Yogurt Square

4701 N. Lincoln Ave Chicago, IL 60625

Hours: Sun-Thurs 11-12am
          Fri-Sat 11-am

Phone: (773) 681-0104

My mom drives past this fro yo place all the time and suggested I check it out. It is on the far north side of Chicago and surprisingly has lots of parking in the area. Yogurt Square is a self serve fro yo place with 12 flavors at a time. After sampling a few I chose mango tango with kiwis, strawberries, blueberries and pirouettes . My mom went a sweeter direction and got cookies 'n cream with lots of chocolate and candy on top. On a side note Yogurt Square is closing for renovations soon, but will reopen in the spring, so get there quickly if you want to try it out! 

Ratings Swirls (1-7) 

Quality: 
The mango tango yogurt I had was very delicious, tart, and creamy, as was the gingerbread flavor I tried. Yet when I sampled the original tart I was not as impressed. It was less creamy and more icy than the other flavors. 

Variety:
Yogurt Square offers twelve different flavors at a time and rotates their selections each week!

Variety of Toppings:
They offer over forty toppings and boast about how fresh their toppings are. The fruit I had on my fro yo lived up to their claims. They offer pirouettes which I absolutely love with fro yo. If you have never had that combination I highly recommend trying it. They have a wide variety of sauces that even includes lime sauce. I don't think I would like to try that on fro yo, but it definitely adds to the variety.  

Ambiance:
The store was good sized and clean, but you could tell it was already a little out dated. The tables and counters looked older, but the good news is that they are remodeling in a couple weeks. There was a mixture of counter, table and couch type seats and the big windows in the front allow for good people watching. 

DIY Fro Yo

I have tried making my own fro yo on a couple different occasions, but every attempt ended in failure thus far. I decided to give it one last try. 

I used a regular ice cream maker and found a fro yo recipe online. The one I was attempting claimed to taste just like Pink Berry's fro yo, and as you know I really enjoy Pink Berry. I followed the directions and put the freezer compartment of the ice cream maker into the freezer and left it there for 2 days, though they say it only needs to be in there for 1 day. 

Once completely frozen I assembled the rest of the ice cream maker and quickly mixed the ingredients, yogurt, sugar, and vanilla into the machine. Then it was time to wait and see if it worked. 

*I used greek yogurt, but any kind of yogurt is supposed to work

After the 30 min session that my ice cream maker requires I went to see if I had finally figured out how to make my own fro yo. To my surprise the yogurt had solidified into fro yo! Since I used plain yogurt I had to add some toppings for flavor. I found some blackberries and honey so I added that to my fro yo.

The finished product

Overall it turned out okay. The yogurt solidified for the first time but it tasted nothing like pink berry. I'm not sure how much I enjoy using greek yogurt or it could have been due to the lack of flavor.

I want to try making my own again, but this time I will use a flavored yogurt and a different recipe.

*the website of the recipe I used was http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/a-frozen-yogurt-recipe-to-rival-pinkberrys-recipe.html


If you know a good DIY fro yo recipe please let me know!

Kiwi Spoon

736 North Colony Rd Wallingford, CT 06492

Hours: Sun-Thurs 12pm-10pm

          Fri-Sat 12pm-11pm

Phone: (203) 269-0223

I have driven past the Kiwi Spoon many times and finally tried it today. It has gotten lots of raving reviews on yelp, so I had to check it out for myself. It was very quiet when I went, probably due to the low temperature outside, but that doesn't stop a true fro yo fanatic. I tried pumpkin and pomegranate raspberry tart. Although the pumpkin was delicious, I went with the pomegranate raspberry tart, because I was looking for a lighter pre-dinner snack. I added kiwi, banana, carmel filled chocolate turtles and honey. 

Ratings (1-7 swirls) 

Quality: 
I enjoyed the fro yo at Kiwi Spoon. Though I would have to disagree with the reviews that say it is as good as Pinkberry. It is the right amount of creaminess, but is a little runny which means it melts too quickly (not from heat). 

Variety: 
They offer ten flavors at a time and they are rotated frequently. 

Variety of Toppings: 
There are many toppings to choose from such as nuts, candy, fruit, and cereal. I was disappointed in the quality of fruit and didn't think it was that fresh. On the other hand they offered crushed candy canes and peanut butter which are toppings I have yet to see at a fro yo store. 

Ambiance: 
I was impressed with the ambiance of the Kiwi Spoon. It has a large, clean, and well laid out interior. There is plenty of parking just outside the store and plenty of seating inside to enjoy one's fro yo. When I was there it was quiet and there was christmas music playing in the background. My favorite part was the artwork on the walls. Pictures of fro yo and fruits were artistically captured and blown up to create amazing works of art that completed the atmosphere of Kiwi Spoon.