Yogurt's Got Ice Cream Beat

Recently I went to check out the 3 Flamingos, expecting a generic ice cream shop with a creative name. Of course I knew before that it sold yogurt, but it still took reminding by my friend Taylor Duke, student at LHHS and employee at 3 Flamingos, to set me straight:

“How do you like it?”

“It’s good ice cream.”

“Westan, its frozen yogurt…”

How can just a yogurt shop be meaningful to our community? Well, anything new in the school’s vicinity attracts attention from students and teachers. Usually students have to get creative about where they loiter, like at Sonic’s outdoor benches, but we finally have a more creative option—across the street from Sonic, in fact. The 3 Flamingos yogurt shop is not so much a place to kick around and do nothing, but to chill out and eat ice cre--frozen yogurt.

The 3 Flamingos is the third yogurt shop in a chain that just opened in October. It’s open Monday thru Thursday from 11 A.M. to 9 P.M., Friday and Saturday from 11 A.M. to 10 P.M. and Sunday from 1 P.M. to 9 P.M. It’s located in Wolf Plaza, so if you pass by Sonic and Hill’s Grill every weekday on the way to school, you just miss it! Even if they only sell frozen yogurt, the 3 Flamingos is prepared to last a long time. They have many small tables for groups, and picnic tables for birthday parties. They’re stocked up on toppings in case any run out, and they sell colorful 3 Flamingos T-shirts for extra business.

Since the shop has many first-timers, employees have a sequence ready for them: 1) Choose your serving size. There are traditional waffle cones plus three Styrofoam sizes: small, medium, and large. Small can contain a lot of yogurt and it’s usually plenty for me. 2) Pick your flavor. They have 10 flavors, and they can be mixed with each other. I’ve never had anything but vanilla, but every flavor seems to be popular. 3) Select your toppings. Fresh fruit, nuts, candy, anything. One tip from me, however, is to put the toppings in first and mix them with your yogurt to avoid making a mess. 4) Weigh and purchase. You bring your yogurt to the counter and an employee measures its weight, for $0.42 per ounce, so be sure to take your spoon out of the cup!

3 Flamingos gets a flood of students right after school, but don’t be fooled by their colorful walls and spoons that smile at you. Adults like this place too, and that’s what helps make it so popular. After work ends for most adults, 5 P.M., the 3 Flamingos gets another wave of customers.

Yogurt or not, people like the 3 Flamingos and word is spreading. Perhaps it was your granddad that told you about his Espresso Cappuccino with gummi bears and sour Skittles, or your sister who likes Strawberry Sensations with brownies. If you want to host an event for any age, whether a birthday party or a baby shower, the 3 Flamingos is a particularly tasty place to do it.

By: Westan Lakey