Rice Village Frozen Yogurt Throwdown

05May10

So there’s this place called Swirll, and well, I’m a little obsessed.  It’s a self-serve frozen yogurt parlor with a variety of non-fat and lowfat tart yogurts and a huge selection of toppings.  You go through the line and fill up your cup with yogurt, fruit, and candy bar bites and the cashier weighs it and shocks you with the price.  Oops…next time you will get fewer toppings.

My friend, Justine, and I make “Swirll dates” and go often, but lately we have only gone half as often.  Why?  Another yogurt parlor opened up and we had to start alternating.  At first we ignored Red Mango, but then we heard that they give unlimited toppings for $1.  How can this be?  We had to find out.

Red Mango is not self-serve.  You choose a size and flavor of yogurt, then the cashier puts the toppings on for you.  There is no sticker shocker at the register, which is nice. 

Justine and I have now made several trips to Red Mango, always with a critical eye.  How does it compare to Swirll and should we pledge allegiance to one yogurt shop over the other?  I made a list of pros and cons to help our educated decision.

We both ate the plain yogurt at each shop to compare.  Both are delicious and I cannot decide between them.  Swirll’s is slightly more tart.

Swirll

Pros

• Self-serve–complete control over amount of yogurt and toppings
• More flavors
• Way more toppings
• Junkier toppings like candy bars and cookie dough 
• A stamp card.  If you buy 10 yogurts, you get $4 off your next purchase
• Giant cups make it easy to eat the toppings without them spilling out

Cons

• Easy to rack up a big bill
• Easy to ignore fruit toppings and cover yogurt with Reese’s
• Poor lighting for picture taking:

Above is a picture of my last Swirll purchase.  I got the Original (plain) yogurt and a dab of peanut butter yogurt.  As you can (kind of) see, I topped it with candy bar and chocolate related items.  The fruit toppings are heavier and drive up the price, or at least that’s how I like to justify my poor nutritional decisions.  Also, Justine and I walked there and back that day, so that’s at least an extra serving of cheesecake bite toppings, of course.  This was my cheapest Swirll yogurt to date–a victory at $3.80.

Red Mango

Pros:

• You know the cost before you have to pay
• Unlimited toppings for $1
• Many organic items
• Toppings are healthier and make me eat more fruit
• The cashiers will swirl the flavors together for you in a pretty design
• Better photo lighting
• Less crowded
• Surprising amount of yogurt in the size Small

Cons

• They put the toppings on for you, which meant I had to tell the cashier that she was being stingy with the Newman-Os (organic Oreos)
• Fewer toppings
• No cookie dough or Reese’s and very few junkfood toppings in general (note that this is listed as both a pro and con…)
• Fewer yogurt flavors
• No stamp card!  I could go there 10 times and never be rewarded!
• Not self-serve, so I don’t get to choose the exact amount of yogurt and each topping that I want
• Tiny cups make the toppings spill out

I was an idiot and forgot my camera on Red Mango Day, but Justine saved me with her phone.  The above yogurt is a size Small with unlimited toppings, which costs about $4.  I got the Original and POM flavors.  My toppings were graham cracker crumbs, Newman-Os, Ghirardelli mini chips, mochi, raspberries, and blueberries.  It was probably about the same amount of yogurt as the Swirll photo, but a much smaller cup.

So which is better?  Swirll has more toppings and is self-serve, but can be expensive.  Red Mango is probably healthier.

In the end, frozen yogurt is dessert, so I’m going with Swirll.  Self-serve is just too much fun, and when I eat dessert, I want chocolate and cookie dough and Reese’s.  Also, just 4 more visits until my stamp card is complete! 

It really comes down to the toppings:

That bar is filled with yogurt toppings

Keeping the price down on Swirll’s yogurt has become a game for me and it’s good for portion control.  As long as I stay cheap and careful, Swirll’s prices and junky toppings aren’t much of an issue.

Filed under: Posts by Jess, Product Review, Restaurant   |  2 Comments
Tags: Frozen yogurt, Red Mango, Swirll