Blondie's serves up delectable frozen treats

By Kathleen Grohman

Watch out Bronco, students may have a new hangout spot. Blondie's Frozen Yogurt and Ice Cream is a fun new addition to the Santa Clara scene.

Blondie's owner and founder Kelley Lund graduated from Santa Clara in 2005 with a sociology major and studio art minor. Lund realized the need for a nearby frozen yogurt shop when she was a student and got a loan from the bank to start her own.

"We used to drive all the way to Saratoga to get yogurt and it wasn't really a comfortable environment to hang out," she said.

One of Lund's goals with her shop was to create a welcoming environment to sit down and enjoy a treat, and she has succeeded. Blondie's tropical décor is complete with neon paintings of palm trees offsetting the pale, yellow walls and white tables and chairs.

Blondie was one of Lund's nicknames which she chose over her other nicknames, like Bugs, because Blondie was catchy, and she thought Bugs wouldn't work with food.

For Lund, opening her own frozen yogurt shop in Santa Clara was something like fulfilling a dream.

"I love, love frozen yogurt more than anything. It's silly to say it's my passion, but I eat it every day. And it's healthier, which I think people in California like better," she said.

Like any savvy business owner, Lund took her shop's proximity to a college campus into account (Blondie's is located on Park Avenue across the street from Safeway) and tried staying open until 1 a.m. to accommodate late night cravings, but this did not turn out to be a great idea.

"It was a little crazy. Drunk students would come in mobs, which is good if they are buying yogurt, but only about one in 20 would actually buy some," Lund said.

Now Blondie's stays open until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

The Blondie's at Santa Clara is the first, but if it succeeds, Lund may look into franchising and open stores near other college campuses.

Blondie's is not just for Santa Clara University, Lund said, which is why she decided against a name like University Frozen Yogurt. Blondie's employs five Santa Clara students and two junior college students.

"I wanted to have a mix and make it not just Santa Clara based," she said. The neighborhood has also taken a liking to this new hangout spot.

Business is going well, according to Lund. "We have had lines out the door every night with not only students, but families and little kids as well," she said.

Santa Clara students that have ventured into Blondie's have great things to say about it. Sophomore Stephen Koch has been there multiple times and enjoyed a strawberry yogurt with gummy bears and a chocolate shake.

The chocolate shake was his favorite. "It was very legit, made by Blondie herself," Koch said, adding he and his friends expect to go back for more. "I would definitely go there over Yumi Yogurt because of the location and the atmosphere," he said.

So just what can you get at Blondie's? The yogurt flavors rotate just about every day so that there are at least eight yogurt flavors to choose from, three of which are wow-cow, sugar-free and lactose-free.

Lund's favorite is Irish mint, and there is always some ice cream and a variety of toppings.

Sizes range from child to extra-large and the prices are reasonable, if you know what to get. Koch's tip: "They have really big portions, so the prices are actually really good."

And if you get a punch card, after you buy 10, you get one mini yogurt free.

I have been to Blondie's several times; my favorite was chocolate and vanilla swirl frozen yogurt.

And because Blondie's will let you sample the yogurt in order to help you make an informed decision, I have tried lots of other kinds and have been very impressed.

The yogurt actually tastes just like the flavor, so if you order snicker doodle yogurt, expect that it will taste like snicker doodle in frozen yogurt form.

Blondie's Frozen Yogurt leans toward the yogurt side of the fro-yo spectrum rather than the ice cream side, which is refreshing and reassuring.

While an entire bowl of lemon yogurt can be too sweet to finish, with Blondie's Frozen Yogurt you can expect to get just what you order: a delicious and maybe healthier frozen treat.

Contact Kathleen Grohman at (408) 551-1918 or kgrohman@scu.edu.