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.

Tutti Frutti Opened In Maple Lawn, And People Say The Red Mango Looks Close In Clarksville

Opening night at Tutti Frutti in Fulton

Tutti Frutti opened the yogurt taps in Maple Lawn on Friday night, offering up frozen yogurt and trendy toppings like candy, fruit, and mochi.

This is part of a three-year wave as similar yogurt stores opened across the area.  (I'll try to catalog them Tuesday.)  But the Tutti Frutti franchise in Fulton seems to have adopted all the good parts of the trend -- a bunch of yogurt options, a bunch of spoon-your-own toppings, design by Ikea & Friends, and some places to sit outside and enjoy your dessert.

If anything, they had the best part of the trend on Friday -- variety.  You could pick from 16 different yogurt flavors and an array of toppings.  Your dessert could be basically soft serve ice cream with a sweet chocolate yogurt and sprinkles.  You could go kid-crazy with cake-flavored yogurt and candy toppings.  Or you could go with the tart trend with their basic yogurt and fruit.

To me, Tutti Frutti stood out because I'd never seen banana, coconut or orange yogurt before.  I made a mixed cup with those and the purple taro flavor.  They also had one treat new to me on the toppings tray -- fruit flavored "boba," jelly balls that burst with a liquid center when you bite them.

There are already Tutti Frutti franchises on Rte 40 in Ellicott City and near the Target in Columbia.  I think they're all independent, and these yogurt shops can vary based on the vibe of the employees and the selection and freshness of the yogurt and toppings.  I'm not sure that I'd drive past one to go to another, but then there are definitely places that seem more fun.

Separately, there is a Red Mango yogurt shop under construction in Clarksville.  Last I heard, the shop  in the River Hill village center hadn't been open on Saturday.  Please let me know if it opens.

Tutti Frutti
8170 Maple Lawn Blvd
Fulton, MD 20759

NEAR: Tutti Frutti is in the Maple Lawn development. That's on Rte 216 just west of Rte 29. When you pull off Rte 216 onto Maple Lawn Boulevard, make the first left and you'll see Tutti Frutti on the right. Park in the lot behind the office buildings.

Tutti Frutti To Open In Fulton On Friday

The Tutti Frutti frozen yogurt store in Maple Lawn will open on Friday, the community's homeowners association emailed today.

That's part of the great tart frozen yogurt explosion.  The BP station in Maple Lawn already sold frozen yogurt, and there are already Tutti Frutti franchises in Ellicott City and Columbia.  But I'm a fan of yogurt and mochi, so I'll take all the yogurt you can fit in a cup.

Any news on the Red Mango shop coming to River Hill in Clarksville?

Tutti Frutti Coming To Maple Lawn

The Tutti Frutti frozen yogurt chain is expanding into Maple Lawn -- taking the spot that Maggie Moo's vacated last year.

Mrs. HowChow was so excited that she parked the car just to go read the sign.  She is already making warm weather plans to sit outside the shop for dessert.

Mrs. HowChow thinks this phenomenal.  She says there was a time when she wanted gum balls in ice cream, but now she thinks the frozen yogurt stores serves a broader audience -- from the kids who add candy toppings to her adding mochi to plain sour yogurt.  Fulton is the third local Tutti Frutti -- with the original on Rte 40 and last year's addition in Columbia near Target.

Anyone know the timeline?  It didn't look like they had started to move in yet.

Tutti Frutti Has Opened In Columbia, And BGR The Burger Joint Looks Close To Opening Next Door

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.

Trolling: Trattoria de Enrico's Pizza, A Trifecta of Frozen Yogurt, And Homemade Potato Chips

Sherri and her fiance have just moved deeper into Columbia from King's Contrivance into Hickory Ridge.   She submitted the first "trolling and pimping" post, and she started it off simply with her favorite pizza, her favorite dessert, and a spot for homemade potato chips and her favorite beer.  These "trolling" posts are meant to give you opinions other than my own, although I am linking to my prior posts if you want more.

The pizza at Trattoria de Enrico in Columbia: As a couple from a little farther north, it's tough to find pizza that reminds us of home, but the pizza at Trattoria de Enrico really makes us happy. The crust is crisp and chewy in all the right places, the way my mom always said they can only make in New York City because of the city's public water.  (She may be making that up, but it's my mom, I have to believe her . . .)  The sauce isn't too sweet, and the amount of cheese is juuuust right. The trip is more than a 30-second drive now, but it's more than worth the seven minutes to King's Contrivance.  I haven't had pizza this good since I was a kid!

Dessert at Tutti Frutti: I cannot get enough of this stuff, not the yogurt, not the mochi. I mix a trifecta of green tea, original tart and death by chocolate. I don't really like when my flavors interact, but I manage to eat the stuff so fast that they don't really have the opportunity to mingle too much. I top the chocolate with almonds, I top the tart and the green tea with mochi and more mochi. It's a good thing this place is "all the way" in Ellicott City because I've been there three times in 10 days. If it was closer, I'd have to buy new pants.

LeeLynn's in Columbia: When my book club meets at LeeLynn's near Dorsey's Search, my first order is the homemade potato chips. They're crunchy kettle style chips tossed with herbs and served with a chipotle ranch sauce. I follow that up with the chicken satay, an inexpensive yet filling five skewers of chicken doused in the best peanut sauce I've ever had. LeeLynn's is also one of the few places that has Rising Moon, Blue Moon's spring seasonal, and my favorite beer, on tap in the spring.

Trolling on Tuesday is my attempt at a series where readers would share three things with other HowChow readers -- favorite restaurant dishes, food to buy, food experiences, etc.  Click here for all the Trolling posts.  Click here for the explanation and the rules.  Anyone can submit.  

Tutti Frutti In Ellicott City

Tutti Frutti's frozen yogurt is so exciting that I ate the entire cup before I remembered to take a photo.

I have been blogging for two years.  Many of my meals start with Mrs. HowChow cringing and me balancing a cell phone camera on a water glass as I learned from the Pizzablogger.  But I started spooning frozen yogurt as soon as my butt hit the shiny modern bar stool at Tutti Frutti, and I slurped up three flavors of yogurt and three toppings without breaking stride.

That's the cool part about Tutti Frutti.  Amid all the tart yogurt options like Mangoberry in Catonsville and Yogiberry in Columbia, Tutti Frutti stands alone because you make your own mix.  You pay by ounce, and you take your bowl along a run of eight yogurt machines -- from chocolate to green tea to kiwi to the original tart -- and then dozens of toppings.  The bowls are enormous.  We took the smallest, left them half-filled, and still had huge desserts that cost us about $5-6.

Tutti Frutti sells good yogurt.  It's a touch grainier than the other options, but I liked the texture.  Tutti Frutti also sells great toppings.  I love mochi, and their variety is soft and chewy.  There was also some kind of firm, candy-colored topping -- maybe a gelatin?  I thought that was great, and I was passing up a dozen fruits, all kinds of candy, and some squeeze bottles with sweet sauce that I didn't even try to identify.  You could spend all summer trying out variations.

You'll have fun if you do.  I'm a fan of Tutti Frutti's cool modern design.  On a Saturday night, it was packed with people at 10 pm with a buzzing, city energy.  I'm also a fan of pay-by-the-ounce.  I gasped watching teenagers fill small buckets and then pay more than $10 for dessert.  But, hey, you can take normal-sized servings, and I loved being able to sample.  Three flavors of yogurt in my cup.  Three kinds of toppings -- mochi, that gelatin, and mango.  At most other stores, you pay $1 or more per topping, and you're getting a handful for your money.

If you want a fun night, start with an order of fried chicken at Rainpia and then come down Rte 40 for Tutti Frutti.

Tutti Frutti
9191 Baltimore National Pike (Rte 40)
Ellicott City, MD 21042
410-480-1830

NEAR:  This is on the south side of Rte 40 west of Rte 29.  It's right next to a Burger King.   From Rte 29, you need to pass the Chatham Mall shopping center (with Bare Bones) and U-turn at Chatham Road.  Turn right into the Burger King parking lot and then immediately turn left.  You'll see Tutti Frutti directly ahead.

Tutti Frutti Has Opened In Ellicott City

The tart yogurt trend expanded again without my noticing -- which is why it's lucky that the Kevin & Ann Eat Everything blog wrote last week about the new Tutti Frutti on Rte 40 in Ellicott City.

This is yogurt like the Yogiberry in the Columbia Mall and Mangoberry in Catonsville, but it's better because Kevin reports that there was non-stop mochi. (Although they charge by weight so heavy mochi eaters should still consider buying their own toppings at the H Mart.)

Thanks also to Eric who posted a comment about the opening last week.

More FroYo: Tutti Fruitti on Rte 40 in Ellicott City

There appears to be another tart frozen yogurt place getting ready to open on Rte 40 in Ellicott City -- Tutti Fruitti, a new store that Elizabeth spotted and emailed me about.

Neither of us has tasted the yogurt yet, but there is a tiny blog site talking about a new store opened in October. [Update: People say the place is still under construction. The original post said that it appeared to be open.] Looks like this is a chain, although the Tutti Frutti chain's Web site doesn't show any stores in Maryland yet.

Anyone stopped at Tutti Fruitti yet? There are some Yelp reviews of a Tutti Frutti in Manassas that make it sound like Yogiberry (in the Columbia Mall) or Mangoberry (in Catonsville) -- tart yogurt, fruit and cereal toppings, modern design, a touch expensive. One unique aspect appears to be that you choose your own yogurt from lots of flavors and mix them yourself.

If you're going to check out Tutti Fruitti, check out my driving tour of food along Rte 40. There is great stuff in that neighborhood.

Tutti Fruitti

9191 Baltimore National Pike

Ellicott City, MD 21042

NEAR: I got that address from the blog, and Elizabeth wrote that this is in the shopping center that houses Flags Etc. across from Bare Bones and the St. John's Plaza. It's Rte 40 west of Rte 29 and just west of St. Johns Lane.