Menchie's Frozen Yogurt Opens On Ridge Road: Free Yogurt Alert

MINOOKA — First came Roosty's Chicken and Shakes. Next came Chipotle Mexican Grill. On Thursday's Minooka's resurging Parker Square shopping plaza at Ridge Road and Mondamin Street welcomed the arrival of Menchie's Frozen Yogurt at 450 W. Mondamin.

This marks the first Menchie's in the entire Joliet area. There are a handful of Menchie's in the Chicago area, including ones on Lemont Road in Downers Grove, Army Trail Road in Bloomingdale and Roselle Road in Schaumburg.

"Cheerful self-serve chain with dozens of frozen yogurt flavors & toppings, sold by weight," Menchie's proclaims on its company website.

Austin Green told Joliet Patch that he is the store lead for Minooka's new Menchie's Yogurt. Menchie's specializes in self-serve frozen yogurt as well as cakes. On Saturday, Menchie's will be giving away free 8-ounce frozen yogurts all day and on Sunday, free waffle bowls all day.

Before Menchie's opened, the Parker Square storefront used to be a fill-a-cup Yogurt. "It's cheaper than fill-a-cup," Green told Patch. "No one else can make these flavors. They're unique to Menchie's."

The new Menchie's in Minooka is now open as of Thursday. It's open noon to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and noon to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

"We're full force right now," Green said. "We're pretty much good to go."

According to the company website, "Menchie's Frozen Yogurt currently serves smiles in more than 540 locations around the world, with stores in development throughout the U.S.A., Canada, Puerto Rico, England, South Africa, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Bangladesh, Guatemala, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, India, China, and Japan."