Lemon Tree Frozen Yogurt

Started trying out some sample flavors and the woman who seemed to be the owner kept rushing over to angrily do tasks. Sister pointed at the huge 20 oz container and made a joke about it… owner ran over and shoved them into the wall angrily so they werent visible like the other ones? Left within 3 minutes due to the negative vibes… did not even get past sampling… felt very unwanted and have no clue why as we were the only ones at 1:30 on a Saturday and were not being remotely disruptive… will not be returning — TRY YUMZ way better!

I have tasted EVERY fro-​yo place in Ankeny and Lemon Tree by far has the best flavor. My family always wants for-​yo over any other frozen dessert. In order of deliciousness:
Lemon Tree
Orange Leaf (Urbandale)
Yumz
Cherry Berry (yuck, will never go again)

Ah the fro-​yo waves. Some hit the beach with a refreshing crash, some arrive with them lapping on the beach.
Lemon Tree is the king of central Iowa fro-​yo joints. This is the only place that has delivered quality interesting flavors, great toppings and a desirable consistency. You’l find great traditional flavors here, and some new ideas.

I swear, I’m going to end up going to every frozen yogurt place in the state of Iowa. I should actually consider making that a goal.
Anyway, Lemon Tree is a nice, quaint little froyo shop in Ankeny. In a strip mall right next to Starbucks (pretty much my dream strip mall), you’ll be able to easily see it from SE Delaware Avenue. There’s tons of parking in the area, but I always manage to come here when the store is pretty much abandoned. This time, there were a bunch of teenagers complaining about whatever, relatively loudly, with no froyo near them in sight. It worsened my experience, but it’s not the establishment’s fault.
The flavors are pretty basic. As the flavors are posted on wooden plaques on the wall, I don’t think they cycle them as often as many froyo places tend to. They are basic flavors, though, and I think most people will find flavors they’ll like. It’s nothing too out-​there, though.
The machines they use to dispense froyo seem pretty nice. They actually dispense really nicely and without as much pressure that you have to use with most machines. However, maybe they aren’t kept as cold as they’re supposed to be as my froyo came out melt-​y — on all three separate machines that I used. This isn’t a problem for me as I love melty ice cream and frozen yogurt, but I’m not sure that’s how most people like it. (In fact, I’d consider this a positive instead of a negative.)
I took a picture of the sample cups. They have small spoons as well. I never get the sample cups (I live on the edge), but compared to ones I’ve seen other stores use, it looks like the Lemon Tree cups here are some of the largest ones I’ve seen for sample cups.
The sprinkle toppings, which are pretty much my favorite, seemed a bit stale here. They were a lot more crunchy than I expect sprinkles to be.
Seating was pretty average. It’s nothing to be super excited over, but they do have chairs as well as bar stools. There are booths as well, but they’re wooden and not particularly comfortable. I sat in a booth for about a half-​hour, and then it just got uncomfortable. There’s a variety of seating, though, so if you need to seat a larger group, it’s possible.
I was BLOWN AWAY by their bathrooms. In fact, it’s one of the few bathrooms I’ve ever seen where I’ve taken a selfie and not felt ashamed. They have adorable decorations in there as well as a chair. It’s a fantastically cute bathroom, and they are clean every time I’ve gone in them too.
Final Thoughts: Lemon Tree isn’t a bad frozen yogurt place. If you’re in the area, it’s not a bad place to visit. There just isn’t too much to make it «stand out» from competition. The bathrooms are honestly one of the most impressive, unique things about the establishment. There’s no reason to avoid it, but I won’t go too far out of my way to go here either.

Stopped in here to grab a quick dessert after lunch. Honestly I could not think of anything unique to wrote about this place, their décor is very colorful and fun, store is clean, dessert building process straight forward, staff friendly, and price good.
Could not find any significant difference between this place and other self serve frozen yogurt stores I’ve been to. Parking and getting here is the biggest downside I could think of, you see it from the street, but need to go into the plaza and around their building to park.

Ahh lemon tree very pretty…
Seriously, as the third Fro Yo franchise that I am rating in this trip around the Fro Yo landscape of Des Moines, I would say this one is the best thus far. Why? Let me count the ways:
1. Samples! No sample Nazi’s here, no teeny tiny sample cups. I am talking nice sized sample cups. Obviously they expect you to make a purchase, we always do, but its nice to browse and taste at your leisure.
2. Quality. The quality here is on par with Menchie’s in my opinion but way better than Orange Leaf. Flavors are crisp and really come through. The best flavors that I had on my most recent visit were the vanilla, cupcake, and chocolate caramel turtle. YUM.
3. Selection, they had two very nice sorbets on hand for the ones in my family that can’t handle lactose. I like that they have at least more than one option and I like that it isn’t the standard «lemon» sorbet.
4. Service, the lady was really nice, she helped us when we needed help and let us do our thing enjoying the yoghurt.
All in all I love this place. Next stop is Cherry Berry. We will see where it ranks.

I really like this place. Lots of flavors of frozen yogurt plus a wide array of toppings. For years I was hoping that TCBY would open in Ankeny. Now it has and I haven’t been there because Lemon Tree is so much better than TCBY.

Tried this place with friends last night in Ankeny, they have an additional location in Kansas City. I was thrilled to see this froyo place open. I have been too a couple of different ones in Atlanta and was so excited for this to open in the Des Moines area. Verdict: We all loved it! Couldn’t stop talking about it the rest of the night.
Great flavors and toppings. Line was out the door! Very hip/​modern feel to the lights, furniture and atmosphere. It’s self serve and you pay by the weight at .43 cents/​ounce. Mine came to $ 4.35. Totally worth it. You pick the size of your bowl so you can mix and match flavors. I tried the original tart, mango, very berry, and raspberry. My friend tried the cupcake, which was delish and tasted just like a cupcake! My fave was the original tart and mango. Everything was super fresh and you could tell no powder was used for flavoring. All natural with PROBIOTICS. TCBY doesn’t claim that and why would they since they use a powder mix, yuck.
I wish they would open one in Des Moines so I don’t have to drive to Ankeny. Also, I love putting the little mochi rice cubes on my frozen yogurt so I hope they add that as a topping in the future. They had a great selection of toppings. Fresh fruits as well as nuts and candy toppings to choose from. I’ve been to several of these types of shops around the country and this is right up there as one of my favorties!