Queen Ka‘ahumanu Center, Kahului
Sun.-Thur., 10am-10pm; Fri.-Sat., 10am-11pm
871-2733
If one self-serve frozen yogurt shop is good, two is better. Truism? Yogurtland is hoping so, because a few weeks ago they opened a location at the Queen Ka‘ahumanu Center, within shouting distance of competitor Tutti Frutti’s Kahului store. (Yogurtland also has a West side outpost, at Whalers Village.)
Yogurtland and Tutti Frutti (and an array of other shops that have popped up in recent years, rekindling a craze from the ’80s and ’90s) have a similar layout and protocol: a row of self-serve stations lines one wall, followed by a toppings bar and, finally, the register, where the frigid concoctions are weighed and paid for.
The selections at Yogurtland include flavors both universally familiar (vanilla, strawberry, cookies and cream) and locally aimed (taro, coconut, pineapple). Most of the yogurt is labeled fat-free, but you wouldn’t know it by the taste: it’s tart but surprisingly creamy, lacking the watery blandness that often leaves me yearning for one of those 31 flavors from that other joint. Yogurtland makes its own yogurt, a fact that co-owner Charlin Johnston told HawaiiBusiness magazine in January, “makes our flavors just a cut above the rest.”
Toppings—fruits, nuts, sprinkles and crushed-up candy bars—are ample. (Highly recommended pairing: cheesecake yogurt and Heath-bar chunks; get the big cup or you’ll be licking the bottom wishing for more.)
Seating is limited, but a lot of people seemed to be taking their treats to go, probably for a stroll around the mall. Another cool note is that they use brightly colored, biodegradable spoons, significantly lowering the footprint of a place that tosses hundreds of utensils daily.
Certainly there will come a point when Central Maui’s self-serve frozen yogurt needs are met. Whether we’ve already reached that point remains to be seen. But Yogurtland—and more to the point, its yogurt—is definitely good enough to justify a double scoop.
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