Self-serve fro-yo newcomer 16 Handles opened today in the East Village — right across from a Tasti D-Lite! No insane lines, despite the fact that 8 Coupons is offering a two-for-one special until the place closes at midnight — these folks really need to work on their marketing. Ok, so what about the yogurt?
As you can imagine, 16 Handles will offer 16 rotating flavors. Opening lineup: cheesecake, coffee, pistachio, no-sugar vanilla (not bad for healthy stuff!), no-sugar chocolate, Irish mint, lemon, non-dairy mango tango, non-dairy very berry, green tea, raspberry tart, original tart, French vanilla, strawberry tart, cookies and cream, and finally, Eurotart, which is the place’s approximation of Pinkberry’s original flavor. After serving your own, you scoop in your choice of no fewer than thirty toppings, such as pumpkin seeds, almonds, coconut flakes, carob chips, craisins, yogurt raisins, coconut flakes, and various candies and cereals.
The question is, how economical is the business model of paying by weight? At 46 cents per ounce, do you get the same bang for your buck as you might get from Pinkberry? We’ll do a side-by-side comparison and let you know.
16 Handles, 153 Second Ave., nr. 9th St.; 212-260-4414
