Addictions are funny things. You could be addicted to a person, a TV show, exercise, food, gambling, your iPhone or a drug. Me? I’m addicted to something that’s so wonderful, that when I had to do without it from February 2 to September 1 of this year, I didn’t think I was going to make it. I obsessed about it. I craved it. I even tried to replace it with something else. But nothing else would do.
What am I addicted to? Todd’s Frozen Yogurt, and I’m not ashamed to admit it!
When Todd’s suddenly stopped dispensing their creamy, dreamy Fro Yo confections from their kiosk at Lakeside Mall, I actually didn’t even know about it. I took for granted they would always be there.
One day they were handing me a cup of wedding cake and strawberry frozen yogurt swirl. The next? The mall was making way for The Cheesecake Factory and Todd’s had vanished.
I asked around in a panic. Where did they do? Are they still in the Mall? Did they relocate to the food court? Do they have another location? What are we all going to do?
I know, I know, it sounds like I’m at the Mall a lot. And, yeah, I’ve had reasons to go to Lakeside Mall, but they never occurred to me unless I was jonesing for a wedding cake and strawberry frogurt swirl.
With no website and no number to call, I resigned myself to stray. I tried Pinkberry; I tried Tutti Frutti; I tried TCBY, Yougurtland and RPMFroYo. They were all great as a placebo, but, they weren’t Todd’s.
So, you can only imagine how I felt the day a friend who works at Godiva in the Mall told me Todd’s had reopened across the street on Severn. I can’t even remember saying good-bye. Like a lusty sailor seduced by siren song I sailed to 19th Street and saw the sign, I saw the line and I saw my frozen yogurt!
I visited 4 times in 3 days.
“It’s pretty good stuff,” owner Ernest Baker told me. “It’s a soft serve product that tastes just like ice-cream. Everyone comes out of here feeling good.”
Todd’s was a bastion of sweetness at Lakeside for 35 years, and Baker has owned Todd’s for the last 17 years. After he was forced to shutter his flagship in February, Baker confessed he wasn’t planning to serve his divine assortment of frozen yogurts and drinks, shakes and malts, hot, frozen and iced coffees and pastries anymore.
But, there were people like me, addicts, who kept hounding him for their next fix. Baker said he experienced such an overwhelming demand to keep the frozen yogurt flowing, he felt he had no choice but to find a new place to hang his shingle.
And now, at the strip mall at 3200 Severn at 19th Street, nestled in between Merle Norman and Salon Porche, I feed my frozen fetish.
Walking into their new storefront is like hanging out at an old soda shop – there are Oldies from the 50’s playing and melted ice cream colored yellow and pink pastels, sprinkled with glitter touches, painted on the walls. They’re kid-friendly, with indoor and outdoor seating, free Wi-Fi and a convenient ATM for people like me who won’t let a few bucks stand in their way from indulging an impulse. Frozen yogurt purveyor and pusher Baker has got us all pegged!
He even figured out a formula for his frozen yogurt that doubles his fan base. It’s FAT FREE and SUGAR FREE. No artificial sweeteners are used in his Fresh Strawberry, Wedding Cake, Vanilla, Swiss Chocolate and Crème Cheese frozen yogurts or dairy free Fruit Sorbet. He uses Stevia, which means zero calories, zero carbs, and for about 90 calories you, too, can get your daily dose, with zero guilt.
“We don’t use artificial sweeteners in our frozen yogurts, all our frozen drinks and coffees, malts and shakes,” Baker said. “We cater to diabetics and customers who can’t have a lot of sugar.”
Since the new store is located in the old KK Cookies location, the folks at Todd’s, only 3 employees at the moment, have taken full advantage of the kitchen in back.
They say all baked goods (Carrot, Red Velvet and Coconut cakes, pastries, etc.) and popcorn served fresh daily are made on premises. Plus, they are planning to offer breakfast and lunch in the next few months – something they couldn’t entertain at their old Mall location.
Expect to see signature dishes like bacon and eggs served in homemade waffle cones and healthy soups, salads and sandwiches on their imminent menu.
In addition to the frozen fruit punches, the smoothies and caramel corn, the Italian sodas and iced lattes, and their famous Fruit Festivals, your choice of frozen yogurt topped with a cornucopia of sliced fruit, there’s a twice is nice policy on Tuesdays.
“Everyone leaves and gets a reward,” Baker said about his BOGO Fro Yo coupons handed over with every receipt welcoming you, and a friend, back on Tuesdays. It’s just another way Todd’s keeps us all hooked!
And that’s what I am. Hooked. Hooked enough to leave the French Quarter and drive all the way to Metairie, at least 3 times a week, to wait in the inevitable line, sweating it out until I get my next fix.
Todd’s Frozen Yogurt
3200 Severn Ave. at 19th Street
Suite 106
Metairie, LA 70002
(504) 324-7822
