add up if you aren’t paying attention.

So Yogiberry has joined the BP Market in Maple Lawn. as the Howard County outposts of the tart yogurt trend. (Check out other comments about Yogiberry here.) I hope the Columbia Mall location eventually expands like its other stores to offer four flavors of yogurt and the full mix of toppings like fruit, candy or sugar cereals. ("Fruity pebbles!") It's not the celebrity attraction of Pinkberry, but it is a fun treat -- especially because the fruit is fresh and not some canned syrup.

The yogurt is delicious. RDAdoc brought home cups for both me and Mrs. HowChow. The standard is a touch sour, but that makes it refreshing and unique. My true treat is mochi topping, the little cubes of rice sweet that you often find in Japanese desserts. I had talked that up to RDAdoc before her visit. They're lightly sweet, sort of an adult gummy bear. You can't get them at the BP Market either so I actually bought rice flour at the Laurel Grand Mart to try to make my own. I'll be the guy in line with a plastic bag of his own toppings.

Yogiberry - Columbia Mall
10300 Little Patuxent Parkway
Columbia, MD 21044
410-730-3988

NEAR: This is in the Columbia Mall on the lower level. It is a stand outside J.C. Penney's.

Yogiberry Opened At Columbia Mall

Yogiberry has apparently opened at the Columbia Mall!

On two trips this week, we couldn't even find where the store will go. So I posted this morning that Yogiberry hadn't opened. Of course, Yogiberry opened.

At lunch time, people started posting comments like "I'm at the mall. It's opening!" Check out the play-by-play below. Paul provides an instant review. It sounds like Yogiberry is a stand in the middle of mall near J.C. Penney. Thanks for the updates! (Click here for more thoughts and a photo of the Yogiberry.)

Yogiberry joins the Five Guys, which is slinging burgers in the Columbia Mall's food court. And Wendy wrote about the new Ruby Thai Kitchen in the food court next to Auntie Anne's Pretzel's:

Had the eggplant tofu, the Bang, Bang Shrimp and the Pad Thai noodles. The shrimp lived up to its name (bang, bang or hot, hot). You can order 3, 2, or 1 entree(s) with rice or noodles for varying prices. My friend ordered the mango chicken, which she wanted after tasting the free sample (they will let you taste a dish if you ask). Choose the Pad Thai noodles if you like spicy, the fried rice if you don't. They have many chicken dishes, a couple beef dishes, the tofu dish previously mentioned, some veggie choices, the shrimp dish I already mentioned, and some cheese wontons and other appetizers. The eggplant tofu cannot be found at any of the other food court restaurants, and never having seen or tasted it before, I had to try it. The tofu didn't disappoint or thrill, but my curiousity was satisfied.

Yogiberry Coming To The Columbia Mall

Yogiberry is bringing the flashy frozen yogurt fad to Howard County by opening at the Columbia Mall in July 2009, according to sources.

(And Yogiberry opened on August 28, 2009.)

By "sources," I mean a comment by Susan on an old post about the Yogiberry in Olney and an email from my friend Alisha who saw the signs when she was at the mall.

Yogiberry is a DC chain serving the frozen yogurt style from Korea and LA's Pinkberry. They sell slighly sour yogurt topped with fresh fruit, candy, cereal and mochi. That mochi is my favorite. They also decorate with a modern vibe with bathrooms that look more like clubs than shopping centers.

The Columbia Mall appears to be making big changes in the food court. There have been signs for a new Five Guys burger joint since March, and a comment below says there may also be a Chipotle and an Arby's on the horizon.

If you want to try this trendy yogurt, you can also visit a Mango Berry in the Catonsville shopping center with the H Mart. Plus, Mrs. HowChow found frozen yogurt that you can eat this weekend in Howard County -- flavor and fruit, but no mochi or flash. But that is a different post.

Yogiberry in Olney

The new frozen yogurt fad has not yet washed ashore in Howard County, but it is lapping at the borders at Yogiberry in Olney.

(Update: Yogiberry opened in the Columbia Mall in August 2009.  But the Olney one might be closed, says a comment below.  Call ahead.)

Yogiberry is the suburban outpost for this tart yogurt trend. You choose from four flavors of frozen yogurt and then mix in toppings like fruit, candy or sugar cereals. ("Fruity pebbles!") It's not the celebrity attraction of Pinkberry, but it is a fun treat -- especially because the fruit is fresh and not some canned syrup.

The yogurt is delicious. The standard is a touch sour. That is the point of this fad, I guess, but our favorite was the berry yogurt with mochi topping. This is little cubes of the rice sweet that you often find in Japanese desserts. They're lightly sweet, sort of an adult gummy bear.

Yogiberry is shockingly modern for the shopping center where it sits right off Rte 108. See-though chairs. Replica Barcelona loungers in the front and replica Nelson benches against the wall. The colorful displays should entertain kids or people who miss a little urban cool. The bathroom looks like a club, not an ice cream store.

(Update: The weekend after this post, I saw a Pinkberry for the first time in New York City. Yogiberry's design is a hilarious rip-off of Pinkberry. Same floor. Same chairs. Same kind of lighting. I still like Yogiberry, but I was wrong to assume that someone with a sense of style created a modern look for Olney. Someone just bought cheaper versions of what they saw at Pinkberry! Go for the yogurt.)

(Update #2: Anonymous protests in the comments that the plastic chairs are not cheaper versions. They apparently cost $300 each. OK. Let's be clear -- I really like Yogiberry, and I own knock-offs of modern furniture. They knocked off good stuff unless people are dripped yogurt on $800 Nelson benches and $4,000 Barcelona chairs. I'd *love* anything as cool as Yogiberry in Columbia. I was just shocked to realize that the design came right from Pinkberry.)

(Update #3: YogiBerry is COMING to the Columbia Mall in July 2009.)

(Update #4: Or more like August 2009, the mall customer service said in early July.)

YogiBerry
18107 Town Center Dr
Olney, MD 20832
(301) 570-7575

NEAR: This is about 15-20 minutes from Clarksville and Fulton. You take Rte 108 south from Clarksville through Sandy Spring and into Olney. Yogiberry is in a shopping center on the right just as you enter Olney. You turn right at a light for Spartan Road and them immediately left into the shopping center.