Salted Caramel Pretzel Frozen Yogurt = Bliss

Delicious may be a good word to describe the frozen yogurt treats available at the Yogurt Cup in Levittown.

Located at 187 Kenwood Drive N., in the Levittown Town Center, The Yogurt Cup is a relatively new business, opening its doors on June 2, 2012.

As an independently owned, family business, owner Mckenzie Small said that it has been a satisfying experience introducing the concept of frozen yogurt to the Levittown community.

“My biggest challenge was to get Levittown, which is an ice-cream haven, to know that this isn’t yogurt,” Small said, adding with a smile, “This is frozen yogurt.”

He likens frozen yogurt to the consistency of soft-serve ice cream, but with a wider array of flavors. He added that his customers happily tell him that they can’t tell the difference between frozen yogurt and soft-serve ice cream.

This month, being The Yogurt Cup’s first anniversary, Small has installed a new frozen yogurt-dispensing machine, bringing the total number of flavor options to 14. The flavors include non-dairy options, such as sorbets; sugar-free frozen yogurts, such as strawberry-banna; and most options are gluten free.

Small said that his most consistently popular frozen yogurt flavors are:

• Salted Caramel Pretzel

• Triple Chocolate (which he describes as “silky smooth chocolate”)

• White Vanilla

• Candy Bar Smash (tastes like a creamy Snickers bar).

As the summer season comes into full swing, Small has introduced several new flavors. He said that new flavors often come at the behest of customer suggestions or through polls conducted on The Yogurt Cup Facebook page.

Recently, Small has featured such new flavors as Sweet Coconut, Watermelon Sorbet and Irish Mint.

“You Definitely Get What You Pay For”

According to Small, The Yogurt Cup is one of the only frozen yogurt shops in the Levittown area. He said that the idea to open the business came in 2010 at the suggestion of his wife and encouragement of their neighbor and former owner of the now-closed Hong Kong King Buffet.

Small was born in Phoenix, AZ, and moved to Levittown with his family in 1964. Prior to pursuing his entrepreneurial goal, he worked in sales. In 2011, when Small was looking for retail spots, he recalled his childhood, visiting the Levittown Shopping Center.

“Forty-five years later, I opened a frozen yogurt store in the same place I used to visit as a kid,” Small said.

After visiting other frozen yogurt shops in other states, Small described the business model as completely accessible for customers.

Customers select a size of cup and may choose a flavor to dispense as much or as little of the frozen treat as they desire, at 49 cents per ounce. 

“Whether it’s $2 - $3 or $12 - $13 of taste in the cup, it’s entirely up to them,” Small explained. “And, I guarantee it will taste great whether it’s a little or a lot.”

Customers may also add to their cups from at least 50 cold (cookie dough) or dry (“Worlds Greatest Cake Crunch”) topics. Small said that “Angry Bird” gummies are also coming down the pipeline, which he hopes will delight gummy bear lovers.

“It’s been a lot of hard work, but it’s also a lot of fun,” Small said. “It’s probably the only job I’ve had where I’ve seen that every customer I meet is happy.”

One such customer, Dennis James of the Kenwood section in Levittown, said that he has stopped into The Yogurt Cup three times in as many days.

He said he’s been impressed with the number of customers he’s seen in the shop, and noted that The Yogurt Cup was filled during Hurricane Sandy, as it was the only food shop that was opened during the storm.

On his recent visit, James shared that Vanilla and Birthday Cake are his favorite flavors.

“It’s a whole lot better than your regular soft-serve ice cream,” James said, as he walked out the door with a full cup of his favorite flavors. “You definitely get what you pay for.”

For more information, visit The Yogurt Cup Facebook page or call 267-207-6790. The Yogurt Cup is open from noon to 11 p.m. daily, all year round.