The much anticipated opening of Wellesley’s Pinkberry frozen yogurt shop in Linden Square last night drew hundreds of fans of the tangy treat as well as a good number of those curious to give it a try for the first time. It literally took longer for some people to get from one end of the line to the other than it did for people to make it to the front of the insanely popular Harry Potter ride at Universal Studios when we went there recently. But on a day when the stock market tanked, getting free anything must have seemed like a good idea to many. The line stretched around from the front of the building at 180 Linden St., to the back of the building, and we did hear more than one person say they were bailing on the wait and heading over to Truly Yogurt. A Pinkberry employee situated himself at the end of the line at around 9pm to provide a cutoff.
Pinkberry staff did its best to keep people occupied on the cool night, regularly coming around with little sampler cups of mango, coconut, original and watermelon yogurt. Miss Massachusetts USA Alida D’Angona strolled around sporting her sash, and a couple of dogs entertained the crowd by slurping Pinkberry cups themselves. Some customers walked away with shirts sporting the company’s green and pink colors.
Being Pinkberry virgins ourselves, we were a little nervous that we might not actually like the stuff after all the hype, especially with me being a notorious food baby. The frozen yogurt definitely gives you a little start when you first taste it — it is indeed tangier than your run-of-the-mill frozen yogurt or ice cream. But it’s pretty darn tasty, especially with fresh fruit (I had coconut yogurt with strawberries, blueberries and kiwis on it…others in our our party had chocolate or mango, and mixed in pink M&Ms). A couple in our party got brain freezes.
Pinkberry yogurt runs in price from about $3 for a mini cup to a little over $8 for a large flavored cup with toppings, plus you can get bigger quantities for take-home consumption. The store, which features colorful lacy chairs, a sparkly sand-like floor and swirly white lights, is officially open now and hours are 10am to 11pm.
