Cherry on Top Frozen Yogurt--Review

In mid-August, 2008, I had the pleasure of visiting Cherry On Top frozen yogurt shop for the first time. For a while, it seemed that frozen yogurt shops were on the decline, but I have been seeing a fair number of them coming back during the last year. And, there are more healthy choices, too, such as sugar free versions or non-dairy options at some of the stores that are now appearing.

Cherry On Top has several locations throughout southern California and even one in Las Vegas. Most of the stores are located in Orange County, California, however. I visited one of the two Mission Viejo stores located in an outdoor mall not too far from Saddleback Community Church at 27692 Santa Margarita Pkwy.

The store was set up to be entirely self serve with many choices of yogurt with active cultures and toppings. You choose how much you want and weigh it at the cash register. The first night I went there, I had chocolate and mint flavors with no toppings. The chocolate flavor was very rich and creamy, but the mint didn't taste minty enough and was a little icy. When I mixed the two together, they didn't seem to blend very well.

The second night I visited there, I got the cookies and cream flavor with the cheesecake and a variety of cookie-like toppings like soft chocolate chip pieces and broken up Oreo cookie bits. It was a very good combination with rich, creamy yogurt and blended together well. There are a lot of other combinations to make or you can have only one flavor. All their yogurt is non-fat and low fat and they have a no sugar added version as well. They also have many different topping to choose from, including fresh fruit and marshmallow syrup. One of the people accompanying me there used to love a certain dish at another ice cream place that had marshmallow cream and hot fudge, so she was delighted to see the container of spreadable marshmallow there.

The store that I went to was a lively place and seemed to be the teen hangout of the area. I had originally gone there with two other people who wanted to visit the Baskin-Robbins next door which closed much earlier both nights I went. The place is decorated in a modern style with young people in mind. At this location, MTV played on the big screen TV they had there and they had a circular table with stools all around it for people to hang out at and talk to each other. They have a location closer to my home and I may be interested in seeing if they do each store differently.

I would love to try this place again, especially next time I am in Orange County. Their chocolate frozen yogurt was one of the best I've ever tasted. I didn't try all their flavors and I didn't see if they gave out free samples. But, I don't think you can go very wrong there with whatever you choose.

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Cherry On Top Yogurt