Saturday I visited Orange Tree Yogurt in Stillwater, OK with my wife. We needed something to eat before the 40 minute drive home where we had dinner waiting on us. Located at the busy intersection of Main Street and Hall of Fame Avenue, I had seen it in passing during my previous trips to Stillwater.
We were welcomed into the store with its inviting bright colors and modern seating. I was intruiged about my visit. When I walked up to the counter no employees could be seen but shortly a smiling young lady walked out and immediately greeted us. After informing her we had never been there before, she walked with us to the beginning of the line and explained the process.
You pay by the ounce. Thirty-three cents per ounce. You pay that for the yogurt and the toppings once you have created your masterpiece.
First we got to pick from one of two huge containers to put our yogurt in, then we picked as many of the 15 or so flavors of yogurt to fill up our cup! I loved the fact that you get to decide how much you want of every flavor. They had the flavors in banks of two and in between each you could twist those two flavors.
I got cheesecake and strawberry and filled the small container about half way. My wife got tart and vanilla. Then the serious decisions had to be made.
The toppings section of this store was unreal. If you have ever been to Fresh Berry in the Tulsa area or Pink Berry in California (basically all three of these are the same businesses serving frozen yogurt) the selection of toppings was much greater at Orange Tree. They had over two dozen toppings. From mango and almond flakes to peanut butter cups and gummy bears, they had it all. They also had a three-tiered display of toppings in a can. It included turtle shell, whip cream, caramel, and many more.
When we were all done, it was time for the weigh-in. The total for our two desserts came to just over $5. We thought that was a pretty good deal compared to the $3.99 you pay at Fresh Berry for something of a similar size.
I wanted to eat in the store, so we sat down. The chairs are very modern and once you sit down you feel a little low to the ground. Each set of four chairs had a small table in the middle that came up to my knees. I felt like a giant! Before I picked my seat I thought I was about to sit down in some sticky yogurt residue left from a previous customer. I realized that all the seats look like that but my mind was at easy once I stuck my hand in the seat to test the stickiness. Luckily they were all clean. They just looked dirty.
After the meal I needed to step into the restroom. (This was the freaky part of my trip.) One entire wall of the restroom was a mirror down to my waist. I have never had a mirror starring me in the face while I was using the facilities. This was an unsettling development.
Later, I asked my wife if the ladies restroom was set up the same way. She told me it was set up the same and did not seem to think that was unusual for a restroom. Clearly, this room was decorated by a woman. I man would never put a huge mirror like that over the toilet. (This restroom story reminds me of a bathroom incident I had one time, but that is a post all by itself for another time.)
In the end, this was a successful visit on all accounts. My wife was even ready to bring her dad to town the next day, she had so much fun. We will be back to Orange Tree and the good news is that they will probably still be open.
During our time in the store, we asked that same smiling employee if they stayed busy. She replied that most nights they are packed with college kids and that the citizens of Stillwater are slowly finding out about them. Apparently this has become a great spot to treat kids to a post game celebration. She told us that they have a lot of youth teams come in after games.
I thought the employee pointed out a great idea to come in after a game and in fact we had just been to a Oklahoma State University basketball game that afternoon. This was our first trip to Orange Tree, but it will not be our last.
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