The Land Of The Fro-Yo Sweet Treat

Last week, while working a couple of prep days on a feature film in downtown L.A., a bunch of crew members came back from break raving about a new yogurt shop down the street. It was as though they'd found the Emerald City right there in Little Tokyo. Now, I'm an ice cream/ fro-yo freak so it doesn't take much to get me to in line for the newest yogurt shop. Yet, I'd never seen grown men so excited about...yogurt. I vowed to try it the very next day.

The place where frozen yogurt dreams are made of is Yogurtland. Unlike other yogurt shops, it's completely (and I mean completely) self-serve. You dish out your choice of creamy concoction from the 16 different flavors ranging from the plain (tart vanilla) to the exotic (taro root.) I chose no less than four different flavors, then hop-scotched over to the toppings bar. They have an overwhelming 33 different toppings! I finally picked mochi pieces (an adventurous choice to go with the taro root pick), granola, fresh fruit, and a dash of walnuts.
The whole cool treat cost me a whopping $3.84-- I couldn't believe it. You see, Yogurtland charges you 30 cents per ounce so it doesn't matter if you dot or douse your ice cream treat with a little of every single choice of yogurt flavors and toppings, you'll still pay 30 cents an ounce. With my frozen treat in hand, I left the Emerald City of Yogurt and happily walked back to the Fantasy-land of moviemaking. No regrets: The sugar-high kept me as hyper as a kid right up until we finally wrapped for the day-- around 3 a.m.
Yogurtland-- Check it out, but bring the ruby slippers because otherwise you may never want to go back home!

I'd also recommend my long-standing Valley favorites:

Humphrey Yogart ( 4574 Van Nuys Blvd Sherman Oaks, CA 91403)

Studio City Yogurt ( 12050 Ventura Blvd Ste C105 Studio City, CA 91604-- 818-508-7811.)

*Newest Valley Addition: Menchie's Yogurt (4849 Laurel Canyon Blvd, Valley Village 91607-- 818-985-9150. I haven't tried it, but I think I'd like it-- They're self-serve like Yogurtland.

I'm one of the few in L.A. who has yet to try Pink Berry. The big questions: Is it really yogurt? Is it as sour-tasting as they say? From what I hear, I'm not missing anything.

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Photo credits: flickr/pachucha sunrise, flickr/food librarian
Copyright © 2008 KLiedle