A few weeks ago I got to tour a company I think is fantastic — The Lite Choice! I took the tour with Katie from Lil Veggie Patch and was happy to have a friend with me. I went to the tour right after a 9 mile training run, which included the NYRR Run for Haiti! Needless to say, I was starving. I also only had 5 minutes to change clothes, so please excuse my appearance.
The Lite Choice seems like frozen yogurt or ice cream, but really they are considered soft serve. They don’t contain the cultures necessary to be called yogurt and they don’t contain NEARLY enough fat to be called ice cream! A few years ago, I noticed that many Tasti Delite locations turned into The Lite Choice. I assumed it was the same thing but did not realize that The Lite Choice (TLC) started as a healthier alternative to Tasti Delite, which uses artificial flavors and fake sugars. Blech to that.
The Lite Choice (to take Katie’s well written explanation), has 70 readily available flavors, 51 of which are USDA-certified organic.  64 flavors are gluten-free, and they’re working on improving those last 6 flavors. The soft serve is sweetened with beet and cane sugars; no extra sugar is added. (You can find the nutritional information for each flavor online.) They have 30 locations, with 16 of them being in NYC.
I do want to make a note that I try not to eat dairy much. I generally purchase coconut based ice creams, but I will have dairy every now and again. And of course for this tour, it was no question!
I always thought that the only flavors I could get at TLC were the ones on the board each day:
But really, you can get any flavor at any time! They use natural almond and peanut butters, which they grind right in the stores, for flavoring. They also have a selection of organic and natural syrups. Everything is low in calories as well. Even better? They use green (environmentally friendly) cleaning practices!
And they are certified Kosher for all you religious Dori’s Shiny Blog readers.
In addition to soft serve, you can get milkshakes (OBSESSED with my oreo milkshake), Vitamin B shakes, Protein shakes (made with whey protein, a dairy protein) and coffee freezes. I seriously plan to get an oreo milkshake next time I am there again, it was THAT good.
They make yummy hot fudge sundaes and hot chocolate as well. LOVE the hot chocolate, especially one that is so low calorie and tastes chocolatey and amazing. I’d get this more often if I passed a TLC on my commute.
TLC also has a wonderful toppings bar with pretty much anything you might want. Katie even got Puffins on hers! I opted for my favorite topping, peanut butter chips. Mmmmm…
In their freezer section we sampled bars, ice cream cakes, flying saucers and pints of soft serve. Yes, we sampled EVERYTHING. I particularly loved the almond butter flavor, which was made by blending vanilla soft serve and their freshly ground (right in front of me!) almond butter. Heaven.
You can follow TLC on Twitter for daily discounts and promotions. I do!
Oh — Hi Missy!
Here I am with the founder, Ron and the operations manager, Claudia, and of course Katie:
It was a really great tour. So great I stayed and sampled and learned for 2 hours! Everything tastes so good, fresh and REAL. Which of course cannot be said for all of their “low calorie” competitors. If you’re in NYC I definitely suggest you try out The Lite Choice!
ashley
March 15, 2010 at 8:27 am (14 years ago)Kosher? Delicious? Ahh what a great find, thanks so much for posting!!
MelissaNibbles
March 15, 2010 at 8:58 am (14 years ago)Everything looks amazing there. I wish they’d come to Massachusetts!
Missy Maintains
March 15, 2010 at 9:18 am (14 years ago)Yummm I want an Oreo Shake right now.
Katie
March 15, 2010 at 9:55 am (14 years ago)I’m with Missy… I want a shake!
empower me photo guy
March 15, 2010 at 6:51 pm (14 years ago)Wow, this place looks great! It must be awesome to be able to have a treat like this but without all the nasty sugars and extra calories. Well done for going right after your run too, you must have felt so empowered that day! Keep up the good work!
matthew
March 15, 2010 at 8:29 pm (14 years ago)As a religious Dori’s Shiny Blog reader I very much appreciate this tour!
Also, IT LOOKS SO YUMMY.
I wish I was given a tour.
Dori
March 15, 2010 at 9:35 pm (14 years ago)I’ll give you tour, boy!
Gena
March 16, 2010 at 9:59 am (14 years ago)Ha, I love it! You’ve had a culinary journey 🙂
Janna (Just Flourishing)
March 16, 2010 at 12:45 pm (14 years ago)Aw lucky! I want to go on a TLC tour!
I will be going there soon though because I won a free cup or cone from Missy! Excited to try it 🙂
melissa
March 17, 2010 at 10:12 pm (14 years ago)exciting to know you can get any flavor! that sundae looks SO good!
Megan (The Runner's Kitchen)
March 18, 2010 at 3:45 pm (14 years ago)This place sounds awesome! I was wondering what the difference between Tasti D-Lite and Lite Delights was…
This beautiful weather makes me want ice cream (or something similar) so badly. Yum!
Jen
March 23, 2010 at 10:45 pm (14 years ago)Wow! Can’t believe I missed this post. That place looks amazing! Lucky you for getting a tour and thanks for sharing all the good stuff about it!
lynn @ the actors diet
March 24, 2010 at 8:42 pm (14 years ago)looks similar to the places we have in l.a. but we don’t have milkshakes! yum!
Diana (Soap & Chocolate)
March 25, 2010 at 8:44 pm (14 years ago)Ah, how I wish I could do this tour! I won one of Missy’s coupons and was so impressed when I redeemed it! So much better than Tasti D-lite.
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