San Anselmo Swirl or U-Top It?

Which is your favorite new yogurt store? at Red Hill Shopping Center finally opened this past week, following in the wake of earlier this year. They join classics like TCBY and The Scoop in the long history of frozen yogurt in Ross Valley.

I know you have a favorite. Let us know what you like about your favorite yogurt place by going to either or 's business listing on Patch and posting a review. Post a or . Then, we'll be able to know all the great things about each of the make-your-own yogurt shops, based on your reviews.

Which is your favorite? (Or maybe you like or the best?)

Here's a review by Sarah Shideler to get you inspired.

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Behind the , there is a flurry of activity.  yogurt shop has finally opened its doors and the place is already jumping. 

Walk through the doors and bright blue, electric green and crisp white walls greet the young and old. Our nine-year-old particularly liked the multi-colored and multi-sized dots on the linoleum floor. Pick up a small, medium or large container and step over to the shiny self-serve yogurt machines to fill up on any of 10 flavors available at any given time. Not sure what to have? Ask for a taste and you’ll be given a little paper cup to dole out a dollop to try before you buy.

Once you’ve figured out your swirl of choice simply head over to the counter filled with containers loaded with every topping imaginable: Coco Puffs, Cookie Crunch Cereal, gummy bears and worms, sprinkles, nuts, along with fruits and sweet sauces. A big bowl full of Swirl-made brownies is front and center under the glass partitions. 

The store is clean, but I wonder how much maintenance it will take to keep the countertops clean with all the spoons flying and scooping out all the goodies that go on top. 

What will San Anselmo do with two new yogurt shops on either ends of town? Are there that many frozen yogurt lovers out there? The two locations couldn’t be better situated. U-Top It is on the corner of Ross and San Anselmo Avenues and it gets the downtown crowd along with the and ’s school students, parents and grandparents. Swirl will be swirling with baseball players and viewers, patrons along with Red Hill shoppers. Plus, when the fire pit and outdoor seating area is all finished it will be a lovely place to watch the world go by. I think San Anselmo can withstand two new yogurt shops, especially two as fun as these.

What about taste? Is there a difference between the two shops? Well, just as ice creams come in all different flavors and styles, it turns out so does frozen yogurt. According to Jeff, one of the owners of Swirl, their yogurt has a little more fat and a little less sugar. According the taste test we did, this did make a difference in flavor, texture and taste. Swirl’s flavors were all rich and rang true to their titles; cake batter tasted like cake batter, mango was mango with a crisp icy finish and mint was minty, but the flavors were also rich and creamy and didn’t taste fake.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, the same isn’t quite as true at U-Top It. The mint is not as minty, the chocolate was chalky, and the red velvet was sickly sweet. But, U-Top It does offer Potter's line of All-Natural and Organic Frozen Yogurts -- top of the line in the organics marker. And, U-Top It's organic tart flavor, which most closely resembles a plain yogurt flavor, was far more tart and tasty than Swirl's.

How to decide which shop to patronize? Maybe it will be by location, or maybe it will be by price. Swirl charges 47¢ per ounce and U-Top-It 55¢ for the ounce. 

We liked the smaller cups at Swirl. It didn’t cost as much but we still felt like we were filling up on yogurt and toppings, and we were able to get away from the counter for less than $15. Our family of four at U-Top-It can’t walk out for under $20 unless we are being very conservative, and with the bigger containers we feel like we are getting less of the good stuff. 

Swirl has five machines with 10 flavors and U-Top-It has four machines with eight flavors, but the yogurts will be changing all the time so something new will be available nearly every day.

Both shops have lovely counter folks who are helpful and pleasant. Swirl was training its employees at the Mill Valley location all summer, so the shop is up and running with folks who know what they are doing. U-Top It does offer to dole out the tastes as you walk in, while Swirl lets patrons get it themselves, but both let you try as many flavors as you’d like. 

Both are bright, clean and fun to enter. U-Top-It is a little awkward to maneuver, as the line goes directly through the seating area. And, one has to wait in line to get to the end of the toppings to see them all at U-Top-It, whereas the layout of toppings at Swirl is easier to see and get to in a crowded situation. For now, Swirl is a little smaller but the outdoor seating area will be a lovely place. According to our nine-year-old, the door to the rest room at Swirl was a little heavy, but she managed without us so it clearly isn’t impossible. 

Swirl had high hopes of opening in May, but coordinating construction with the Red Hill Center pushed the soft opening until the first of September and the likelihood of the outdoor construction being finished by the end of the month as promised is, well, not likely. Swirl will have a grand opening when everything is completed but that will likely not be until mid- to late-October. But considering the line out the door for in the pouring rain last February it won’t matter what the weather. 

We wish both our new local owners the very best in their yogurt businesses and look forward to trying all the toppings and flavors for years to come.

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Post your own reviews of and . Which is your favorite? Why?