On Monday night at around 10PM, I passed 16 Handles Frozen Yogurt at 2nd Avenue and East 81st Street. It was 37 degrees outside and the place was packed. Contrast that to the also open, but empty, Pinkberry across the street.

16 Handles has changed the frozen yogurt experience for the better. They’ve “turned the counter around” so the consumer can self serve in three easy steps (yes, you can do it better than they can):

1. Choose from 16 flavors (Euro Tart is my favorite), take as many and as much (or as little) as you want.

2. Select from a wide variety of toppings (i like to mix in berries, cookie dough and Reese’s peanut butter cups), take as much (or as little) as you want.

3. Weigh and pay.

4. OPTIONAL – get your frequent yogurt eater card stamped for a freebee after 8 visits.

In addition to the two stores currently open in NYC (2nd Ave. and E. 9th St., 2nd Ave. and E. 81st St.), Eater reports that a new location is opening on the Upper West Side this Spring.

There are other open locations in Jericho, NY, Paramus, NJ,  and Gaithersburg, MD. This Spring and Summer will also bring new franchises to Boca Raton, FL, Clifton Park, NY, Port Washington, NY, and Fairfield, CT.

Most locations are certified by International Kosher Council (Rabbi Zev Schwartz). He explains that the yogurts are all certified Kosher by mainstream Supervisors (like OU, OK etc.) and all the topping are Kosher EXCEPT as labeled (indeed there are some non-Kosher gummy toppings).

Rumor has is it the UWS location will be certified by National Kosher Supervision (Rabbi Aaron D. Mehlman). This will accommodate a community where NKS is more widely accepted and recognized. However, this comes at a cost to the topping selection as certain berries and non-Kosher items will be excluded from the menu.

Please note: to our knowledge, Pinkberry is NOT Kosher (Pinkberry told us that).

New York University / NYU, or locally referred to as NY Jew, is 25% Jewish with about 5,000 Jews on campus. Many of the Yidden at NYU are observant, making this campus ideal for those who keep kosher.

On the first floor of the Weinstein Residence Hall at 5 University Place off of E 8th st, is NYU’s Kosher Dining Hall. Anyone can walk into the building, head straight back through the regular cafeteria, and in the back is a decent sized kosher cafeteria. Dairy and Meat meals switch off every day. While most students pay for their meals with meal plans, anyone can purchase a meal, all you can eat I might add, for about $11. Salads, Drinks, and Sandwiches can be ordered daily whether it is a dairy or meat meal.

Around the corner from Weinstein Hall, you can find a Crumbs Kosher Bake Shop, at 37 E 8th St. Crumbs is a popular cupcake bakery found throughout the city. I highly recommend the “Baba Booey”, a chocolate & peanut butter cupcake. Yummm!

Closer to Union Square, at 21 East 12th, right off of University Pl., is University Pita, a Middle Eastern Shwarma/Falafel joint. You can order right off the street, or head up the narrow staircase to a tiny eating area. The shwarma, falafel, and laffa are pretty good, and the chumus is homemade. University Pita is open until 11pm, and is also open Motzei Shabbat, which is definitely useful for those heading to Greenwich Village on a Saturday night in the mood for some late night kosher grub.

For those of you looking for kosher food near NYU Medical Center (not near NYU’s main campus), there is the NYU Hospital Kosher Cart available, but not much else.

For more information on NYU, please visit: http://nyu.edu

Attention Students: We would like to expand our “Kosher on Campus” section of our blog. If you’d like to write a post about your campus, please register on this site and share your info. If you’re having trouble logging in, please email yeahthatskosher.com@gmail.com