Just one week after its splashy residency debut inside Pilsen’s The Latina Sweat Project, popular Greek frozen yogurt startup Mikono is pausing to shore up operations as its founders manage staggering demand for their product.
The first day of opening, last Monday, brought lines down the block.
Cofounders Nathalie Del Valle and Maya Matta, both of whom work full time in tech sales to fund their froyo pursuit, hope to open a permanent storefront in Lincoln Park later this year at 2300 N. Clark St.
“We made the tough call to step back from our residency at the Latina Sweat Project because demand simply outgrew the space,” Del Valle said in an email. “Between our lines and the studio’s own classes, it became difficult for both operations to thrive side by side.”
The indie brand’s rise has been meteoric. Citing a lack of healthy grab-and-go froyo options, the best friends started Mikono early this year after perfecting their recipe for high-quality frozen Greek yogurt with fresh tropical fruit, grown on and shipped to Chicago from a Miami farm. They say theirs is the city’s first Latina-owned Greek frozen yogurt shop.
The women started doing froyo drops out of their shared River West apartment this spring, receiving up to 100 preorders within 15 minutes. Before long, they were hosting sellout pop-ups around the city, drawing 300 customers within two hours.
The women cite the following they’ve built on social media documenting their journey. But demand for froyo is soaring nationwide, as this relic of 1980s diet culture — one that also bubbled up in the 2010s — gets new life. The latest round of vigor owes to, what exactly? Perhaps it’s the Instagram-optimized visual appeal, snow-white and heaped with glistening fruit and pistachio confetti. Or, the implication that the Greek version is protein packed. Or maybe, this tangy, ultra-rich iteration is actually good.
In an earlier interview, the women said that demand has outstripped what they anticipated time and again.
“We’re grateful for all the support we received from the Pilsen community and for Latina Sweat allowing us to use the space,” Del Valle said this week. “The bright side is that this decision is pushing us toward something bigger.”
Several commenters on Mikono’s Instagram post announcing the pause made their wish known for the shop to stay on the South Side.
“These establishments tend to cater to the North Side where it’s completely saturated,” one wrote. “So many Southsiders loved being able to go to Pilsen vs having to go all the way up north for froyo,” wrote another.
For now, they may not have to, depending on where Mikono goes next. They plan to appear at events throughout the summer, which they’ll announce on social media, Del Valle said.