How could you ever say anything bad about a frozen yogurt shop that has a little smiley face ice cream cone as its mascot? If Macon’s current fro-yo shop and Hello Kitty had a baby, Menchie’s in Warner Robins would be it.

When we entered the tiny establishment, it was jam-packed with folks hankering for yogurt flavored to taste like other things. The setup is pretty neat and compact, but it will be easier to navigate as the buzz dies down. The cashier asked if we had been there before and when we said we hadn’t, he said that we had to get the “full effect.”

Since he had his hands full, he asked another employee to give us the welcoming spiel and he was friendly, full of facts and funny. With that, we grabbed our cups and joined the fray.

The cashiers are in the center of the shop and customers work their way counter-clockwise around the circle past 14 flavors of frozen yogurt. On this particular trip, they had sugar-free coffee and mint, low carb angel food cake (which was a favorite) and snickerdoodle, plus New York cheesecake, mud pie, mango tango, cake batter, kiwi and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. All flavors except original vanilla, chocolate and tart are rotated to keep things interesting.

Our least favorite was the tart orange, which tasted exactly like children’s aspirin. Two of our favorites were tart watermelon, which would be so refreshing on their outdoor area in the summertime, and the pomegranate raspberry. Many of the flavors also are kosher, and some are dairy-free.

The next station you rotate to is the toppings. There are all kinds of candy bar bits, cereals and nuts to mix into your yogurt. I put graham cracker sprinkles on my New York cheesecake. The system for the toppings is very sanitary and a little less sneeze-guard-y than other places. Past that station is the Chill Bar, filled with fresh fruits and mochi. If you haven’t had mochi balls before, they are gelatinous little spheres filled with a viscous liquid. Sounds delicious, doesn’t it? I promise they taste better than they sound. At the end, you can add hot toppings like hot fudge and caramel sauce.

So what’s the damage at the end? It all depends on you. Since the whole thing is 44 cents an ounce, you can get as much or as little as you wish. It ends up being about $3 if you don’t fill it all the way up. They have an incentive program that gives you $5 worth of yogurt for free when you have 50 points on your card. They’ll give you 25 points just for signing up the first time.

Menchie’s will be a busy place once summer gets here, so try it soon before it gets too busy. It’s an international chain, and if Selena Gomez and Justin Beiber like it, I bet you will, too.

Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt

Address: 3030 Watson Blvd., Warner Robins

Phone: 953-1910

Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays; 11 a.m.-midnight Fridays-Saturdays

Payment: Cash, credit

Smoking: No

Alcohol: No

Kids Menu: No

Noise Level: Medium

Wheelchair accessible: Yes

Health Rating: 100

Price range: $0.44 an ounce

Rating: 2.5 stars