Froyo Scene in New Orleans

Posted

Felipe’s Heladeria, New Orleans

We recently visited New Orleans and were compelled to research the froyo in the area. All the Pinkberry NOLA locations closed in 2022, leaving four froyo shops in New Orleans proper (and more in the suburbs). We found twenty closed froyo shops.

TCBY and Zack’s Frozen Yogurt were the old-school froyo shops that opened in NOLA before the second wave of froyo. Froyo activity reached its height between 2010 – 2012. Chains like Menchie’s, Orange Leaf, and Red Mango came and went, while Tutti Frutti and Pinkberry had more staying power. Tutti Frutti had the most locations, with five.

It wasn’t the pandemic that led to the demise of most of the froyo shops in New Orleans. Most had already closed before 2020. after two to six years in business. Some like Zack’s and Pinkberry were open for over 10 years.

Locals favor snowballs (aka, snoballs), New Orleans’ traditional frozen dessert. Snowballs were invented in the 1930s when locals George Ortolano and Ernest Hansen built the first electric ice-shaving machines. They’re made of shaved ice flavored with sweet syrups and sometimes drizzled with condensed milk. Some snowballs are stuffed with ice cream. Many snowball stands are seasonal and they close after the summer. Snoballs are more refreshing and cheaper than froyo.

Yogurtland, Uptown, New Orleans

Current Froyo Shops in NOLA

  • Felipe’s Heladeria, 411 N Carrollton Ave #2, replaced Pinkberry when the owners decided to change concepts in 2022. Felipe’s serves made scratch-made soft serve ice cream and froyo and Mexican-inspired desserts. It’s next to Felipe’s Mexican Taqueria in the Mid-City neighborhood. It still looks like a Pinkberry inside and the froyo is still very good!
  • Green Leaf’s & Bananas, 500 Port of New Orleans Pl #230, is a counter-serve salad and froyo concept at Riverwalk Marketplace, an outlet mall.
  • Tutti Frutti, 6300 Canal Blvd, opened in the Lakeview area in 2013 when there were already three Tutti Frutti locations in New Orleans. New owners took over in 2022.
  • Yogurtland, 4903 Prytania St, opened in Uptown in 2012. The California-based self-serve froyo chain has four locations in Louisiana. This location is pretty far from the Central Business District/French Quarter. It’s in the Uptown area, close to Tulane University and Loyola University.

Closed Froyo Shops in NOLA

  • FroYo’s Frozen Yogurt & Smoothies, 819 Canal St, Ste C, was a self-serve froyo and smoothie bar in the Central Business District that opened in 2012 and closed in 2016. They carried 21 froyo flavors a day.
  • Menchie’s, 2000 Canal St. #100, opened at the University Medical Center in 2019. It may have closed in 2020. The location offered 10 self-serve flavors a day.
  • Menchie’s, 6300 Canal Blvd, Ste C, opened in the Lakeview neighborhood in 2014 and closed in 2018. This location offered 14 self-serve flavors a day.
  • Orange Leaf, 1522 Allen Toussaint Blvd, was reviewed in 2015.
  • Orange Leaf, 1522 Robert E Lee Blvd, appears on a few websites.
  • Orange Leaf, 1510 Robert E Lee Blvd, opened in 2012 and closed in 2013.
  • Pinkberry, 5601 Magazine St, was the first Pinkberry to open in NOLA back in 2010. Located in Uptown, this branch closed in 2022.
  • Pinkberry, 300 Canal St, was the second Pinkberry to open in NOLA back in 2010. Located in the Central Business District, the branch closed in 2022. It’s been replaced by Hot Benny’s, a beignet café. It was a good location near the Riverwalk Outlets and the Canal Street Ferry Landing.
  • Pinkberry, 411 N Carrollton Ave #2, was the last Pinkberry location to close. It opened in 2013 in Uptown and closed in 2022. The owners changed the concept and opened Felipe’s Heladeria in this space.
  • Plum Crazy Yogurt Bar, 3122 Magazine St, was a self-serve froyo shop that opened in 2012 and may have closed in 2013.
  • Pure Yogurt Culture, 8108 Hampson St, opened in Leonidas in 2010. A locally owned self-serve froyo shop, Pure created its own froyo recipes. The shop closed in 2016.
  • Red Mango, 500 Port of New Orleans Pl #207, opened at the Riverwalk Outlets, an outlet mall, in the Warehouse District. This was a self-serve location that may have been open from 2014 – 2015.
  • RPM FroYo, 819 Canal St, Ste C, opened in 2012 and rebranded as FroYo Café and Sweets in 2014. The new concept featured an expanded menu, including king cake croissants.
  • TCBY, 2300 General Meyer Ave, was located in Algiers. It probably closed a long time ago.
  • TCBY, 5632 Ada Pl, was located in Lakeview. It probably closed a long time ago.
  • Tutti Frutti, 3720 Magazine St, was the first Tutti Frutti to open in NOLA. Located in the Garden District, the self-serve shop had 12 flavors a day. It opened in 2011 and closed shortly thereafter.
  • Tutti Frutti, 143 Robert E Lee Blvd, It seems to have opened in 2012 and closed in 2018.
  • Tutti Frutti, 9954 Lake Forest Blvd, opened in 2013 and the last review was in 2015.
  • Tutti Frutti, 3111 Grand Route St. John opened in 2013 in the Fairgrounds neighborhood. It’s unclear when it closed.
  • You Gurt, 7638 Maple St., was a froyo shop in Uptown that was open from 2007 – 2009.
  • Zack’s Famous Frozen Yogurt, 4128 General Degaulle Dr, was an old-school counter-serve froyo shop in the Old Aurora neighborhood that may have opened in 1987 and closed in 2012.

Did we miss any froyo shops in New Orleans? Let us know.