Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt

Not since the glory days of TCBY have I been so excited about a frozen confection. A bit over a month ago, Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt opened its doors over in Sulphur. It’s not on my way to anywhere I go. Maybe that’s a good thing. But I don’t mind making a trek every now and then. It’s my new favorite culinary destination.

Now I know to all you readers from bigger or more cosmopolitan cities, Orange Leaf and other similar frozen yogurt chains – Pinkberry, Red Mango – are not a new concept. But here in Lake Charles, well, we often lag behind current trends. We catch up eventually. Me, personally, I’ve been waiting for this a long time.

Back in the 80’s, TCBY was all the rage. A novelty at the time. I worked and attended grad school (Pitt) in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh and went to TCBY nearly every day. Couldn’t get enough of the stuff. All I can say is, frozen yogurt has come a long way.

For anyone not familiar with self-serve fro-yo (Being that we live in southwest Louisiana, we can call it Freaux Yeaux) here’s the deal. You walk into a colorful cheery store front and are warmly greeted by a young kid working his way through college.

You choose a cup size – larger or largest (the Sulphur store conveniently runs out of the smaller of the two regularly. These folks know marketing.)

Then you face a wall of 16 yogurt flavors. And of course you can mix and match. A daunting decision-making process. Everything is so tempting. They offer samples.

Next you deliberate over a smorgasbord of toppings. Hmm, more decisions.


And then you pay by the ounce. Guess which one was mine.

I think we need one of these places in Lake Charles. How about you? Do you have a favorite neighborhood frozen yogurt shop? Tell me about your experience(s).