Take it or leave it?

Once upon a time, Gothamites in need of a frosty treat had pretty much one choice: Tasti D-Lite. Tucked between bodegas and boutiques, the unassuming little soft-serve outlets were the Manhattan equivalent of a drive-through.

Then in late 2006, Pinkberry, a Los Angeles frozen yogurt vendor known for fresh fruit toppings and a rabid following, set up in New York—they’ve colonized us with a total of 15 stores to date. Red Mango followed suit (nine stores), along with Yolato (four stores), /eks/ (two stores) and öko (also two); the list goes on.

Is fro-yo merely a chillier echo of the cupcake craze, or will the low-calorie snack shops have staying power? At Cones, a decade-old Greenwich Village gelato store—across from five-month-old Yogurtland and seconds from several similar shops—owner Oscar D’Aloisio isn’t worried. “We haven’t changed,” he says, noting that his customer flow has regularly increased in recent years. Still, he doesn’t have a lengthy queue of patient college students like nearby Pinkberry, and his longtime regular Anthony Liloia has strong opinions: “These yogurt places, they’re garbage,” he says. “It’s artificial and ridiculous.”

Up the street at newly opened Eskimix, managing director Dominic Venton sees stability in the industry as a whole. “The trend might well die out, but for the few concepts that are truly original and interesting, there will be longevity,” he says. He points to his store’s unique mixing technique, creating what he calls “more of a healthy Dairy Queen Blizzard than a frozen yogurt replica.”

So is fro-yo a go for good, or should we toss it out with our stale cupcakes and wait for the inevitable macaroon fad to hit our streets? Vote below!