Bay Area Eats: Yogurtology

I've been a fan of Pinkberry ever since it opened at Westshore Plaza. I loved the variety of fresh ingredients, friendly staff, and different flavors. Pinkberry is still my go-to frozen yogurt place--when I'm at Westshore Plaza. But for all those other times I get a fro-yo craving but don't feel like dealing with mall parking or mall crowds, I have a new go-to place: Yogurtology.

Located in a strip plaza on Church Ave., Yogurtology is unassuming. I was guilty of driving by on multiple occasions, but never stopping in (until a few weeks ago). I wish I would have visited sooner, because the place has an amazing variety of flavors (twelve!) and toppings (60!).

Yogurtology is self-serve, meaning you grab an empty cup and fill it up with whatever you want. Flavors ranging from Salted Caramel to Red Velvet to (my personal favorite) plain ol' Tart Nouveau are at your disposal, creating the temptation to mix-and-match. After you select your flavor(s), you can then select from toppings ranging the gamut from mango boba beads to mini donuts to fresh fruit to Twix and Kit-Kat bars. You do pay by the weight of your frozen treat, but unless you go crazy and attempt to shove all 60 toppings into your cup, you shouldn't pay much more than you would for a yogurt at one of those flat-rate places (lookin' at you, Pinkberry!).

My creation: Tart Nouveau yogurt topped with Hersey's chocolate, chocolate-covered waffle cone bites, brownie bites, chocolate chip cookie dough, and rainbow Sno Caps

Bonus: the friendly staff works hard to keep the place clean and sanitary. On every single one of my visits, workers were vigilant in vacuuming up stray toppings and making sure each topping had its own serving spoon/tongs. The floor and tables are mopped and wiped down as well, and the food itself looks and tastes fresh--never like it's been setting out for days on end. 

It's definitely worth it to give Yogurtology a try. If you can't find anything there to satisfy your frozen yogurt craving, then you are way too picky. 

1202 S. Church Ave., Suite C

Tampa, FL 33629

813-251-2717

store2@yogurtology.com

11a.m.-10p.m. Sunday thru Thursday

11a.m.-11p.m. Friday & Saturday

I Kind of Wish the Rapture Happened

So, the Rapture didn't happen. But who's really surprised, other than Harold Camping and his kooky followers? You know what, though? I kind of wish it happened.

Earlier today, I had to run some errands: take the dog to the groomer's, go grocery shopping, make a stop at Pinkberry, yadda yadda yadda. What I had to do wasn't important. But while I was tooling around town, I noticed a strange coincidence: there weren't a whole lot of people out and about. The groomer's was unusually quiet. There was no line at Pinkberry. The roads were clear. Walmart was practically empty. It was amazing. Maybe there was a Lightning game I didn't know about, maybe people were afraid to go out because they actually believed that the end times were near, maybe it was just a strange coincidence. But I thought to myself, if this is how things would be if the Rapture actually occurred, then I am all on board. Ascend into Heaven, peeps! My wait time at Pinkberry just got cut in half. The fanatical killjoys that go around at events like Gasparilla and tell everybody they're going to Hell because they're Catholic, women, black, or wearing red? Gone. Sounds like Paradise to me.

Honestly, I got so caught up in my fantasy of living in a world sans a few million people that I actually grew a little bummed that the Rapture wasn't going to happen. Today's "preview" was just a rare coincidence, and tomorrow life will go on as before. The roads will be crowded. Places will be packed. The line at Pinkberry will be astronomical. Am I sick in the head for wishing that millions of people would suddenly disappear from Earth? Perhaps. So maybe I do have a little something in common with Harold Camping and his followers. I am bummed that the Rapture didn't happen. But I am bummed for all the wrong reasons.