Eating with Claire...: Yogurt is the new taco... Yogurt Tap and more

Or maybe the new burger? At least in Atlanta it seems that food trends have followed the lines of taco joint, burger joint and now yogurt joint.

Farm Burger... A burger joint

Taqueria del Sol, Decatur- A taco joint!

This new phase reminds me of the TCBY craze in the 1980's. Remember when you used to die for their chocolate and vanilla swirl? Then they finally got another machine and it was the wildest thing that you had a choice other than chocolate, vanilla and the swirl. It was the most happening thing in town for the longest time and so exciting to walk in and see what the "other" machine had to offer that week. Now, you'd be lucky to find a TCBY. Naturally there is still one in Monroe, LA, but i have not seen one anywhere else since the early 90's.

Nevertheless as just as leggings and leg warmers have come back in style, so has yogurt. However, these yogurt joints are now self-serve. A sign of the economy maybe, or perhaps just a sign of the times with all the self-serve kiosks and checkout lanes that are supposed to save time but always seem to take longer. Sometimes that is the case with yogurt too! Keep reading...

They just don't make them like this anymore. TCBY has a drive thru and now we have to serve ourselves!

The first of these newfangled yogurt joints that i became familiar was Yogurt Tap in Decatur. http://www.theyogurttap.com. Admittedly the first two times i tried Yogurt Tap i did not like it. Since it has been around for a couple of years i don't really remember what i did not like about it, i just know it did not warrant more than two visits. Undoubtedly one issue was their lack of parking. Due to it being on the Decatur Square, you basically have to be on foot to go to Yogurt Tap as there is literally no where to park unless you are lucky enough to score one of the four places out front. But it was getting good reviews on Decatur Metro blog www.decaturmetro.com and it always seemed to be happening so i felt like i should give it another chance.

About six months ago or I was in walking distance of Yogurt Tap and decided to give it another try. I mostly did this because i like to eat, but also because I had heard my friend Melissa talk about how she and Lauren go there almost once a week. Oh, and they love it, by the way. I thought I had to be missing something, so i decided to try it again.

Here is what it looks like from the outside.

On a side note I probably need some therapy for this affliction as i tend to try things over and over hoping for a different result, especially if other people seem to be getting a different result. Insanity? Anyway, at least in this instance it worked. Maybe it was the flavors they were serving, maybe they have improved since they opened or maybe the stars were aligned, but the third time was the charm.

After i finished that big ole cup of yogurt I called Melissa and told her that after three tries, spanning almost 1.5 years i finally liked Yogurt Tap. In fact, i liked it so much i wish it had better parking so i could eat it more often. Not only that, I ate it 2 times over the Decatur Book Festival weekend... and have eaten it three times in the last week... Now I am hooked too. In fact, I think I'll walk up there after i finish this blog post!

However, there are a few other downsides to Yogurt Tap. First it seems to have become the hangout for Decatur middle and high school students anytime between 2 pm and 6pm. The kids essentially flood the place and of course at that age have no concept that other people exist. Secondly, they only have 3 machines equalling 9 taps. Not only does that mean the flavors are limited, it also means there is a bottleneck at the yogurt bar, especially when people can't seem to make a decision. I mean you've basically got 9 choices (and that is counting the 3 swirls)... And you can even get them all if you want! Get your yogurt and move on! Thirdly, you spend so much time standing in line behind people deciding what toppings they want at the toppings bar, your yogurt almost melts. Again, how hard is it to make a decision?

the infamous toppings bar

I never want toppings... see post on the aforementioned peanut allergy... so i don't want to stand in line behind an entire family of people discussing toppings as they gently sprinkle one of each topping on their yogurt. I'm not sure of the proper yogurt etiquette here, but i think it should be ok for me to skip in front of them it if is going to take them FOR-ever to top their yogurt. Besides, I can make a decision. Yogurt, pay, eat...

But Yogurt Tap has some competition and you might prefer Red Mango or Menchies which in typical Atlanta fashion are less than a mile away from but seem oh so far. Atlanta is the only city i have ever lived in where there are 3 Publix's within a one mile radius, because lord knows it would be too difficult to drive 2 miles to get groceries. Nothing like some urban sprawl.

See all those green dots covering Atlanta? Those are all the Publix locations. And that is just one of our grocery store chains!

Speaking of, another yogurt shop is now set to open in walking distance of Yogurt Tap, this one called Swirlin' and Twirlin'. There new storefront boasts that they will have 40 flavors and the parking is also better at its location. Of course it might give my favorite New Orleans Snowball Shop a run for its money when it first opens, but hopefully the business will eventually level out.

All this aside, I hate to say it but my favorite yogurt joint is Orange Leaf in Monroe. LA http://orangeleafyogurt.com/. In typical Monroe fashion the line was out the door the first few months it was open but now you can walk in and choose from its many flavors of yogurt in more varieties than you can imagine. I am assuming the new Swirlin' and Twirlin' will be similar to Orange Leaf which admittedly has a more corporate feel than Yogurt Tap.

Inside the Orange Leaf

Certainly variety is not necessary and TCBY made it on chocolate, vanilla and the ever popular and genius swirl! Remember when that was new? We had never seen pre-swirled yogurt before! Anyway I digress... So maybe the variety of 40 flavors isn't all its cracked up to be, but certainly is more fun. Variety is the spice of life after all!