Orange Leaf closing for good after today

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Orange Leaf posted on Facebook that today will be their last day of operation because their lease is up. (And everything is 50% off today.) This was news to me! Am I the only one surprised? (Edit: seems like this must have been sudden, because as recently as Sept 8 they posted on Facebook that they were looking to hire two new people.)

With the recent closing of iYo, this leaves quite a froyo gap in the square all of a sudden!? Has froyo had its moment and now become uncool? :(

Comments

[cos]

I never tried the Orange Leaf (and won't get a chance to today). How is(was) it?

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

In terms of the quality of froyo and toppings, I found it comparable to iYo. I liked them both equally. IYo had the edge in terms of ambience, but Orange Leaf seemed to make more of an effort to be involved in the community: sponsoring Little League teams, holding school fundraisers, etc....

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think tart frozen yogurt, like cupcakes and cronuts, has had its moment of glory. Places will of course continue to exist but it won't be a miraculous wonderland of frozen delights.

My predictions for 2017: Vapes and poke.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Yuck! From desserts to smoke and fish? Not a good trade-off IMO. ;)

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

What's 'poke'?

[kelkyag]

A Hawaiian raw fish dish.

[trowa-barton.livejournal.com]

I believe there was a case of supersaturation as there were, at one point, four places in Davis Square to acquire Froyo. (JP Lick's IYO, Orange leaf, and Pinkberry).
Having said that, I just had frozen yogurt with my son on Wednesday. It was a great place to take your kids after their booster shots at the Davis Square Family Practice.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Yes! Its proximity to DSFP was one of my favorite things about it. :)
And I agree about the saturation, but now we've gone from four to only one, which is kind of a bummer.

[trowa-barton.livejournal.com]

Though, I have to admit, the one that remains is still pretty good. Think of it has standard capitalism, survival of the fittest, etc.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but JP Licks doesn't have the choose-your-toppings bar thing, which was always fun. Oh well.

[nomacmac.livejournal.com]

and JP Licks is an allergen-contamination nightmare. My nut allergic son won't be eating anything frozen in Davis Sq

[jimmyfergus.livejournal.com]

Well plus a lot of the point of froyo was to get some of the pleasure of ice-cream without evil death-fat. Now it's fairly widely accepted that high-sugar, low-fat diets are near the pinnacle of unhealthy, it's not such an easy sell.

They were always doing decent business when I went in, but I only went in because it was a favored treat for the children, because it was basically an excuse to eat a tub of bad candy. My son is very upset they're gone; I'm quite happy to see the back of them. I'd rather see a decent ice-cream place without JP's eye-watering prices.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

I'm not really convinced that changing attitudes toward fat had that much to do with the decline of froyo. It may have been a factor, but not a huge one, I think. There are still those who just like froyo better than ice cream - or who liked the make-your-own aspect of it. Or those of us, like me, who have actual medical reasons for needing to watch our fat intake. JP Licks has lowfat or fat-free options, which are pretty good, but not the same.

[teko.livejournal.com]

Very surprising actually, as they always seemed to be doing decent business, great location between the major Davis parking lot and Starbucks, and with iYo closing they'd have the froyo business all to themselves.

[gilana]

I am sad because Orange Leaf has Dole brand pineapple soft serve -- also known to Disney fans as Dole Whip. It doesn't taste quite as good when you're not in Disney World, but it was still a nice treat.

[lancedavisward6.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear this. My kids love Orange Leaf over the others for whatever reason. I appreciated it because my son has a peanut allergy and they were extremely good about getting clean toppings from the back, etc. and they did so with a positive (even excited) attitude that didn't make my son feel like he was burdening them. Both IYo and JP Licks are routinely less than ideal in their handling of the situation. So... looking forward, what would we all like to see move in (whether there or some other location)? There are a few vacancies. Do we have a wish list? (Not to suggest in any manner that I actually can fulfill said wishes! But it doesn't hurt to have a sense for what we'd find exciting.)

[teko.livejournal.com]

Not sure if you've been, but I understand that the new-ish Tipping Cow ice cream store is completely nut-free.

[lancedavisward6.livejournal.com]

Haven't been. Thanks!

[nomacmac.livejournal.com]

I am sad that they are closing. Davis Sq needs ONE FroYo place. Maybe Orange Leaf can take over iYo's lease?

[fefie.livejournal.com]

I am sad to hear this. They've been my go-to froyo place in the square.

[ron_newman]

The chain closed their Lexington store in July.

[lb-lee.livejournal.com]

Enh, I was never a big fan of Orange Leaf; it and its topping were too sweet for me. Berryline is still my preference, even if it's kinda hard to get to now.

[catskillz.livejournal.com]

Wait, how do people know that iYo has closed? Their website and the Yelp entry for them don't say anything about it.

I was just in there two weeks ago. Has it closed since then?

[teko.livejournal.com]

Every time I've walked by the store for the past week, it's been dark inside, closed, with a sign made from a piece of notebook paper with the word CLOSED taped on the window. Beyond that we have no idea what's going on, because nobody's been able to reach the owners.

[catskillz.livejournal.com]

Aw no! ;__; Thanks for this field report!

[ron_newman]

We know it's closed because we've walked by it and found it closed. anomie666 first alerted me to the closure a week ago, and then I verified it.

[catskillz.livejournal.com]

Ugh, this sucks. :( Thanks for verifying this.

I'm sad about iYo, but not Orange Leaf

[mattdm.livejournal.com]

Local business with, under the new owner, great food in addition to the sweets. Orange Leaf is a national chain with 300+ locations. If they hadn't come in and diverted business (in part I'm sure just because of their few-steps-more-convenient location), iYo might have survived.

RE: I'm sad about iYo, but not Orange Leaf

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Maybe, but as I said elsewhere on this thread, Orange Leaf seemed (to me) to be doing more community involvement type stuff than iYo. That counts for something, at least to me.

Dole Whip?

[sd210.livejournal.com]

Sheesh, had I known that they had Dole Whip, I would have gone there more often!
But in all seriousness, it is always sad when a local shop closes. That's somebody's dream going out of business (or at the very least, somebody's job being lost). Very sad.

But I will say this - - for anyone looking for good ice cream at reasonable (Non-JP Licks) pricing in Davis, you can get a HUGE portion of Richardson's ice cream at the concession stand at the Somerville Theatre. They have it all year long and you don't need a movie ticket, they serve it from the popcorn stand (just walk in). Very reasonably priced and their small portion is HUGE.

Re: Dole Whip?

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

Though they have like 4 flavors at a time. And personally I haven't been that impressed with their vanilla or chocolate, but tastes vary, of course.

Actually the really cheap ice cream place seems to be Flatbread and Bowling. $1.50! Not exactly "walk in and out" ambiance, but I was happy to dig in after dinner.

RE: Dole Whip?

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

Mr Crepe also has Richardson's ice cream, and usually different flavor selections than the Theatre has. Before Somerville Theatre renovated the concession stand area, they had a much larger ice cream selection, so that's been kind of a bummer. But I feel like they are the best kept (ice cream) secret in the square. I agree the price and portions are great.

RE: Dole Whip?

[teko.livejournal.com]

Sheesh, had I known that they had Dole Whip, I would have gone there more often!

I had no idea, either! I visited Orange Leaf the afternoon of their last day; the employees looked dour and half of the yogurt machines weren't functioning or were turned off, and the ones that worked dripped out watery stuff. So maybe I wasn't missing much. Dole Whip always tastes better when eaten in Adventureland anyway.

RE: Dole Whip?

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

This is good to know about the movie theater, but alas, not much help for those of us who choose froyo for medical reasons.

[pearlythebunny.livejournal.com]

Frozen Hoagies, while not in Davis Square, has enormous portions. And their ice cream is handmade at Chilly Cow in Arlington. Yum!

[lancedavisward6.livejournal.com]

Purely by way of public service announcement, I'll add that Q's Nuts sells Christina's Ice Cream in several varieties.