Here are the NEW details for the Yorganic opening:

Also, if you wanted to know what kind of toppings they have, they sent me an email with the details:

Looks like they’re going to have lots of fresh fruit AND dried fruit! I’m going to be out of town for the grand opening on the 22nd, but maybe they’ll hook me up on the 27th! If you end up going, let me know how it tastes!

With so many frozen yogurt shops opening up, the next Fro-Yolympics is going to be crazy!

On Tuesday, I went to dinner with a friend from LA and we were discussing the possibility of another FRO-YOLYMPICS. Since he’s from LA, he’s been a big fan of the plain frozen yogurt craze for quite some time (although he says no one in LA cares anymore). Anyway, I’m going to plan another Fro-Yolympics (there’s been a lot of interest, especially since the weather is getting nicer). If you’re interested in participating, either send me an email at gracenotesnyc@gmail.com or leave a message in the comments!

Pinkberry is opening ANOTHER store and they’re offering FREE SHIRTS to the first 200 people - I WISH I WAS GETTING A FREE PINKBERRY SHIRT:

Maybe we’ll make fro-yo shirts for the next tour!!

Today’s my last post about the FRO-YOLYMPICS (until we do the FRO-YOLYMPICS Summer competition)! I hope you enjoyed all of the posts (I definitely enjoyed eating frozen yogurt for an entire day). Sorry it’s taken me so long to post this final entry, but things in New York have been extremely hectic. Thank you, Tricia, for writing me an e-mail expressing your concern For the last month or so, my brother and I have been looking for an apartment to rent (we’re moving out of my UES apartment). I’ll let you guys know more about my new apartment later, but let’s get onto the final results for the fro-yolympics!

Based on all of our results, the winner of the tour is:

Here’s everyone doing a celebratory jump in front of the store:

(After we ate at Flurt, we pretty much knew the results so I thought it would be a good idea to take a victory picture). Bethany and Faire couldn’t make it into the picture, but they were happily jumping along on the sidelines. We gave Flurt top honors because everyone agreed that their yogurt had a superior taste, texture, and presentation compared to all of the other places we visited on our tour. Also, the ambiance was very pleasant and we couldn’t get over the great wheat-grass smell when we walked into Flurt. Here’s a complete listing of all the places from the tour:

First place: FLURT!
Second place: Oko
Third place: 40 Carrots
Fourth place: Berry Wild Kinda Icy
Fifth place: Crazy Bananas
Sixth place: Pinkberry
Seventh place: Berry Wild
Eighth place: Very Berry
Ninth place: Red Mango
DEAD LAST: Yolato

I know some of you are huge fans of Yolato, Red Mango, and Pinkberry and might be shocked (and upset) with the results. I was really disappointed with the results too, but that’s why we’re making the fro-yolympics tour an semi-annual event - you can have more input in the next tour and make your favorite yogurt place known! If you strongly disagreed with the results, please write about it in the comments or send me an email at gracenotesnyc at gmail dot com.

At the end of the fro-yolympics, some people couldn’t eat frozen yogurt for the next couple of weeks (JUSTIN). I, on the other hand, couldn’t get enough of the stuff but decided to stick to the non-frozen plain yogurt for the next couple of days (okay, two days). Even though Flurt was the winner, I’m still a big fan of all the places and have been back to the majority of them since the tour concluded (especially my first love, Pinkberry. I know it wasn’t ranked well, but I still love it!! Surprisingly, I haven’t been back to Flurt). I think the others have also gone back to eating frozen yogurt - Justin and I found Orva’s (in Grand Central) carries Frogurt in VANILLA, which is extremely delicious as well. I go everyday!

For our next tour, we’ll head to other frozen yogurt shops that have opened up since the conclusion of the fro-yolympics (including Yoqua Bar, Snowberry, Eks, and one located in the deli across from Union Square Cafe. If I’m missing any places, let me know!). I’ve sampled three of the four and I’m excited to add them to the roster to hear everyone else’s opinions. I’m setting the tentative date for the next fro-yolympics around late April/early May (before the lines get ridiculously long) - it would be great to have more people join in on the fun!!! Until then, we return to our regularly scheduled food reviews:

PEACE OUT!

I’ll be back next week with the final roundup of the FRO-YOLYMPICS. For now, enjoy some lucky charms from Red Mango!!

Crazy Bananas, our last stop on the frozen yogurt tour, is located in Korea town (between 5th and Madison). On our way to the mom and pop shop, Gloria announced that she could no longer participate in the yogurt tour; after braving the harsh winter winds for the entire day, the tour found out that she was also lactose intolerant. She was such a trooper throughout the entire day and we were really lucky to have her join the tour! Crazy Bananas’ store front:

One thing I’d like to mention about Crazy Bananas - if you go to the fro-yo shop, be sure to check out their “lucky” phallic symbols enclosed in a little shrine by the window. I think there might be a bobble head penis as well!!

1. Size of hole test:

The hole is somewhat noticeable, but it’s not a completely devastating because the hole is on top of a solid frozen yogurt patch.

2. Tanginess vs. creaminess: On a scale from 1 to 5 (one being tangy and five being creamy), Crazy Bananas scored a 3.5, leaning more towards creamy.

3. Topping Variety:

Crazy Bananas fruit toppings and dry cereal toppings like the other yogurt shops we visited. They also have raspberry and blackberry purees; Oko had a variation of the puree (although it might have been syrup there). I think syrups/purees are more popular in Asia - frozen yogurt shops in the US haven’t picked up on the trend (I’ve seen a person ordering Red Mango in Korea and there are lots of syrups you can choose from). We ordered raspberry puree on top of our frozen yogurt, which was a tangy topping (raspberries and water blended together without sugar can be a little tangy/tart).

4. Fruit quality: On a scale of one to five (one being over/under ripe and five being perfectly ripe), Crazy Bananas scored a PERFECT 5!!

5. Calories per ounce: Crazy Bananas had 23g calories/ounce.

6. Price per ounce: Crazy Bananas clocked in at 72 cents/ounce.

7. Atmosphere/quality of service:

8. Iciness vs. Smoothness: On a scale of one to five (one being icy and five being smooth), we rated Crazy Bananas a 2.5; slightly more icy than smooth.

9. Number of flavors: Crazy Bananas carries plain, blueberry, and cranberry, but when I sampled cranberry, I thought it tasted exactly like plain.

10. Resilience to heat:

The yogurt was VERY resilient to heat and we saw very little melting.

11. Topping Quantity/Presentation:

The frozen yogurt was beautifully topped with a nice drizzle of raspberry puree (which added a really pretty color to the yogurt!). Also, look at how many blackberries the owner gave us - TEN BLACKBERRIES. Red Mango, please take note!

We ended our tour on a semi-high note; Chris, David, and I all liked Crazy Banana’s somewhat icy yogurt (not far behind was Bethany, who rated it a 3.75). Crazy Banana’s final score was 3.63/5.0. Later this week, we’ll do a complete wrap up of the frozen yogurt tour and announce the winner (if you’re too anxious, you can go through all of the posts and check their final scores to find the winner yourself). Hope you’ve enjoyed the tour!

Here are all of the entries in order (in case you wanted to jump around):

Day 1: Oko
Day 2: Pinkberry
Day 3:Red Mango
Day 4: Yolato
Day 5: 40 Carrots
Day 6: Very Berry
Day 7: Flurt
Day 8: Berry Wild Smooth and Kindy Icy
Day 9: Crazy Bananas