Fro-yo girl here. I know self-serve fro-yo is all the rage these days, but I just don’t like it. I will never like it for the following reasons:
1. Inferior quality. While there are plenty of bad full-serve places, on average self-serve fro-yo is inferior in taste and texture to full-serve. Often self-serve fro-yo is runny, watered down or too icy. Part of it may be that people might not put the handle back up after they’re finished with dispensing.
2. It's Unsanitary. I have seen more than one person TOUCH the nozzle to sample the fro-yo. Imagine how many dirty hands have touched the levers and spoons. Gross people could sneeze on the toppings and touch the toppings. Also, I have the feeling that they clean the machines less often than at a full-serve place because they have more of them and it takes 25 – 30 minutes to clean each machine.
3. Buffet atmosphere. Like a buffet, self-serve fro-yo encourages you to take a little bit of everything, which can result in a crappy combination. I don’t need to have that many fro-yo flavors or toppings.
4. Less attractive. A pretty swirl of fro-yo with toppings pleases one’s senses. My self-serve creations look like crap. Those ginormous cups they usually give you don’t help either. I’d rather have someone who knows how to swirl dispense my fro-yo.
The only positives about self-serve are (1) you can take just a tiny bit, (2) you can control the toppings to fro-yo ratio, (3) it’s cheaper (usually), and (4) you get exactly what you pay for - the hole in the middle becomes irrelevant. However, if the fro-yo is good, I don’t want just a tiny bit and I’m happy with the usual toppings to fro-yo ratio. I don’t mind paying more for better fro-yo.
People say that it’s more fun to swirl the fro-yo yourself and add your own toppings. I completely disagree. I like having people serve me!
P.S. There are some good self-serve fro-yo places out there. Tuttimelon UC tops my list, followed by Nubi, Tartini, Zuckersuss, Pink Swirl and Yogurt Paradise.
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
I totally agree!
ReplyDeleteThanks, froyo ghost! So many people love self-serve fro-yo :-(
ReplyDeleteSounds like there's some underlying elitism in your post.
ReplyDeleteIf elitism means that I care about the quality of fro-yo, then yes, I'm guilty. Or maybe you're referring to the fact that I like to be served :-).
ReplyDeleteYes, I totally agree about it being unsanitary.. so disgusting. But I make mine look pretty and I like the fact that it's cheap! I think yogurtland is really good, seeing as they used to supply for pinkberry as well.
ReplyDeleteHi Chlo - do you have pics of your fro-yo creations? I want to see some :-)
ReplyDelete