The Bolder Life: Twirl brings tasty fro-yo to the Boulder community

Since the frozen yogurt boom of the 1980s, fro-yo shops have become a dime-a-dozen in the United States and seem to hold a pretty constant place in the hearts of Boulderites as shops dedicated to this frozen treat continue to pop up in local business developments and all around the streets of Boulder.

It seems like when it comes to frozen treats, frozen yogurt takes the cake…

But when Twirl opened up their doors in the spring of 2012, they didn’t just open up the doors to yet another frozen yogurt shop in Boulder, they opened up the doors of an inviting community gathering place and they opened up doors of opportunity to local students and teens as well.

Located just a few blocks northwest of Boulder High School, Twirl Boulder – Frozen Yogurt and Beyond, offers a selection self-serve, all-natural frozen yogurt with a kid-in-a-candy-store selection of organic toppings and unlike most other frozen yogurt shops, Twirl also offers lattes and other coffee drinks as well as filling food– for the people, by the people, in the form of comfort menu items like cheeseburger sliders and grilled cheese. Mmm… grilled cheese.

At Twirl, the fro-yo flavors, topping choices, menu items and just about every other decision in the shop are made by members of the Student Advisory Council, a group of students that work closely with the Twirl owners and staff to make Twirl a safe and fun environment, filled with their favorite food items and activities—you know, the kind of place that every parent hopes their kid heads to once the school bell rings.

The community concept of the shop stems from owners Ken and Robin Luff and was developed from a combination of their passion for helping and supporting their community, and the realization that their growing sons lacked a comfortable, fun—yet safe place that they could hang out at after school. The décor of the place is very student-friendly and includes the Purple Lounge which has a TV, X-Box games and a karaoke machine available for use by all and can also be reserved by not only students, but members of the community as well. And the best part? It’s free. Fun really is free at Twirl, and although they aren’t just giving out their fabulous frozen yogurt and food, they are offering super cheap meal deals for students and low prices for everyone else.

And if this place doesn’t already sound pretty awesome, Twirl’s street cred was elevated by making an appearance on a trip to Mt. Everest and the DNC in its short existence. The Twirl flag that made the trek up the highest mountain on earth is framed and proudly hangs in the Twirl lobby—and Robin, a proud Obama supporter, and a group of students hosting a DNC watch party at Twirl were featured on the big screen at the Democratic National Convention earlier this year.

If that isn’t cool, then I guess I just don’t know what cool is.

Stop by Twirl Monday-Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and on the weekends from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. And if you’re a student and interested in joining the Student Advisory Council, just stop in and chat with Robin. She’ll give you all the info that you need it’ll be a great excuse to pick up some tasty frozen yogurt.