2014 Fro-yo Shop Halloween Spirit Award Winner

Fro-yo girl here. I’ve been looking for fro-yo shop Halloween spirit and I haven’t seen Halloween decorations at that many froyo shops (sadly) but at least most of them offer pumpkin/pumpkin froyo. TCBY had cute Halloween/AngryBirds inspired flavor signs this year, including Hal’s Ghoulish Graham Cracker, Piggies’ Pumpkin, and Matilda’s Yummy Mummy Marshmallow. Menchie’s came out with Halloween color changing froyo cups and a new Pumpkin Harvest flavor. SweetXO had many kinds of Halloween toppings, including gummi candy corn, candy corn, pumpkin pretzels, pumpkin spice almonds, gummi body parts, candy bones and more. 

The winner of the 2014 Fro-yo Shop Halloween Spirit Award is...16 Handles. They have a Halloween photo contest called #TrickorTreat, their shops are decorated, had a Fall Festival featuring pumpkin carving, and they make Halloween froyo cakes. I’ve been admiring all the 16 Handles Halloween pictures.

Be sure to check out my Pinterest board, Halloween Froyo & Froyo Shop Decorations: http://www.pinterest.com/froyogirl/halloween-froyo-froyo-shop-decorations/

Happy Halloween!

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

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

A Month of Pumpkin Froyo

Fro-yo girl here. Did you know that today is National Pumpkin Day? 

I always think of October as Pumpkin Froyo Month. This year I decided that I would just eat pumpkin frozen yogurt in October, unless the frozen yogurt shop didn’t have pumpkin froyo. I love pumpkin froyo!

Fortunately, Yogurtland brought back fan favorite pumpkin pie froyo on Sept. 15, so I had my first cup of pumpkin pie froyo on Sept. 15. The Pasadena Yogurtland location on Lake St. has fresh whipped cream which is the best topping ever for pumpkin froyo. I always include graham cracker crumbs as well.

I’ve had 14 cups of pumpkin froyo so far this year and my favorite cup has featured:

• Tons of fresh whipped cream – the more the better
• Teddy Grahams
• Graham cracker crumbs
• Crushed Butterfingers

I hope that pumpkin pie froyo doesn’t run out at Yogurtland before Thanksgiving. Happy National Pumpkin Day! Eat pumpkin froyo today!

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

* YOGURTLAND: 415 S Lake Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Fro-Yo Girl’s Froyo Guide to Greater Los Angeles

Fro-yo girl here. Los Angeles is where the frozen yogurt trend started and it’s still the home of some of the most interesting froyo shops in the country. Here’s my list of must see froyo shops in LA and Orange County. 

FUN IN HOLLYWOOD

* Frog Frozen Yogurt Bar (1550 N Cahuenga Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028): Hanging out late in Hollywood? Frog’s décor with the rainbow colored overhead lights and the work of local artists keeps the club experience alive. It’s open late and even delivers (the only froyo shop in LA to do so). Frog offers self-serve organic and vegan flavors plus free wi-fi. They’ve added color changing spoons that are worth collecting.

* Yogurt Stop (8803 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069): Sassy but classy, Yogurt Stop in WeHo (West Hollywood) is a celebrity favorite and it has the best names for froyo flavors. Flavors include I’m Comin’Out Cake Batter, Milk My Harvey Chocolate and Orange U a Top? Orange U a Bottom? Their motto is Pump It Yourself.

REAL GREEK FROZEN YOGURT 

* Go Greek Yogurt (425 N Bedford Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90210): Most of the Greek yogurt you encounter is Greek style. Go Greek has the real thing. Their yogurt is made in Greece and flown over. They offer Greek refrigerated and triple strained Greek frozen yogurt with authentic imported Greek toppings like sour cherry, quince, rose and carrot. Toppings are healthier and you can serve yourself if you’d like their super thick frozen yogurt. Try the honey froyo.

ENDLESS VARIETY

* SweetXO (5285 Kanan Rd., Agoura Hills, CA 91301, additional locations in Huntington Beach, Thousand Oaks, Manhattan Beach and Arcadia): Admittedly the froyo isn’t the main attraction at SweetXO, but that’s only because they have so many offerings. In addition to 18 self-serve flavors of froyo and over 200 toppings, SweetXO has ice cream, cupcakes, cookies, make your own floats, candy, and a full blown sweets inspired selection of non-edible gifts. It’s a mini department store for your sweet tooth.

* Yogurt Passion (17037 Brookhurst St., Fountain Valley, CA 92708): Looking for the shop with the most frozen yogurt flavors to choose from? Yogurt Passion has 20 flavors of self-serve froyo a day. It’s in an Asian area, so expect to find some Asian flavors and toppings.

KOSHER AND PARVE

* Milky’s Frozen Yogurt (1429 S. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035): Not too many froyo shops can claim to be kosher and dairy-vegan-parve friendly like Milky’s. Milky’s offers 4 kosher parve vegan flavors a day plus 14 dairy flavors. It’s self-serve and even the toppings bar is kosher. Try the vegan soy froyo.

BEST EXTERIOR DESIGN

* Yogurtland CityWalk (1000 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 91608): Do your LA plans include a trip to Universal Studios? If the answer is yes, you need to check out Yogurtland’s CityWalk location. The exterior of the shop features a giant 3-D fro-yo machine dispensing fro-yo into a fro-yo cup with a green Yogurtland spoon and a big splash of fro-yo. The fro-yo cup and logo are outlined in neon lights. Of course this location also has Yogurtland spoons as door handles.

* Treats Frozen Yogurt (1700 Ocean Park Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405): The cutest froyo shop exterior belongs to Treats. Love the giant cone out front and the colors: white, sky blue and silver. It’s not self-serve but that’s what makes it better. Employees carefully craft your treat putting toppings in the middle and on the top of a generous swirl of froyo. You can also get freshly shaved California snow and pretty froyo pies. 

MIX IN STYLE 

A fun alternative to the usual self-serve froyo shop, mix-in style yogurt allows you to create and customize your own froyo flavor (though you don’t do the mixing yourself). You pick the base and the add-ins and they are mixed together by machine or by hand.

* 21 Choices Frozen Yogurt (85 W Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91104, additional locations in Claremont, CA): Each location carries 6 soft serve froyo flavors a day. You can customize any of these with mix-ins and toppings. Your custom flavor is mixed before your eyes on a frozen marble slab. They’re known for unique flavors like Circus Animal and Nutella Cookie Dough. If you love toppings, this is the place for you. Don’t want to add mix-ins? Head to the express line for faster service.

* Humphrey Yogart (4574 Van Nuys Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91403): Take a step back in time to the 1980s, to the time of the low carb crazy and San Fernando Valley’s valley girls. Humphrey Yogart got its start in 1984. At Humphrey Yogart, yogurt is yog-art. You’re invited to create your own frozen yogurt flavor by choosing a base (tart vanilla, sweet vanilla, chocolate, soy, organic tart or their low carb froyo flavors), choosing your blend ins and/or toppings (fruit, candy, cookies, cream cheese, nuts), and choosing your size. Your froyo & blend ins are mixed together in a blending machine. You can get your froyo in a cup or cone and top it with hot fudge or whipped cream. Interesting blend ins include pumpkin, espresso, malt powder, butterscotch, pistachios, peanut butter, and cinnamon. Try the tart vanilla base for a creamy, tangy treat.

If you can only go to one froyo shop during your visit, make it Go Greek Yogurt.

Enjoy your frozen yogurt and keep your froyo spoon busy!

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

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Fro-Yo Girl Speaks 6th Blogiversary

Fro-yo girl here. Fro-Yo Girl Speaks turns 6 years old today: October 20, 2014. Happy blogiversary!

Earlier this year I moved to the Greater Los Angeles area, the capital of the second wave of frozen yogurt. Unfortunately, the move makes it nearly impossible for me to meet my original goal of visiting every frozen yogurt shop in the Bay Area. I thought I was going to reach the goal since fewer new froyo stores were opening. On the positive side, I’m now living in an area with hundreds of frozen yogurt shops that I’ve never visited before.

Since I’ve moved, it makes sense for this blog to expand its coverage to include Northern and Southern California froyo. I recently put together my list of notable froyo shops in SoCal. Be sure to check it out later this week.

I also stopped writing for Yelp last October. For those of you who enjoy my food and froyo shop reviews, be sure to check out my review blog on Tumblr: http://formeryelpers.tumblr.com/

Join the International Frozen Yogurt Association, the association that I founded. It’s free to join. The monthly enewsletter is also free and will deliver froyo industry news to your inbox. http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/

Froyo fans, be sure to sign the petition to make froyo the official state food of California! Tell your friends to sign too: http://tinyurl.com/qdnuqkx

Thank you so much to my fans and readers and keep eating frozen yogurt!

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

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Color Changing Halloween Spoons, Plus Discount Code

Fro-yo girl here. Halloween is my favorite holiday and I also happen to love fancy frozen yogurt spoons. Of course I love the new color changing Halloween spoons from Frozen Solutions. The spoons start out as a pumpkiny orange and they turn to a dark scary black while you're eating your froyo.

Froyo spoon fans, ask your froyo shop for color changing Halloween spoons.

Froyo shops, show off your Halloween spirit by carrying color changing Halloween spoons this year.

Special Deal from the International Frozen Yogurt Association

Save 10% on your Halloween color changing spoons order.

Enter (or mention) the code "IFYA" when you place your order on http://www.frozensolutions.com/ 

Order soon. You don't want to miss out on these limited edition spoons. Supplies are limited.

This discount code expires on 10/31/2014 at midnight PST.

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

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Two New Flavors to Fall For Arrive at Yogurtland

Fro-yo girl here. Today marked the first day for two new Yogurtland flavors inspired by childhood treats:

Chocolate pudding pop frozen yogurt is described as “deliciously creamy, delightfully fudgy.” I found it sweet, creamy, and fudgy, while being lighter and milkier than I expected. The lightness was a nice change from the richer chocolate flavors.

Pink lemonade sorbet “uses real lemons for a perfect sweet and tart experience that is vitamin C fortified.” Pink lemonade sorbet tasted like a great lemonade - fresh, tangy and not too sweet.

Chocolate pudding pop and pink lemonade sorbet will be served through Nov. 9, while supplies last. I also spotted a new topping: Life Savers Gummies

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

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Go Greek Yogurt 1st Anniversary

Fro-yo girl here. Guess what I had for lunch today? A cup of LA’s best frozen yogurt from Go Greek Yogurt.

They just started celebrating their 1st anniversary today and I snagged my 20% off discount card. On Saturday and Sunday enjoy free Greek coffee or tea with purchase.

If you love creamy, thick, rich frozen yogurt, you need to try Go Greek. Their imported triple strained Greek yogurt is all natural and has that natural yogurt tang. Yes the frozen yogurt is made with imported Greek yogurt.

Sadly, I just missed trying the rose froyo flavor, but I still love the honey flavor. Honey and yogurt just taste so right together.

* GO GREEK YOGURT: 425 N Bedford Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90210

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

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

A Notable Passing: Tuttimelon Closes Its Irving Location

Fro-yo girl here. A new ice cream sandwich shop called Swich just opened at 2045 Irving St. in San Francisco, CA…the former Tuttimelon location. While many frozen yogurt shops close, this particular Tuttimelon location and the original location at 2150 Irving St. were special to me as a frozen yogurt fan. 

February 2, 2008 – the first day at Tuttimelon’s first location at 2150 Irving St. (Outer Sunset) and I was there. I had a cup of original tart with red beans as a topping. It was my favorite frozen yogurt shop back then and it was open late every day, even on Christmas. I could have delicious extra tart froyo whenever I wanted it. When it started out, Tuttimelon only had one flavor, original tart, but oh, what a delightful flavor. I couldn’t get enough of it, especially when sprinkled with green tea powder.

February 2 later became known as Tuttimelon Day. Two two, tutti, get it?

The original location was the size of a closet, so they moved up the street and let customers serve themselves. The new location at 2045 Irving St. opened on October 24, 2009. I was there with Tracy T. and Danny (now engaged) and I met Matt G. (Fro-Yo Boy) and Wilhelm Y. I got a ride in the Tuttimobile and a Tuttimelon umbrella. Tuttimelon Bear and Joe Cool met for the first time and became friends.

http://froyogirl.blogspot.com/2009/10/tuttimelon-irving-grand-opening.html

I remember going to Tuttimelon to meet Jonathan W., to collect Tuttispoons, feeding Tuttimelon Bear, and to stock up on the 99 cents/cup special.

The original Tuttimelon location became a Teaway (same ownership), the first self-serve bubble tea bar. It’s still a Teaway.

The Tuttimelon on Chestnut St. closed around the same time as the Irving location. They still have a San Francisco location: Teaway/Tuttimelon on Broadway in Chinatown…but it’s not the same as the Irving location. I will always have the fondest memories of Tuttimelon Irving. How I loved their almond, pomegranate, original, mango and Japanese yogurt froyo.

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

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Yogurtland Burbank Media Center 5 Year Anniversary Celebration

Fro-yo girl here. Happy 5 year anniversary to Yogurtland Burbank Media Center and thanks for the anniversary bash!

People in/near Burbank love their froyo, judging from the size of the line before the shop opened. A few minutes before 11AM the music started, courtesy of DJ Vicious Lee. They also had a face painting station and spin the wheel station outside.

At 11 AM the doors opened. A friendly Yogurtland employee handed each guest an 8 oz Yogurtland cup which he/she could fill with as much froyo and toppings as desired. Pumpkin pie froyo was on tap...after leaving the register, someone handed me a green Yogurtland cooler bag, coupon for 3 oz of free froyo and a spoon. I then wandered over to the prize wheel. Prizes included coupons for free froyo, Yogurtland cooler bags, pencils, keychains, water bottles, etc. I won a Yogurtland megaphone which will come in handy at sporting events and graduations. They also had raffle giveaways every 30 minutes.

The celebration continues till 8 PM tonight.

2 - 5 PM: First 3 ozs free
5 - 8 PM: Buy one, get one free

* YOGURTLAND BURBANK MEDIA CENTER: 304 N. San Fernando Blvd., Burbank, CA 91502

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

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.

Color Changing Cups Arrive at Menchie’s

Fro-yo girl here. It’s October and that means the new color changing froyo cups have arrived at Menchie’s! The color-changing cups are available for a limited time and are inspired by my favorite holiday, Halloween. It’s the first time that I’ve seen a color changing cup at a froyo shop.

The cup, which is made out of paper, has Halloween and Menchie’s designs (e.g., ghost, spider, bones, witch’s hat, jack o’lantern) printed on it. The designs look white. Put cold froyo in the cup to start the transformation. The printed images turn green, orange, blue, purple and pink. There’s one design and the cups are available for a limited time only.

What a clever way to encourage you to fill up your froyo cup.

Menchie’s also introduced a new pumpkin flavor for October, Harvest Pumpkin. Harvest Pumpkin features real pumpkin puree, cinnamon and ginger. The cinnamon flavor was very pronounced, more so than last year.

Last October Menchie’s introduced its first color changing spoons, featuring the Sweet Friends, as well as color changing magic crystals (sugar) and a pumpkin froyo flavor called It’s Pumpkin Time.

I’m so happy to see Halloween spirit at Menchie’s and will be visiting multiple times in October.

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

Looking for more frozen yogurt news, discussion boards, and resources? Check out the International Frozen Yogurt Association website at http://internationalfrozenyogurt.com/. The IFYA is the independent voice of the frozen yogurt industry.