Yogurt Review #4 - Yogi berry

Every yogurt shop has its successes and shortcomings, but Cleveland Park’s Yogi berry really misses the mark. From high prices to hit or miss yogurt to bizarre unappetizing concoctions, I left Yogi berry with little desire to return.

Arriving in DC this past winter, Yogi berry is a locally owned chain with three locations. Their Cleveland Park location is a beautiful, large open store with colors and accents that could just as easily adorn a specialty cake, creating a modern and really intriguing shop; not surprisingly bringing in many young families. The obsessively clean shop has plenty of seating and space along one wall and a long wrap-around counter across the other, which unfortunately logistically requires you to order prior to seeing the toppings.


The topping counter with registers around the corner

Part of the seating area

The menu includes frozen yogurt, smoothies, and their signature creation the “shaved ice.” Their yogurt flavors: berry, chocolate, green tea and original tart, are hit or miss. The berry flavor is made for strawberry lovers since that is the main component here, unlike their competitors who use raspberry as the base. While it was unique, the strawberries didn’t give enough of the tartness that raspberries provide. But that wasn’t the end of the tart woes. Their chocolate flavor wasn’t even mildly tart, actually it tasted exactly like traditional frozen yogurt. The chocolate was flavorful, creamy and tasty - all valuable qualities, but it was hardly tart yogurt. On the other hand, their original tart easily passed the test, both creamier and tangier than most competitors. Also good, was the green tea flavor, more flavorful than Tangy Sweet’s version but lighter than Cali Yogurt’s. Yet it was quickly dampened by the asterisk signifying that green tea would cost $1 more (across the board) because it was a “specialty flavor.” For $2.95, $3.95 and $6.45 already without tax, I didn’t feel compelled to pay more for green tea, especially when other shops keep their prices uniform.

A plain small berry yogurt

But the real disappointment of Yogi berry was their signature concoction, the shaved ice ($7.50-$8.15). Imagine 8oz of tart yogurt topped with mochi and three toppings of your choice, all on top of shaved ice that’s been dyed with either strawberry or blueberry syrup. Yes, it was enormous. No, it wasn’t even mildly good. The syrup was so nauseatingly sweet, like an awful kids juice-box, that I found myself trying to scoop the toppings on to the yogurt to save them. Whatever benefit the shaved ice was supposed to provide, it didn’t.

The chocolate yogurt with mochi, pineapple, mango and oreos on top of strawberry shaved ice. It's much bigger than it looks here.

Fortunately I was able to save most of the toppings, and it was a good thing, because they were the highlight here. Besides not being able to see them prior to ordering, their topping selection was more than adequate. Highlights included four different types of morsels: chocolate, cappuccino, butterscotch and yogurt; a few healthy snacks like raisins, granola and almonds; a small but high-quality fresh fruit selection; and maybe the best mochi I’ve had yet - much lighter in texture than their rivals. Their portions were generous and generally worth the money, one for $.95 and combos with three toppings that cost less for larger yogurts, although the combos are only available for the 8oz and 13oz sizes, making the 5oz with three toppings one expensive item.

There's really not THAT much you can judge and differentiate yogurt shops on, tart yogurt is tart yogurt. But at Yogi berry nearly every area had something slightly (or really) off. Being the only yogurt shop in the vicinity, Yogi berry’s ease might outweigh the trek down to Adams Morgan if you need your tart yogurt fill. If you're heading there, the decor will amuse and impress you and the classic tart with mochi is on par with its DC rivals. But for those who have the choice, Yogi berry’s simply not worth the trip.