Crave: Sweet or Tart? Columbus-area frozen yogurt shops

When it comes to soft-serve frozen yogurt, you have two choices: sweet or tart.         Sure, there’s an ever growing number of frozen yogurt shops in the Columbus area-and some of them offer a dozen flavors or more, not to mention scores of toppings and sauces. But you can’t embark on those choices until you pick sweet or tart. Me? I’m a tart girl. Original tart with fresh red raspberries, to be exact. I decided this after eating at every yogurt place around town I could find (though I’m sure more have opened since then). For tart, I go to Yagoot at Easton. There’s not much seating in this mod little lime-and-silver-hued shop, but the patio out front offers plenty of places to sit during warm weather. Yagoot is sleek, but it’s not a franchise. It’s owned by the Busken family of Cincinnati’s Busken Bakery-making it Ohio-local, if not Columbus-local. Yagoot offers just four flavors a day. Original and strawberry are always on the menu, while the other flavors rotate. But all are tart. And by tart, I mean the pleasant sourness of good-quality yogurt with just enough sweetness to make it dreamy. The staff swirls the yogurt for customers (three sizes are available starting at $2.50) then adds toppings, from raspberries to Fruity Pebbles. The secret to Yagoot’s yogurt? “Most frozen yogurt is nonfat,” said Brian Busken, co-founder of Yagoot. “Ours is 99 percent fat free. We feel like that 1 percent gives us that nice creaminess.” In the sweet realm, there’s Cuzzins in the Shops on Lane Avenue in Upper Arlington. Customers sit on bubblegum-pink chairs at white tables inside, or out on the open-air patio. Cuzzins is a locally owned shop founded by Jeanie Patrick and John Falor, who are cousins (hence the name). The Upper Arlington store has been open a year and has been so successful the cousins are embarking on two new locations: Hilliard and Polaris. What you’ll get at Cuzzins is an array of self-serve yogurt in a variety of mostly sweet flavors, from peanut butter to cookies-and-cream. And like other shops, Cuzzins lets customers dress up their yogurt with any number of toppings (fresh fruit, gummy candies, M&Ms) in a weigh-and-pay system, at $7.04 a pound.   Cuzzins 1629 W. Lane Ave., Upper Arlington 614-488-8248 uasupersite.com/cuzzins   Yagoot 3998 Gramercy St., Easton 614-532-6565 yagootyogurt.com   Icy treats Yagoot and Cuzzins are just the start when it comes to frozen yogurt in town. Here’s a look at the rest of our fro-yo scene.   Groovy Spoon 3665 N. High St., Clintonville groovyspoon.com   Price: 44 cents an ounce What you get: In addition to delicious sweet flavors such as chocolate-mint and traditional tart flavors like peach-mango, customers can opt for made-to-order crepes and waffles topped with fruit, sauce and whipped cream (though I put spoonfuls of the tart yogurt on instead).   Josie’s Frozen Yogurt 121 Westerville Plaza, Westerville 8657 Sancus Blvd., Polaris josiesyogurt.com Price: 36 cents an ounce What you get: In addition to traditional sweet flavors (chocolate, vanilla), Josie’s also offers a handful of no-sugar-added Stevia-sweetened varieties including espresso. For tart, the honeydew is particularly refreshing. Bonus: Josie’s offers three sizes of cups, making portion control more manageable.   Orange Leaf 1374 Grandview Ave., Grandview 3130 Kingsdale Ave., Upper Arlington 10503 Blacklick-Eastern Rd., Pickerington 750 N. State St., Westerville orangeleafyogurt.com Price: 44 cents an ounce What you get: These stores are very attractive, with lime green and orange-tiled walls. Choose from traditional flavors (tart or strawberry) to more decadent offerings, including a confetti cake that tastes just like Funfetti cake mix.   Menchie’s 7545 Sawmill Rd., Dublin menchies.com Price: 44 cents an ounce What you get: Self-service yogurt in mostly sweet flavors, including milk chocolate, root beer and lavender. The fluorescent green shop has lots of indoor seating and a handful of outdoor seats.   Red Mango 1866 N. High St., Campus redmangousa.com Price: $2.95 to $4.95 (75 cents for 1 topping or $1.25 for 2 toppings or more) What you get: Red Mango’s our only full-service tart yogurt place besides Yagoot. It offers four flavors including original and pomegranate in three sizes, plus parfaits ($4.50) and smoothies ($4.95 to $5.45).   Spoon Me 4691 Morse Rd., Gahanna spoonme.com Price: $7.20 a pound What you get: This place has a cute slogan: If you love me, Spoon Me. It’s also the only place I visited selling underwear imprinted with its store name. As for yogurt, they specialize in both tart (grapefruit, blueberry, lime) and sweet (Butterfinger, Root Beer Float), with lots of toppings.

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