Cousins Shayn Prapaisilp and Jojo Prapaisilapa know quite a lot about the food biz. Their fathers, Suchin Prapaisilp and Pat Prapaisilapa, have dominated the Thai restaurant scene in St. Louis for years and are responsible for making ethnic eats more widely available to area grocery shoppers with an international palate. (You can read about Suchin Prapaisilp and his brother, Pat Prapaisilapa, here.) Now their sons are entering the business on their own with the opening of Yogurtland.
Yogurtland offers self-serve, soft-serve frozen yogurt. Begun in 2006, the franchise has quickly grown to over 100 locations that span the United States, with stores in Mexico and even Japan. Customers can mix and match among 16 flavors (these days, patrons are pulling the spigots for Key Lime Bar Tart and Chocolate Mint Cookies) and choose from an array of chocolate, fruit, nuts, candy and other toppings.
The cousins will open the first Yogurtland franchise in the state at 1530 South Kirkwood Road, in Sunset Hills. After that store opens in mid- to late-June, they plan on adding other Yogurtland shops around town.
This article appears in May 1-31, 2011.