Birdie's Frozen Yogurt

2026.  The summer of froyo in NYC.   My blog has had a label just for froyo for years, so clearly, I'm a fan of this resurgence of froyo and the plethora of options to pick from (less a fan of the ridiculous 1-2 hour lines, and the high price tags though).

I started a bi-weekly froyo crawl with some coworkers, sticking with options relatively close by our office, which limited things, but still allowed us to try a number from my list, including Birdie's, one that was further down on my list, but most convenient for us, only a 10 minute walk away, and likely to not have lines.

"Birdie’s is bringing back delicious frozen yogurt and a curated candy selection to the heart of the West Village, named after our beloved Brussels Griffon."

Birdie's has two concepts: froyo, obviously, and pick and mix candy.  The candy is self-serve, pay-by-weight, but the froyo is not.  As someone who really prefers self-serve froyo, this is a bummer. 

Outside Seating.

The outside of the store really is charming, with cute patio furniture, and their signature pale blue color scheme.  That they have seating is a nice bonus, as most froyo shops do not.

Menu.

Inside follows the same decor theme, again with the pale blue, and the cutesy style.  There are a reasonable number of seats inside.

Birdie's offers 6 flavors, on our visit it was vanilla, chocolate, tart, raspberry tart, peanut butter and vegan chocolate.  I'm not sure how often they change, as those are the only flavors I've ever seen in reviews as well.  You can swirl tart and raspberry tart, vanilla and chocolate, or peanut butter and vegan chocolate, or you can get any two side by side. There are 3 sizes available, for $8/$10/$12.

I asked to sample two flavors, the tart raspberry and peanut butter.  The peanut butter tasted like my memories of JP Licks peanut butter yogurt; it was definitely a sweet, ice cream like style, not a Greek yogurt style.  The tart raspberry was fine; it was still a sweet style, but a bit icier and thin than ice cream would be.  I also tried the vegan chocolate that my coworker got; it tasted exactly like my memory of a fudgsicle.  None left me particularly excited.

Toppings.

Cups are assembled for you, but one unique feature is that they put toppings both on top and on the bottom, although the toppings are pretty pricey ($1.50 for regular, $2.50 for premium).  One non-premium topping is included in the price.  

The lineup included a few fresh fruits, standards like mini choc chips and yogurt chips, plus slightly unique things like mochi or dark chocolate covered pretzels.  The premium toppings were definitely the. most interesting, with different crunch sauces, homemade brownies, and the most famous one, brown butter cookie dough.  All of these are still the type of toppings you'd find at most generic froyo places, again, nothing like what the more trendy Greek yogurt places have featuring kadaif and slews of elaborate sauces.

Peanut Butter and Vanilla/Chocolate Swirl.
Chocolate Hazelnut Crunch Sauce / Strawberries / Yogurt Chips.
Medium ($10) + $1.50 topping + $2.50 premium topping = $14.

I thought the peanut butter was relatively good when I sampled it, but I wanted to try something else too. I opted for both the vanilla and chocolate as a swirl for my second choice, as I thought the tart options would contrast strangely with peanut butter, and I couldn't decide between vanilla or chocolate.

I wasn't really into the chocolate, which I should have known, as I rarely like chocolate ice cream, particularly soft serve.  Oops.  I really thought it would go well with the peanut butter, though; that's why I risked it.  The vanilla was fine but lacked a particularly strong vanilla flavor.  The peanut butter was fine, which I knew from my sample.  All were quite sweet, like typical ice cream, with average thickness and creaminess.  No flavor was particularly memorable, nor did any really taste like yogurt.  

The strawberries were fine, the yogurt chips were as expected, the crunch sauce didn't seem any different from that offered at 16 Handles, I don't think they made any toppings besides the cookie dough and brownies in house.

Basically, it seemed like any generic froyo place, with nothing premium, nothing unique, very little housemade, just a cute decor and on-trend with the summer it opened.  I don't see a real reason to return, but I wouldn't say no if someone wanted to go.

3/5.