Red Mango Frozen Yogurt Heads to Bethesda (For Some)

Frozen yogurt joint Red Mango is set to debut in Bethesda – which is great news for NIH employees, but not so great news for other potential customers.

The shop will likely be inaccessible to the general public.

The franchise serves up non-fat and low-fat frozen yogurt, smoothies, parfaits, frozen lemonades and frozen coffee chillers. In 2011, it was rated “Top Healthy Options within the Quick Refreshments Chains" and "Best Smoothie/Frozen Yogurt" by Zagat, according to its website.

The popular chain boasts 180 locations across the country, including several in Northern Virginia. Now, Red Mango is making its first foray into Montgomery County with a location planned for 10 Center Drive -- inside the security fence at the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, according to the site.

The news spread quickly amongst Bethesda Twitter users and bloggers last week. But the yogurt shop will likely not be available to the general public, the chain’s founder Dan Kim tweeted in response to some pointed questioning by Bethesda tweep (and Patch blogger)

The restaurant could be open within the year, reported Bethesda blogger Robert Dyer, who reported the news last week. We called Red Mango and tweeted at Kim to confirm, but haven’t heard back so far.

For now, it looks like most Bethesdans will still need to head to Clarendon to taste test the chain’s signature yogurt flavors, including cake batter, peanut butter, sugarcane cola, mojito, cinnamon, green tea, and of course, mango.

As Heyman tweeted, “So close, yet so far.”