We went to a tuttimelon in Alameda today and I expected, like the tuttimelon we frequent in Union City, to find a wonderful self-serve yogurt-by-weight experience with a toppings bar of joy.
Instead, I found a hipper version of a TCBY.
Really? It was mind-blowing to me that a chain could have multiple locations that have such different experiences. The tuttimelon in Union City has empty containers at the front, a row of different yogurts, and a station for dry and fruit toppings. The tuttimelon we went to today in Alameda had…a counter. When one expects the first experience, the latter is almost jarring.
It’s like going to a particular chain restaurant’s (let’s call it…Happy Burger) location a number of times. And every time you go, it’s the same. It’s a great new burger place where you get to pick your own bun type and patty size and all the toppings you want on it. And at the end, they weigh your burger and you pay based on how heavy it is. You love Happy Burger.
Then, while visiting a friend in a nearby town, you see a Happy Burger! You’re excited and decide to take your friend there. Once you go inside this other Happy Burger, though, it looks…like a McDonald’s. You go up to the counter and order a burger.
What kind of cruel world do we live in where this is allowed to happen to a yogurt lover like myself? How could you propagate this type disappointment, tuttimelon? I feel a bit betrayed.