Sweet Frog Hops into Towson

Shazeb Husain's day job—as a security privacy architect for IBM—is about as far away from frozen yogurt you can get.

But here he was, on a bright Thursday afternoon, getting ready to open Towson's newest frozen yogurt shop.

He and a longtime friend, co-owner Akhlaqur "A.R." Rahman, had wanted to open a business for a long time, and then they found the opportunity, and the place.

"We said that Towson is the best place to do it, because I grew up in this neighborhood and I want to give back to the community," said Husain, a Timonium native and Towson University graduate who now lives with his family in Columbia.

Sweet Frog Premium Frozen Yogurt opens Friday in the former Quiznos Subs in the Penthouse building at 28 Allegheny Ave. The Towson franchise is the second location in Maryland for the Richmond-based chain.

Sweet Frog works a lot like other self-serve frozen yogurt chains: You grab a cup, load it up with one of 12 flavors (rotating in and out from 54 selections), choose from 66 toppings and pay based on weight.

Husain said the frozen yogurt will run 39.9 cents per ounce.

The 54 flavors include your standard chocolate and vanilla, but also offbeat selections you might not find elsewhere, such as maple bacon donut, taro and toffee mocha.

At a cold opening—if you'll pardon the pun—on Thursday, Husain was serving up free samples to dozens of neighbors and Fortis Institute students who wandered in.

The new shop's hours will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, and noon to 7 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

And with temperatures reaching the 80s in the next few days, Husain is hoping for some prime frozen-yogurt weather.

"People will go for the hot food (next door) then come for the cold food over here," he said.