Upstate NY fro-yo chain, Off The Wall, is making its NYC debut on 2nd Ave between 55th and 56th. On first glance it appears to be a 16 Handles-esque DIY concept, and their website shows a huge variety of flavors and toppings. They have also posted a coupon for 10% off valid until May 31st (unfortunately we missed their Grand Opening free yogurt day on Sunday). Early adopters, let us know what you think!

I’ll freely admit that when I was on a froyo jag, Red Mango easily topped Pinkberry for me. And Frogurt from Bloomingdales’ Forty Carrots topped them all. Since then Pinkberry has unveiled new flavors and I’ve summarily dismissed them. But being an obsessive peanut butter fan, I couldn’t pass their PBJ by.

According to the staff the peanut butter flavor will be on the menu until January. While I was tempted by some of the new toppings–hello, little juice filled fruit pearly things!–I stayed the course and ordered the original PBJ: peanut butter frozen yogurt topped with organic strawberry jam and little bits of toast ($3.45 for the mini-version).

I have to say the peanut butter frozen yogurt here beats the pants off the peanut butter Frogurt from Bloomingdales which always struck me as being kind of “super-natural.” Now when I say super-natural, I’m not talking mystical or sparkly vampires. To me the Frogurt version just tastes like a really earthy, food co-op natural peanut butter rather than the slightly roasty peanut butter you might remember from your lunch box. The jam was the perfect consistency–more saucy than gloppy or runny. If anything the toast bits were the throwaway topping. They gave it a nice crunch and made the whole experience feel more sandwich-y. The real revelation is that Pinkberry’s peanut butter frozen yogurt is totally worth a try for pb lovin’ lunchers.

Pinkberry, various locations

Good news for Red Mango fans! The K-town outpost located inside Food Gallery 32 is now open for business. However, this Red Mango represents a complete shift from the traditional fro-yo format and pricing program, going the DIY/pay what it weighs route instead. Customers choose a cup size and pull their own fro-yo from an impressive line-up of flavors. They’ve kept their original formula on hand, but have added pomegranate, dulce de leche, black cherry, vanilla, melon, lemon, and pineapple flavors, and hinted at additional varieties coming soon.

The toppings are now located at a self-serve fixings bar, which is good news for people (like myself) that yearn for an extra heavy sprinkle of mochi or strawberries, without having to fork over additional cash for an extra dose of toppings. Finally, proceed to the Red Mango checkout counter (which is separate from Food Gallery’s main registers) and pay $.49 per ounce of pro-biotic goodness.

Not sure if they plan to roll this out at all the Red Mango locations, but the variety of yogurt flavors and the ability to freely express yourself with the toppings make this a winner in my book. Finally, the $.49/oz price is more than fair – my mochi and fruit loaded creation pictured above? About 3 bucks and change.

Ok, so a while back I made of RedBerry- this new froyo place for opening inside a Subway/Papa John’s one block away from Red Mango. Well, I take it all back. Now we’re working with something I can get behind… buy one get one free!  Feels like the perfect day to snag a friend, and head over to 8th Ave. btw. 46+47th.

Related:
Ok, Seriously? NOW This Froyo Thing is Getting Ridiculous

Somebody please make it stop. I spotted this sign on 8th Ave. btw. 46+47th inside a Subway/Papa John’s combo. ONE BLOCK AWAY from a Red Mango! Nobody is going to eat your crappy froyo rip off. Can you just answer me this. WHY?????

Related:
Another Terribly Named FroYo Place (Plus more from the Church’s Food Court on 8th Ave.)

Wasn’t the horrible economy supposed to put an end to this?  That was going to be the one good thing about complete and total economic collapse:  no more random FroYo places with terrible names.  And then this comes along inside the Church’s Fried Chicken food court on 8th Ave. btw. 44+45th.  Are you joking?  WTF is Voguert?  Seriously.  What… the… fuck… is Voguert? With Red Mango located just one block away, I give this one 3 months top.

There is some semi-worthwhile news from the 8th Ave. food court…

All the weird, non-chain food has been replaced by a Subway (and the yogurt.)  So now the mini food court is a pretty standard (read:boring) pizza place, Subway (which was packed yesterday at Noon), Nathan’s/Arthur Treacher’s/Kenny Rogers Roasters, and of course… Church’s Fried Chicken (the saving grace).

In fact, right now all combos at Church’s are 10% off.  Enjoy!

Who knows how long ago this happened but I noticed today that Yorganic, the Froyo place in the Crystal Pavillion Food Court on 3rd Ave. btw. 49+50th, has closed. A combination of weather, the economy, and oversaturated market place could spell trouble for a lot of the Pinkberry knockoffs over the next few months. As long as they don’t touch my Red Mango on 8th Ave. and 45th I’ll be ok. (Yes, I like Red Mango. Sue me, it’s freakin’ good. I won’t go near Pinkberry though. Does that make up for it?)

Thanks to Danny from Food in Mouth for passing along this info and photo.  The Red Mango on 32nd btw. B’way+5th (in Koreatown) is celebrating their grand opening by giving away free yogurt until 10 p.m. tonight.  Free small with one topping (I recommend cap’n crunch.)  I would say the line may die down after lunch, but 32nd St. is ground zero for New York’s yogurt craze (New York’s first Pinkberry is half a block away) so it’s probably going to look like this for the rest of the day.

A heavenly match has been created on 3rd Avenue btw. 34+35th Streets. What better way to counteract the effects of a Carl’s cheesesteak grease bomb than with Red Mango. Yes, I admit it- I like Red Mango. (Pinkberry can screw off, though.) You may say the secret ingredient is Cap’n Crunch. (Trust me, it’s freaking good.) And it has been proven in a study that yogurt cultures, mixed with peanut butter cereal, will help aid in the digestion of red meat and cheese. You can’t argue with science.*

* Not proven by any actual scientific study.