Fro Yo For You

Sometimes my sweet tooth ignites only slightly, and I get into the mood for a mere sweet nibble. Mind you, in these cases an entire cookie, cupcake, sweet drink, or full serving of a sweety is too much of a commitment. Consequently, I am faced with two options: Either I attempt to only eat half of a dessert (which is not known to happen; I typically maintain a herculean commitment to finishing my desserts, regardless of how miserably full I inevitably feel later). The other option is to face the awkward task of finding someone who is willing to relinquish half of their sweet treat to yours truly, which is convenient only if the other party is also looking for a small portion of dessert. And that kind of fortuitous happenstance rarely presents itself, doesn't it?

Sometime in the throes of last month, I was watching This is England with my room mate. We had both anticipated this film for a while, so to mark the momentous occasion, made a pot full of chicken tortilla soup to eat while watching the movie. Just an aside, I highly recommend this movie; the subject matter and the manner in which it is presented, particularly in the context of a specific sub culture and time period, are very compelling, to say the least. Check it out if you get the chance!


Anyway, about halfway through the movie, I had finished several hearty servings of soup, but was still was still experiencing a persistent hankering for something sweet. I turned to my room mate, poked him in the shoulder, and tepidly popped the vital question. "Hey, you wanna grab a cookie or something and go halfsies?" My room mate responded that he preferred a whole cookie. Then, something funny happened; in an unprecedented instance where his first visit to a new sweet peddler preceded mine, my roomie suggested that we go to the Yogurt Spot on Guadalupe. Normally I'm not partial to frozen yogurt - I think this is because I knew too many folks in high school with hygiene issues that needed tending to, yet were still able to find gainful employment at the local TCBY. However, my roomie gained my consent when he said that the Yogurt Spot offers a self-serve system, which meant that not only could we sample a few of their 16 daily flavors, but I could pour myself as much or as little yogurt in any combination and would only be charged by the ounce (while also avoiding any persnickety cleanliness misgivings I might have). So, we decided to head over and check it out.

The first thing I noted immediately upon entering the establishment is that the place is overrun with University of Texas underclassmen who lounge there with such gusto that you'll feel bad about somehow having missed the memo that the Yogurt Spot is Austin's own 2009 version of the Peach Pit, or that place where they always hung out in "Saved by the Bell" (the latter was rather unoriginally titled The Max, which yields a wider range of youtube search results than intended, because apparently 'max' was used in reference to EVERYTHING in those halcyon days).














As far as the yogurt goes, there are plenty of flavors available that cater to a variety of tastes, such as various fruit flavored, vanilla, green tea, and pecan, and the employees there are happy to give out sample cups. Patrons can then go through a line where all of the yogurt dispensers are located and sample the different flavors, or directly load their yogurt cup cup if they have already decided their yogurt choices. What is really remarkable about this self-serve process is of course the ability to customize your portions of yogurt and also the combination of yogurt you get (I saw one young gentleman who seriously was attempting to get a bit of each of the 16 flavors). Once yogurt selections are made, patrons can load up on toppings ranging from syrups to fruit all the way to crushed Oreo cookies.

The yogurt was not too tangy nor too sweet. In fact, everything I tasted did an excellent job of capturing the intended flavors; the pecan for instance actually had a remarkably pronounced pecan taste to it. Additionally, all of the options are either 1% fat or fat free, which was an added plus to the whole experience. A friend who joined us at the Yogurt Spot kindly took a photo of our sweet spoils for the evening (above). The cup on the far right (and on our immediate right) belonged to yours truly; I went for the New York Cheesecake flavor, with the add-ins of cookie dough and brownie bites. My room mate swirled the Strawberry flavor (left) with the vanilla, and topped it off with chocolate chips and bing cherries, and finally, our friend also went with the vanilla and topped it off with fresh kiwi and pineapple.

I have been back to the Yogurt spot several times since my first visit. I am happy to have a regular haunt for when I feel like only having a bit of something sweet. Or when I want to feel a bit like a geriatric for having graduated from college in 2006.