Fro-yo Seattle report

Fro-yo girl here. Last week I was in Seattle, looking for fro-yo of course. It's odd how hard it is to find fro-yo downtown, while teriyaki and pho are EVERYWHERE. There is a fro-yo place at Pike Place Market (Shy Giant) but it was closed due to remodeling. Somehow I missed the Red Mango (must have walked right past it) on Pike. YoBerry seemed to have odd, irregular hours (it was closed when I dropped by); it's attached to a teriyaki restaurant and had only one machine (2 fro-yo flavors).


Many places (e.g., Utopia, Crazy Cherry, Cafe Koi) were full serve with only 1 or 2 machines and many neighborhoods were without fro-yo shops. The highest concentration of fro-yo is by the University of Washington. I tried Utopia and Cafe Koi. They were both quite good. Utopia was my favorite because of its unique black sesame fro-yo flavor.

Self-serve fro-yo arrived last year when Menchie's opened in Queen Anne. Another self-serve shop, zoeyogurt opened this month in First Hill. And Yogurtland is coming to Capitol Hill.

I need to get my hands on the Menchie's signature spoon. It would be incredible if all the teriyaki places started offering fro-yo.

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

* UTOPIA FROZEN YOGURT: 600 5th Ave S, Seattle, WA
* CAFE KOINONIA: 4100 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA
* YOBERRY: 823 3rd Ave, Seattle, WA

Future Fro-yo Shop Picture: Yogurtland Capitol Hill

Fro-yo girl here. It's exciting to spot future fro-yo shops while on vacation. This time I was on a bus and I noticed the future Yogurtland, the first Washington location. It's across the street from a community college. The windows weren't pasted over so I could see the counter and wall with the fro-yo machines have been completed. All but one fro-yo machine was present and accounted for. It looks close to opening...I think it will do well unless the lack of sun puts a damper on fro-yo cravings. There's only one other fro-yo shop in this busy neighborhood (Crazy Cherry) and it isn't self-serve. They are accepting applications (see yogurt-land.com for the application, email to CA122@yogurt-land.com)

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

* YOGURTLAND CAPITOL HILL: 1620 Broadway, Suite D, Seattle, WA

Neopets Fro-yo

Fro-yo girl here. I've been playing Neopets.com for a long time and I love how they have all sorts of interesting food to buy. They introduced frozen yogurt about a year ago, including Plain Frozen Yogurt and Berry Topped Frozen Yogurt. I maintain an Item Gallery with my Neopets fro-yo collection. My Neopets also are fed fro-yo from time to time. Neopets also has mochi, sticky rice cake, cupcakes, crepes, dumplings, tofu, bubble tea, croquettes, noodle soup, mooncakes, and more. They come out with special food items for holidays like Chinese New Year. Some of it is even organic.

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

Yogurt Candy Review: Yogurfrul

Fro-yo girl here. I'm writing this and chewing on Kanro Yogurfrul Candy. It caught my eye at Nijiya Market. Yogurfrul is a Japanese chewy candy. Each piece is individually wrapped. It comes in two flavors: Peach & strawberry and Cassis & blueberry. Nijiya only had Cassis & blueberry and they were sold out the last time I went back there to replenish my supply. A pack of Yogurful is $1.99.

The candy is firm and very chewy, like Starburst.It reminds me of Hi-Chew (love Hi-Chew). The interior is a light purple and the exterior is a speckled white. The flavor - mmmm, it's so good. There's a creamy milkiness and very fruity tangy flavor - you can taste the bright cassis flavor and the blueberry juice too. It's made with fruit juice. I like how it's tart. Does it taste like yogurt? Not really but it is milky. You can buy it online at Mel & Rose though it's out of stock at the moment.

5 out of 5 stars.

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

* NIJIYA MARKET:1737 Post St #333, San Francisco, CA

Fro-yo Vans

Fro-yo girl here. I'm always excited to spot a fro-yo vehicle when I'm out and about. I spotted several recently. Chilaberries and Willow Glen Frozen Yogurt's vans were parked outside of the fro-yo tradeshow and Yumi Yogurt's van was parked in the Yumi Yogurt parking lot. I wonder if any of them could fit a fro-yo machine. If you ever spot a fro-yo vehicle, you should definitely reward your good fortune by having some fro-yo that day.


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

Lychee Pinkberry Has Arrived

Fro-yo girl here. It's March 18th, the launch date for Pinkberry's newest seasonal flavor, Lychee. I haven't tried it yet. I'm hundreds of miles from the nearest PB at the moment but I will try it soon. I'm definitely curious about how lime and lychee are when paired together. Bye Blood Orange Pinkberry - you will be missed.

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

Here's the press release where you can read all about today's exciting news.

NEW LYCHEE FLAVOR IS NOW BLOOMING AT PINKBERRY LOS ANGELES, March 18, 2011 – Just in time for spring, Pinkberry, the original tart frozen yogurt brand, introduces a limited-time-only flavor that celebrates the season with its flowery notes and clean, tangy finish--Lychee Pinkberry. The new flavor is delicious by itself but is superb when paired with a squeeze of lime juice that brings out the flavor of the lychee and adds the perfect “zing.”

Lychee is a small tropical fruit with a sweet and fragrant flavor that originates from southern China. Pinkberry’s dedication to using the highest quality ingredients, including lychee fruit puree, non-fat milk and non-fat yogurt helps create this unique flavor that perfectly represents spring by delivering a zesty and refreshing finish.

Lychee Pinkberry and paired toppings will be available in all Pinkberry stores by March 18th. The new featured flavor and pairings are only around for a limited time, so stop by your nearest Pinkberry before they are gone.And don’t forget, Pinkberry Take Home containers let you stock up and bring the light and refreshing Lychee Pinkberry home to enjoy whenever the craving strikes.

About Pinkberry
Pinkberry reinvented the frozen yogurt category when it launched in West Hollywood, CA, in January 2005. Today with more than 110 stores worldwide, it is the most talked about, best tasting, premium frozen yogurt, made with high-quality fresh ingredients. From store design to exceptional customer service to irresistible flavors and toppings, Pinkberry provides a social experience that indulges the senses. Pinkberry’s distinctive flavors are expertly crafted to complement its daily fresh-cut fruit and premium toppings that offer an irresistibly tangy, incomparably clean and refreshing taste. Pinkberry is certified by the National Yogurt Association and carries the Live & Active Cultures Seal. Get a taste of Swirly Goodness by visiting Pinkberry’s Web site, Facebook or Twitter page.

Fro-yo Alternative: Ice Cream Wins

Fro-yo girl here. I recently posed the question to my readers, which frozen dessert do you like best when fro-yo isn't available? Ice cream and gelato were the clear favorites, clocking in with 40% and 36% of the vote, respectively. Ice cream and gelato were far preferred to sorbet (6%), shaved ice (6%) and frozen custard (10%).

I always assume that the people who respond to my poll really love fro-yo and it's interesting that they chose the higher fat, creamier alternatives, but not frozen custard (which is the most similar in form to fro-yo). I have heard that fro-yo sales were primarily affecting ice cream sales, so the findings are consistent with that. Toppings for ice cream and fro-yo share the greatest similarity. Fro-yo was originally positioned as a low fat substitute for ice cream.

I've noticed a trend of fro-yo shops starting to carry ice cream as well and vice versa (e.g., Baskin Robbins, Coldstone). But then some fro-yo shops also have sorbet, shaved ice and frozen custard. Next month, we'll find out how readers feel about organic frozen yogurt.

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

Fro-yo Chicago Report: In the Neighborhoods & O'Hare

Fro-yo girl here. My last Chicago fro-yo report covered the downtown area. This one focuses on the neighborhoods of Chicago. I heard about the car driving into Forever Yogurt. FY sorry to hear about that. On the positive side of things, they're supposed to open 3 additional shops this month with 12 locations planned for 2011.

I've had good yogurt gelato and yogurt ice cream (if that makes any sense) but I still haven't had good custom fro-yo. I'm talking about places like iCream where they make the ice cream or frozen yogurt after you order it...using liquid nitrogen. iCream's frozen yogurt ranks among the worst I've ever had. The texture was lumpy and sticky and the taste was like a bad pear syrup. Horrific.


Things are looking up food-wise at O'Hare, thanks to the Red Mango kiosk. They're at Midway Airport as well.

In Evanston, Northwestern students can choose between Red Mango, 38 Degrees, and a couple of non-fro-yo only shops. Having tried 38 Degrees, I would choose the creamier and better tasting Red Mango shop.

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

* iCREAM: 1537 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL
* 38 DEGREES: 940 Church St., Evanston, IL
* RED MANGO: 809 Davis St., Evanston, IL
* RED MANGO: 1000 W. O'Hare Airport Terminal B5, Chicago, IL

Yogurtland's New Flavors for March

Fro-yo girl here. The little fro-yo elves at Yogurtland have been busy concocting limited edition flavors. The current new, limited time flavors are Honeycomb Tart and Devil's Food Cupcake Batter.

* Honeycomb tart: Tart honey fro-yo has been on my flavor wish list for a long, long time, so thank you Yogurtland, for creating this flavor. Since I enjoy honey flavored yogurt (the non-frozen refrigerated kind) and honey goes so well with yogurt, I always wondered what honey fro-yo would be like. Yogurtland's honeycomb tart flavor does not disappoint. The honey flavor can't be missed. It's natural tasting with a smooth, icy texture. It isn't that tart and it isn't sour but it's not as sweet as sweet fro-yo either.


* Devil's food cupcake batter: If you like chocolate fro-yo and cake batter fro-yo, I'm sure you will like this flavor. It's rich and sweet with lots of chocolate flavor.
I also spied some crushed Girl Scout Tagalong cookies in the toppings section.

P.S. I heard rumors of a new Yogurtland spoon coming soon...

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

New Reusable Monster Fro-yo Bowl

Fro-yo girl here. I have a new reusable fro-yo bowl! It looks like Mike from Monsters Inc. I found mine (the green one) at the eco-friendly green business, Culture Organic Frozen Yogurt in Palo Alto. They had three colors - lime green, orange, cosmic purple.

The monster bowls have feet and come with a matching spoon. They're dishwasher safe. The bowls are $3.99 each. Use the bowl at Culture and you'll get a discount on your fro-yo purchase.

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

* CULTURE ORGANIC FROZEN YOGURT: 340 S. California Dr., Palo Alto, CA

Future Yogurt Shop Picture: Yogurtland Walnut Creek

Fro-yo girl. Coming soon...Yogurtland's doors were open and it looks like they are close to finishing the interior. The exterior Yogurtland sign is up. The tiles have been put in. I didn't see any fro-yo machines but I don't think it will be much longer before they open.

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

* YOGURTLAND WALNUT CREEK: 1247 S. California Blvd., Walnut Creek, CA 94596

Pinkberry Pueblo Plaza San Jose Grand Opening Coverage

Fro-yo girl here. PPP (Pinkberry Pueblo Plaza) opened tonight. I missed the opening of the doors at 6 PM tonight. The festivities took place from 6 - 10 PM. Guests were treated to fro-yo samples while waiting in a slow moving line. The samples went quickly. They also set up a few tents with tables decked out in pink tablecloths and floating candles. The DJ was Evan Taubenfeld, the lead guitarist for Avril Lavigne.



Once you reached the head of the line, the PB employee explained their offerings, offered samples and made each guest feel welcome. Another employee tracked your fro-yo choices (adding to the wait time).

Guests were treated to a small cup of fro-yo customized to their liking. They had all the toppings out tonight, including the Luxe ones and Swirly Whip. There were 6 flavors of fro-yo to choose from and the poster promoted their seasonal Blood Orange fro-yo. I tried out the honey roasted sunflower seeds for the first time, thanks to Tracy T.'s recommendation. That girl knows fro-yo and her toppings suggestion didn't let me down. The seeds were pleasantly nutty, crunch and sweet.



Fro-yo flavor lineup: Blood Orange, Original, Pomegranate, Coconut, Mango, Chocolate.

The menu includes smoothies, fruit bowls and parfaits.

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

* PINKBERRY PUEBLO PLAZA: 1110 Blossom Hill Road, San Jose, CA

Yumi Yogurt Clothing!

Fro-yo girl here. Do you or someone you know love Yumi Yogurt? Have you ever filled out your Club Yumi card before it expired? Yumi Yogurt clothing is now available. I spotted quite a few colors of camisoles and t-shirts with red lips at their San Mateo location. The shirts start at $8. Yumi has five locations in the Bay Are (Los Gatos, Santa Clara, Millbrae, San Mateo, Redwood City).

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

* YUMI YOGURT: 3955 El Camino Real, San Mateo, CA