(Photo: Flickr/Softservefruitco)

Fans of the uptown frozen fruit dessert take note: The Soft Serve Fruit Co., formerly known as Simply Peeled, unveiled a brand-new Union Square location this week.

Why confuse New Yorkers and change from such an adorable, clever name to a bland, middle-America-sounding moniker?

“People kept asking, ‘Is it frozen yogurt? Is it frozen yogurt?’” says Daniel Karsevar, the company’s president. “We had to keep explaining that it wasn’t—that it was actually soft serve fruit.” So, to make their lives easier, they rebranded.

In our totally unsolicited (but no less expert) opinion, they succeeded in dumbing down the concept in the process. Ben & Jerry’s and Häagen-Dazs don’t have to call themselves the Full Fat Ice Cream Companies. Organic Avenue doesn’t have to call itself the Juice Cleanse Company.

With one or two more Simply Peeled locations, the public would have stopped asking what the product was.

New Yorkers check out the new location (Photo: Flickr/Softservefruitco)

Name change aside, the downtown shop has a similar barefoot-Hamptons decor as the smaller uptown shop. And the all-natural, dairy-free, not-quite-froyo product is delish. Expect a few downtown upgrades like Greenmarket-sourced fruit toppings and 50-calorie fruit popsicles.

The flavors change with the seasons, and, wanting to be incredibly thorough, we tried blueberry, mango, banana, and pear. They were all tasty, but banana was the no-contest favorite.

Soft Serve Fruit Co., 25 E. 17th St., at Broadway, Union Square, 212-675-0550, www.softservefruitco.com