More Fro-yo Shops on the Way

Fro-yo girl here. I stumbled upon these two future fro-yo shop locations while leaving one fro-yo shop (and heading to another fro-yo shop).

The Yogurtland location is in the Silver Creek area of San Jose, close to Evergreen Valley College. It’s in a strip mall. The space is completely empty at the moment. Construction hasn’t begun. It’s not listed on the Yogurtland website yet.

The other shop is called Toppings. It’s in a shopping center anchored by Target. The space is empty and construction hasn’t begun. The air around there smells like pho (seriously).

I found a website for a Toppings Yogurt in SoCal (self serve, 39 cents an ounce) but the logos look different so I don't think it's the same company. http://www.toppingsyogurt.com/index.html

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* YOGURTLAND: 2740 Aborn Rd, San Jose, CA
* TOPPINGS: 1630 E. Capitol Expressway, Suite #202, San Jose, CA

Celebrity Fro-yo Pics

Fro-yo girl here. Here’s a collection of celebrity fro-yo pics featuring Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Garner, Kirsten Dunst and even Gene Simmons strolling with a cup (or cone) of fro-yo. I tried to make out the cups and most of them are from Pinkberry. Yawn. I have respect for celebrities like Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Garner who get their fro-yo elsewhere.

http://www.theinsider.com/galleries/2084902_Stars_Crazy_for_Fro_Yo

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Story about L’Amour Frozen Yogurt in Paly Voice

Fro-yo girl here. Paly Voice is the online site for Palo Alto High School Journalism. The site has quite a few fro-yo shop reviews, including the most recent one on L’Amour, the first self-serve shop in Palo Alto: http://voice.paly.net/view_story.php?id=8518

It’s a flattering review but seriously, 47 cents an ounce is not a low price. That’s about as high as it gets for self-serve fro-yo and their fro-yo isn’t special. If a decent, lower priced, self-serve place opened in downtown Palo Alto (e.g., Yogurtland, 30 cents an ounce), I’m sure L’Amour wouldn’t last long.
If you’re craving sweet fro-yo, you can get a better deal at Yumi Yogurt.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* L’AMOUR FROZEN YOGURT CAFE: 276 University Ave, Palo Alto, CA
* YUMI YOGURT: 947 El Camino Real, Redwood City, CA

Construction Pic: Happy Yogurt Los Gatos

Fro-yo girl here. This picture of Happy Yogurt Los Gatos was sent in by a reader (the same one who sent me the Happy Yogurt coming soon sign months ago). Thank you secret member of my fro-yo army!

It looks close to opening since the tiles are in place and the fro-yo machines are there. I think they only have room for three fro-yo machines (which isn’t much for a self-serve fro-yo place).

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

HAPPY YOGURT: 13 N. Santa Cruz Los Gatos, CA 95030

Why I’m Anti Self-Serve Fro-yo

Fro-yo girl here. I know self-serve fro-yo is all the rage these days, but I just don’t like it. I will never like it for the following reasons:

1. Inferior quality. While there are plenty of bad full-serve places, on average self-serve fro-yo is inferior in taste and texture to full-serve. Often self-serve fro-yo is runny, watered down or too icy. Part of it may be that people might not put the handle back up after they’re finished with dispensing.
2. It's Unsanitary. I have seen more than one person TOUCH the nozzle to sample the fro-yo. Imagine how many dirty hands have touched the levers and spoons. Gross people could sneeze on the toppings and touch the toppings. Also, I have the feeling that they clean the machines less often than at a full-serve place because they have more of them and it takes 25 – 30 minutes to clean each machine.
3. Buffet atmosphere. Like a buffet, self-serve fro-yo encourages you to take a little bit of everything, which can result in a crappy combination. I don’t need to have that many fro-yo flavors or toppings.
4. Less attractive. A pretty swirl of fro-yo with toppings pleases one’s senses. My self-serve creations look like crap. Those ginormous cups they usually give you don’t help either. I’d rather have someone who knows how to swirl dispense my fro-yo.

The only positives about self-serve are (1) you can take just a tiny bit, (2) you can control the toppings to fro-yo ratio, (3) it’s cheaper (usually), and (4) you get exactly what you pay for - the hole in the middle becomes irrelevant. However, if the fro-yo is good, I don’t want just a tiny bit and I’m happy with the usual toppings to fro-yo ratio. I don’t mind paying more for better fro-yo.

People say that it’s more fun to swirl the fro-yo yourself and add your own toppings. I completely disagree. I like having people serve me!

P.S. There are some good self-serve fro-yo places out there. Tuttimelon UC tops my list, followed by Nubi, Tartini, Zuckersuss, Pink Swirl and Yogurt Paradise.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Red Mango Fro-yo is Certified as Gluten Free

Fro-yo girl here. A few days ago Red Mango announced that their fro-yo has been certified as gluten free by the Gluten Free Certification Organization (GFCO). According to Red Mango’s founder, president and CEO, Dan Kim, their fro-yo is naturally gluten free but they provided documentation to receive the GF Certification Mark. Stonyfield Farms went through a similar certification process. They didn’t change their yogurts (they were already gluten free).

It’s estimated that 2.3 million Americans cannot consume gluten. Plain fro-yo is gluten free and many flavors of fro-yo are also gluten free. But if the flavor is something like cookies and cream, malt, or yellow cake batter, then the yogurt will most likely contain gluten.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

http://news.prnewswire.com/ViewContent.aspx?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/05-19-2009/0005028964&EDATE=

Future Fro-yo Shop Pictures: Blush Milpitas

Fro-yo girl here. I couldn’t find Blush Milpitas the other week (when you get off of the 880, it’s hard to spot the numbers of the buildings) but I found it today. It’s in a new (and nice) shopping center anchored by Safeway. There’s a pretty fountain right outside Peet’s (would be a lovely spot to sit and eat fro-yo on a hot summer day).

I peeked inside Blush and saw two spaces (for two fro-yo machines) along with piles of construction material. Most new fro-yo shops cover up their windows so you can’t see what’s going on inside but this location’s windows aren’t covered. There are two signs posted saying Blush Coming Soon (they hope to open this June).

While there are two other Blush locations currently under construction (SF, Burlingame), expect Milpitas to be the first to open.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* BLUSH MILPITAS: 489 E. Calaveras Blvd, Milpitas, CA

Memorial Day Weekend Specials at Yogurt Bar SF

Fro-yo girl here. This Saturday and Sunday, Yogurt Bar is offering their signature patriotic Red, White & Blue special (8 oz. Golden Gate size, 2 fruit toppings, & syrup for $4.75). Red is for strawberries, blue is for blackberries or blueberries and white is for original plain yogurt. And it’s all topped off with Ghirardelli chocolate syrup.

Happy Memorial Day!

You know you love me. XO XO, fro-yo girl.

* YOGURT BAR UNION: 2760 Octavia St, San Francisco

New Look for Tuttimelon Website

Fro-yo girl here. I just noticed that Tuttimelon’s been busy again (of course) and I’m happy that I can follow them on Twitter now: http://twitter.com/tuttimelonfroyo
And Tuttimelon.com has a completely new (and better) look! The picture of the fro-yo on the landing page of their original tart with blueberries and granola (two toppings I often pick though I prefer mochi to granola) makes me crave a cup of tuttiliciousness.

The website hints at things to come (which Roy L./Mr. Tuttimelon mentioned to me), including the locations in Asia and Canada. Yay, Tuttimelon!

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

www.tuttimelon.com

Tuttimelon Pom Fro-yo Is Back!

Fro-yo girl here. I noticed the new signs in the window of the West Portal Tuttimelon location announcing the return of Tuttimelon Pomegranate fro-yo. They have new postcards with the pom fro-yo on the front and pictures of a banana split and fro-yo brunch parfait on the back. The banana split features 2 gelato flavors, 1 swirl of fro-yo, nuts, banana and chocolate syrup. The brunch parfait is smaller than their regular parfait; it features original tart fro-yo (you can get it w/ flavored tart but it costs extra), your choice of 1 fresh fruit topping, granola and honey for $2.99.

Their pomegranate fro-yo is now made with Pom Wonderful! I thought about their pom fro-yo all day but I didn’t get back to SF in time to go to the West Portal location. I went to the Irving Tuttimelon location but they didn’t have pom (they have blueberry tart and original tart right now). Sadness. I still want my pom fro-yo.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* TUTTIMELON WEST PORTAL: 44 West Portal Ave., San Francisco, CA

Update: I tried the pom fro-yo and it's soooooo good - better than ever, smooth, tart, fruity, and truly tuttilicious. It's my favorite Tuttimelon flavored tart.

SoGreen Yogurt Opens on Wednesday (May 20)

Fro-yo girl here. Get ready to eat some more fro-yo. The second location of SoGreen Yogurt opens this Wednesday in Oakland. Here’s a coupon for 20% off, good till June 12, 2009: http://sogreenyogurt.com/sgy4.html

I think it opens at 10 AM. Welcome SoGreen!

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* SOGREEN YOGURT: 500 12th ST. #B134, Oakland, CA

Sweet Sundays Profile

Fro-yo girl here. Sweet Sundays opened its doors in San Jose in November 2008. It’s a self-serve, family friendly shop close to Oakridge Mall. The owner, Michael C., is a SJSU grad and accountant.

FYG: How would you describe your store in one sentence?
MICHAEL: Sweet Sundays is a warm and cozy place which emphasizes on cleanliness and quality.

FYG: What's different about your store?
MICHAEL: First –The open environment

When we first had an architect drew out the plans, he said to me and to the other members "that everyone is a copy-cat of each other.” In fact, he is right! However, I did not like his ideas or any of the 5 copy-cat plans and opted for a 6th plan which what Sweet Sundays is today. We are self-serve, so employee and customer interactions are very important to me. There are no restrictions for the employees to move about to clean and help customers. We are known to assist elders and young children who visited Sweet Sundays.

Second – The quality of the topping selection

From the start, I knew we needed to be different. So the topping dispensers served two purposes 1) they are visually appealing and 2) they keep dry goods fresher oppose to having them laid out in the open.

Third – Our Flavors

The Original Tart, Pomegranate Tart (made with real POM Wonderful), & Acai-Blueberry are our own formula. The cost of these three flavors is more expensive but they are very popular.

Overall, we do try to have the best toppings. Occasionally, we do rotate our toppings to see what works. Self-serve can be fun and classy too.

FYG: What's your favorite fro-yo flavor and toppings?
MICHAEL: Healthy Side: Original Tart Yogurt with vanilla granola, strawberries, Capt’n Crunch/Fruity Pebbles, blueberries, with pomegranate seeds.

Dark Side: Chocolate/Vanilla with Oreos, almonds, Reese peanut butter cup, Thin Mints (very good frozen), pomegranate whipped crème (this brings out the chocolate flavor) with chocolate syrup & chocolate sprinkles on top.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* SWEET SUNDAYS: 860 Blossom Hill Road, San Jose, CA

Future Fro-yo Shop Pictures: Blush SF

Fro-yo girl here. Here’s another batch of pictures to whet your appetite for fro-yo. These were taken this week. The Blush SF location replaces Marble Slab Creamery. It’s on the block between the Cal Train station and AT &T Park. If you're driving through the area and craving fro-yo, the Safeway on the same block and some of the other businesses (e.g., Borders) will validate parking (in the Safeway parking garage).

I heard construction is going very well and they expect to open in July. I feel like it’s my spot since they have a picture of my blog in the window. Yes, they have received the fro-yo girl seal of approval.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* BLUSH SAN FRANCISCO: 219 King Street, San Francisco, CA

Jennifer Aniston Eats More Fro-yo Than I Do

Fro-yo girl here. According to the May 11th issue of Us Weekly, Jen is currently in NYC filming The Baster. She “has been sending her assistant via taxi to pick up six to ten sugar-free vanilla frozen yogurts, each with three almonds, twice a week from Eskimix.”

She must store them in her freezer? That’s up to 20 cups of fro-yo a week or fro-yo for just about every meal – unless she uses it for breakfast, dessert and a snack. It’s hard not to like someone who eats that much fro-yo. Perhaps she’ll become the Eskimix spokesperson?

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* ESKIMIX: 318 Bleecker St., New York, NY

Taxing Fro-yo?

Fro-yo girl here. Have you ever noticed that some fro-yo shops in California charge you for tax and others do not? Some places even ask you if you plan to take it to go or dine in, and they charge you tax if you dine in. Is it legal to tax fro-yo? Why do some, but not all, fro-yo shops charge tax?

To answer those questions, I found the California state tax law and it says the following:

“Sales tax applies to food products sold in a form suitable for consumption on the seller's premises regardless of whether the food product is sold “to go”, provided over 80 percent of the seller's gross receipts are from the sale of food products, and over 80 percent of the seller's retail sales of food products are sales subject to tax as one of the following: (1) sales of meals by the seller, (2) sales of food consumed at facilities provided by seller, 3) sales of food by a “drive in”, or (4) sales of hot prepared food products. Whether or not the 80-80 test is met, sales tax applies to the above four enumerated types of sales. (Revenue and Taxation Code Section 6359(d).) Food products include milk products (ice cream or yogurt) and all fruit and vegetable juices. (Rev. & Tax. Code § 6359(b)(2), (3).)” If the business does not meet the 80/80 rule, cold food products sold on a “take-out” or “to go” order should not be taxed.

Based on the wording, the "to go vs. dine in question" is irrelevant if the fro-yo shop derives 80% of sales from meals, food consumed on the premises or sold by a drive in or from hot, prepared foods. They need to tax you for fro-yo if they meet the 80/80 rule. If the fro-yo shop only sells cold dessert type items, juices and smoothies, they should charge you tax if 80% or more of people eat their fro-yo on the premises. Otherwise, fro-yo should not be taxed. However, it’s hard to tell whether 80% of gross receipts come from sales that are consumed on the premises – does the operator actually keep track of who dines in vs. takes it to go?

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Do Nubi and Ono Hawaiian BBQ Share the Same Owner?

Fro-yo girl here. On Mother’s Day, I stopped by Nubi to get my free 10 ounces of fro-yo and toppings (the Mother’s Day promotion). It was crazy there with a constant stream of customers. The receipt shows that they took $3.90 off the bill (39 cents an ounce x 10 free ounces) but it says Ono BBQ 5 oz. free ($3.90). That’s strange – why would the Nubi register list the discount as an Ono menu item (even if they shared an owner)?

The Nubi Millbrae receipt is also a coupon for 15% off at Ono Hawaiian BBQ and they had Ono menus by the register. I wonder whether Ono hands out Nubi coupons?

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Fro-yo Mentioned in TJ's May 2009 Fearless Flyer

Fro-yo girl here. There’s no denying that tart fro-yo is everywhere (e.g., Dreyer’s, Haagen Dazs and Trader Joe’s offer tart fro-yo now). This week I received the May 2009 Fearless Flyer. Since I love TJ’s (they were the first of the three to come out with tart fro-yo), I always read the Fearless Flyer. I’m saving this one since it mentions their Non Fat Plain Frozen Yogurt. They describe it as “similar to the offerings in those oh-so-trendy yogurt shops, this superb frozen yogurt that contains live, active, probiotic cultures, has a tantalizingly tart taste and absolutely no fat.”

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Future Fro-yo Shop Pictures: Nubi, Blush, Tuttimelon

Fro-yo girl here. These last few weeks have been crazy with so many fro-yo store openings. And many more stores are on the way. I took pictures this week of the Nubi Lakeshore Plaza SF location, the Blush downtown Burlingame location and Tuttimelon Cupertino Village.

The Blush location replaces an art gallery and it looks like it’s going to be nice and spacious inside. I’ve heard that the design will feature recycled materials and even solar panels! I can’t wait to see it. Take a close look at the Blush picture;
they feature my blog! They’re slated to open in July.





Mark your calendars. Tuttimelon is opening SOON, May 30th. During the grand opening celebration, the first 50 people will receive a door prize (thanks Tuttimelon) and the first 500 will be entered into a raffle for a Wii and Apple iPod Touch.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* NUBI SAN FRANCISCO: Lakeshore Plaza, 1511 Sloat Blvd, Suite A, San Francisco, CA
* BLUSH BURLINGAME: 1212 Donnelly Ave., Burlingame, CA
* TUTTIMELON CUPERTINO: 10919 N. Wolfe Road, Cupertino, CA

Mother’s Day at Yogurt Bar

Does your mother love fro-yo? Does your child, wife or sister love fro-yo? Yogurt Bar is having a special Mother’s Day all-day promotion this Sunday. Buy an 8 oz. Union Square or 13 oz. Golden Gate and receive a free 5 oz. frozen yogurt. Toppings not included. Plenty of fro-yo places offer gift cards (e.g., Blush, Red Mango, yoCup, Culture, Nubi), if you want to tuck a gift of fro-yo into a bouquet of flowers or a Mother’s Day card.

* YOGURT BAR: 2760 Octavia St, San Francisco, CA 94123

Eggettes Meet Fro-yo

Fro-yo girl here. Eggettes added the spaceship themed self-serve fro-yo area called “Rock It Swirl” to their Glen Park, San Francisco location, making it easier than ever to enjoy Eggettes (fresh off the griddle egg puffs/egg shaped waffles) with fro-yo. Choose from six flavors of fro-yo (well, technically one was a gelato but you know what I mean) a day and three flavors of Eggettes.

They might let you add fro-yo directly to your Eggettes but I opted to order the Eggettes first and then quickly get a cup of fro-yo once my order was ready (6 minutes). The Eggettes cool off quickly but the fro-yo also melts quickly so timing matters. The combination of tart fro-yo and Eggettes wasn’t as good as I anticipated but perhaps the trick is to stick with their sweet fro-yo.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* ROCK IT SWIRL: 2810 Diamond St, San Francisco, CA 94014

Pavel’s Yogurt Gelato Review

Fro-yo girl here. During a recent shopping trip to Whole Foods in San Ramon, I spotted Pavel’s Yogurt Gelato at the Gelateria Naia kiosk. This is Naia’s answer to tart fro-yo. While it wasn’t in soft serve form, I was still intrigued since their yogurt gelato is made with local ingredients. The other yogurt gelatos I’ve tried have been made with Straus yogurt.

I purchased a mini ($2.49). It wasn’t as good as Straus yogurt gelato because the flavor wasn’t as intense and it wasn’t tangy. I found it too mild. The texture was also quite firm and more like ice cream than gelato. It wasn’t as smooth as your typical gelato.

Pavel’s Original Russian Yogurt began manufacturing Russian style yogurt in the 1970s using Pavel’s family recipe, the same yogurt Pavel Malcoff learned to make while growing up on the family farm in Siberia. You can buy Pavel’s yogurt (the non-frozen kind) at Whole Foods and Nob Hill Foods.

3.5 stars (out of 5).

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

I Love Yogurtland’s Signature Spoon

Fro-yo girl here. I went to the new Yogurtland in Pleasant Hill, filled my cup of fro-yo, put my cup on the scale and then saw their signature biodegradable spoons in green and pink. I haven’t been to Yogurtland for months and I don’t think they had the signature spoons before? They’re adorable. They have the logo on the handle. I clutched mine all the way home. I couldn’t bear to throw it away!

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Sing Tao Street & Art Fair in Redwood City

Fro-yo girl here. I attended the Sing Tao Street & Art Fair in downtown Redwood City after Fro-yo boy told me that Tuttimelon had a tent there (and that Roy L. was inside the tent). Moving a soft serve machine around can’t be that easy (they’re really heavy) but I love the idea of eating fro-yo at street fairs.

Food vendors included Tuttimelon ($2 for a cup of mango or original fro-yo w/ 2 toppings), Crouching Tiger, and a Thai temple. I also saw people eating steamed bao and the lamb kabob vendor caught my eye (was it an Asian style lamb kabob?)

There wasn’t much “art” but it was nice to see Asian vendors (similar to the ones I’ve seen at the Moon Festivals), including Vitasoy, Sheng Kee (they were selling baked buns), insurance companies, Chinese medicine, massage, and trinkets (scarves, cell phone accessories, jade cabbages, sunglasses, toys, etc.).

I’ve never seen that many Asians in downtown Redwood City before. I’m not sure what the fair was really about but it seemed to be celebrating Asian (Chinese) culture with dance performances, a fashion show, kung fu and a singing contest.

The fair took place on Saturday and Sunday (May 2 - 3) with free admission.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

Yogurtland Banner Appears in San Ramon

Fro-yo girl here. Jamba Juice closed and Yogurtland is taking over their space in the shopping center. The Yogurtland “coming soon” banner just appeared this week. It’s a great location, probably the best one in San Ramon – close to Bishop Ranch (a huge complex of business parks), across the street from the future Civic Center and in a new shopping center with Target, Whole Foods, Peet’s and Borders.

The new Yogurtland in Pleasant Hill just opened.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* YOGURTLAND: 152 Sunset Dr., San Ramon, CA
* YOGURTLAND: 2390 Monument Blvd., Suite C, Pleasant Hill, CA

Red Mango’s New Tangomonium Flavor

Fro-yo girl here. Thank you Richard C. and Red Mango for the sneak preview of Tangomonium! Tangomonium is a blend of different flavors and the overall flavor is hard to describe. My first thought was Orange Julius even though the orange flavor isn’t pronounced. It then took on an almost tropical, pina colada meets creamsicle quality. It’s definitely complex and unusual. While one senses several fruits, not one fruit flavor dominates.

I’d say Tangomonium is the sweetest flavor in their line-up, perfect for summer and people who aren’t looking for tart fro-yo. I was expecting something more citrusy and tangy. The tagline sums it up well: a spoonful of happy. I like the idea of seasonal flavors but I’m definitely a winter/pomegranate type.

While I was at the San Carlos location I spotted some coupons for a FREE small cup of Tangomonium (expires June 30, 2009).

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* RED MANGO: 825 Laurel St, San Carlos, CA

Strawberry and Vanilla Fro-yo at Culture Organic Frozen Yogurt

Fro-yo girl here. Organic Straus vanilla fro-yo has finally arrived at Culture!!!! I’ve been waiting for it since November and I can’t wait to try it because I know that it will be unlike any vanilla fro-yo I’ve had before.

Strawberry season is back and so too is Culture’s strawberry fro-yo, chock full of real strawberry flavor. Okay, I’m sad the tangerine fro-yo is gone but I’m happy to see strawberry fro-yo return. I also have a new favorite topping at Culture – the divinely crunchy Ginger Snap granola baked loving by Mary.

Here’s another picture of my Smurf blue fro-yo bowl filled with Culture fro-yo, fruit and Ginger Snap granola. You can also buy some of the toppings separately ($2.49 per bag). Where else can you get housemade pistachio brittle with fleur de sel and housemade mini chocolate meringues? Only at Culture. Go there if you appreciate real yogurt.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* CULTURE ORGANIC FROZEN YOGURT: 340 California Avenue, Palo Alto, California 94306

Pinkberry Announces NoCal Intentions

Fro-yo girl here. Fresh on the heels of Red Mango’s press release announcing their new flavor, Tangomonium, Pinkberry announced several new partnerships focused on global (Middle East) and domestic expansion (airports).

They also have plans for significant expansion in the Bay Area and Sacramento: “Pinkberry announced they will develop a minimum of 30 stores in the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento market.” I’ll believe it when I see it. It took aeons for them to open one store in the Bay Area. Most shopping malls have a fro-yo shop already. It feels like they should open a location at the Stanford Shopping Center (will Orange Tree ever open there?) or Town & Country Village in Palo Alto.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

http://news.prnewswire.com/ViewContent.aspx?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/04-29-2009/0005015726&EDATE