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.
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