Bluff City Vegan Eats: Yolo

Frozen yogurt is all the rage in the Memphis foodie circles these days, but I've not paid much mind to the trend seeing as how yogurt is not vegan. When a new Yolo, a local chain of frozen yogurt shops, opened in Midtown, I thought nothing of it. What could they possibly have for me?

Well, turns out Yolo not only sells yogurt, but they also make their own gelato. And where there's gelato, there's usually also sorbetto (a fancy word for dairy-free sorbet). A co-worker told me Yolo carried a few fruit sorbettos, so I checked it out for myself. When I was there yesterday, Yolo Midtown had two options — Orange Sorbet (in the self-serve yogurt machine) or Lemon Sorbetto (from the gelato case). Always a fan of anything lemony, I opted for the latter:


This was a small scoop, really the perfect size for one person. The lemon sorbetto is creamy and tangy with just the right sweet-to-pucker ratio. Far tastier than my usual Ciao Bella Lemon Sorbet from Whole Foods.

Now for the bonus. The new Midtown Yolo shop is also home to Lady Bugg Bakery, a local producer of made-fresh-daily sweet treats. Turns out Lady Bugg Bakery always keeps at least one vegan dessert in stock. Today, they were offering these Vegan Chocolate Spice Muffins:

Imagine Mexican hot chocolate in moist muffin form. That's what these muffins taste like. They're also flecked with chocolate chips because you can never have too much chocolate.

I'm so proud of Yolo and Lady Bugg for offering up delicious vegan desserts. Unless you make 'em in your own kitchen, vegan sweets in Memphis can be hard to come by.

Yolo/Lady Bugg Bakery is located at 6 S. Cooper St. Call 901-343-0438.