Frozen Yogurt History and Update on Current Froyo Scene in Oakland, CA

Fro-yo girl here. It’s been seven years since I’ve had a post dedicated to frozen yogurt in Oakland, CA. An update is long overdue. Which frozen yogurt shops are still swirling in Oakland? There are four, with the year of opening:

• Tutti Frutti, 2066 Mountain Blvd., 2013 - present
• Tutti Frutti, 4214 Piedmont Ave., 2009 - present. I heard this location closed but people are still reviewing it, so it seems to still be open?
• Yogofina, 6140 Medau Pl., 2010 - present
• Yogofina, 3261 Lakeshore Ave., 2010 - present

The four remaining shops are all self-serve.

Yogurt Delite (4139 Piedmont Ave.) and Yogurt Deluxe (3203 Lakeshore Ave.) were the oldest froyo shops that I remember. Both were full-service shops. Yogurt Delite also had smoothies while Yogurt Deluxe offered ice cream and smoothies. They were open long before the 2nd wave of froyo. Yogurt Deluxe closed in 2018 and Yogurt Delite closed in 2014. Both faced froyo competition on the same street; Mr. Green Bubble and Tutti Frutti on Piedmont Ave. and Yogofina on Lakeshore Ave.

Way back in 2007, High Street Car Wash at 569 High St. added a froyo shop called Kiwitiwi. It was my first time having froyo at a carwash. I think it lasted until 2010. Freshens was also open in 2007 at the Oakland International Airport. I’m not sure when it closed. Freshens had the worst froyo. Other froyo shops that followed:

• Good Bellies, 2010- 2014. It was a cute eatery that also had froyo.
• Honeyberry, 2014-2016. Primarily a roti bun shop, they had one froyo machine.
• iYogurt, 2010-2014. Located in the Vietnamese part of town, self-serve.
• Miam Miam Lounge, 2010-2014. This was the best, most innovative froyo to have graced Oakland. The owners also owned an award-winning Italian housewares company. They worked with pastry chefs to develop their own froyo recipes and performed extensive taste tests before launching.
• Mr. Green Bubble, 2010-2012. This boba shop is still open but they stopped serving froyo around 2012.
• SoGreen Yogurt, 2009-2010. The space was taken over by Yoppi Yogurt. Their tart froyo was pretty tasty and they specialized in green tea froyo.
• Tutti Frutti Chinatown, 2010-2013. This was a tiny self-serve froyo shop. They even sold sushi and vegan soul food for a time.
• Yoppi Yogurt, 2012-2015. Yoppi converted the SoGreen space to a self-serve froyo format. 

I named Oakland as a froyo hot spot for 2010. In 2010, “Oakland saw the most fro-yo activity. Multiple new locations of Tutti Frutti and Yogofina led the way. Mr. Green Bubble, iYogurt, and Miam Miam Lounge also opened in Oakland in 2010. Last year was a slow year for new innovative fro-yo shops. The one innovative newcomer of note was Miam Miam Lounge in Oakland.”

Sadly, Oakland’s seen many sub-par froyo shops over the years and there’s no decent place to get froyo any longer. There isn’t even a Yogurtland or a Menchie’s. Pretty sad.

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.