By Amira Francis, Staff Writer
@Mircatfrancis

You and your friends have a sweet tooth. It’s been a long night of studying, and you need something to reward your attempt to be a good student. Delicious and relatively low-calorie, what’s a better answer to your problem than frozen yogurt? When evaluating frozen yogurt, more commonly known as froyo, one might ask, “What exactly makes a high quality froyo shop?” I traveled around Boston University’s campus and beyond to examine and compare three of the major froyo places in the area: Pinkberry, Mixx and Zinga.

I’ll start by talking about my first stop: Pinkberry. When I first heard about the new Pinkberry opening in the George Sherman Union, my immediate feelings were of joy and excitement. When I decided to visit and take a closer look, however, I was surprised. Pinkberry is expensive. It’s $4.15 for a small, $5.40 for a medium and $7.40 for a large (including toppings). And you don’t even put your own yogurt and toppings in the cup! Is it worth it? The short answer is: Yes. Yes, it is.

Although the cup may be small, the staff at Pinkberry manages to fit just the right amount of toppings in with the yogurt. In fact, it might even be better to have them do it for you. I know that when I build my own Frozen Yogurt creation, I always end up getting way too much froyo and then smothering it in way too many toppings. At Pinkberry, you don’t run into that problem.

There is a wide variety of toppings, from kiwi to hazelnut wafers, and the staff is usually pretty generous about actually filling the cup up to the top. Everything is kept fresh. When it comes down to the actual yogurt, you have a very small selection of options.

You could say that Pinkberry values quality over quantity. The consistency of the yogurt is perfect—thick enough that it doesn’t melt right away, yet soft enough that it isn’t difficult to eat—and the taste has a perfect combination of sweet and tangy. All in all, at Pinkberry, you get what you pay for.

Mixx, located in Allston next to Nile Hookah Lounge, is a completely different type of froyo place than Pinkberry. One of the benefits of making the trek to Mixx is that once you enter, you have the opportunity to nestle down and spend an evening chatting with friends in this cozy, window-filled niche. They focus on making the atmosphere welcoming. The decorations are very suave and inviting, and the music is hip and upbeat. At Mixx, they have a different take on froyo. Unlike Pinkberry, they focus on offering a variety of different flavors and toppings, and it’s all self-served. They offer ten flavors of frozen yogurt at one time and have a wall devoted to depicting all 47 different flavors they offer. Lychee, lychee popping boba and mango popping boba are just some of the many toppings that they offer.

Zinga, like both of the previous two froyo places, has its completely own style. Situated in Kenmore Square, this little froyo shop has a more cheerful and lively atmosphere than Mixx. The walls are colored with appealing shades of green and pink. On one wall there are portraits of topping choices, and on another wall there is a collage of different description words in various fonts, including “Fruity,” “Scrumptious” and “Sweet.” The shop offers a variety of different froyo flavors and toppings. They’ve got more than Pinkberry has, but with less variety than Mixx. The flavor is strong and delicious, but the consistency can sometimes be a little questionable, as the frozen yogurt begins to melt as soon as you put it in your cup. Like Mixx, you can decide how much yogurt you want yourself and consequently decide how much you want to pay.

The only way you can really decide which froyo shop is the best, however, is if you try it out yourself. Take a taste of what Boston offers, and have a happy time froyo-ing! (Just please, make nothing that even comes close to this video. Ever. No matter how much you love dat froyo.)