Frozen Yogurt, Past & Present in Berkeley, CA

Photo by Danster L., Yelp

Fro-yo girl here. How time flies and froyo scenes change…this is particularly true for Berkeley, CA which had such a huge froyo scene years ago. I named Berkeley as one of the best cities for froyo in 2008. At that time, I wrote: “4. Berkeley - started out strong with Ryno's, Yogurt Harmony, Papamingo and Michelle's Yogurt but new fro-yo shops have been slow to open. Of course, Berkeley will forever be known as the home of Yogurt Park (known affectionately as YoPa). Though they specialize in soft serve ice cream, Sketch has fabulous tart fro-yo. The new year should see the arrival of Tuttimelon and other shops.”

Of the businesses mentioned in that post, only Yogurt Park is still around. As the oldest froyo business in the Bay Area, Yogurt Park opened in 1977, long before the second wave of froyo. Menchie’s the only other froyo shop left in Berkeley. Freshens is still open but I’m not sure if they still offer froyo (they might). Tuttimelon never opened in Berkeley. Pinkberry abandoned its plans to open in Berkeley. The chains were slow to arrive in Berkeley.

My favorite place to get tart froyo in the early days was Yogurt Harmony. I named it as one of my top 10 Bay Area froyo shops in 2008. Their froyo didn’t taste like the froyo from every other place. The tart yogurt was denser and creamier. It was counter served in eco-friendly cups.

Berkeley froyo shops and non-froyo shops that served froyo:

• Berkeley Bowl West: When Berkeley Bowl West first opened in 2009, the store café carried organic soft serve froyo from Straus. I’m not sure how long it was offered – not too long, I think.
• Bette’s To Go, 2009-2011?: The popular Berkeley 4th St. Marina deli started serving Straus organic plain froyo around 2009. I’m not sure how long they served it but they did stop serving froyo at some point and they’re still open.
• Blondie’s Pizza, 2008-2013: Blondie’s Pizza had been open for decades before they started serving froyo in 2008. They served froyo until 2013, when the froyo was replaced by ice cream sandwiches. It was counter serve and not very good but their pizza wasn’t so great either. College students ate there because it was cheap, fast, and close.
• Buona Vita, 2016-2017: Nice gelato and self-serve froyo shop that also served baked goods
• Freshens on the UCB campus, 2011-present: Freshens was remodelled in 2011, which is when they added froyo machines. UCB students don’t have to leave campus to get froyo with Freshens in the food court and they can use their meal plan points.
• Frozen Creations, 2009-2012: Self-serve froyo shop, had lots of tart flavors
• Honeyberry, 2013-2015: This was chain known for freshly baked roti buns, but they offered much more like snow cups, smoothies, gelato, milk tea, and coffee.
• Menchie’s, 2013-present
• Michelle’s Yogurt & Sweets, 1997: This candy shop across the street from Yogurt Park was the first tart froyo in Berkeley back in 2007. They stopped serving froyo before closing for good in 2015.
• Papamingo, 2007-2011: An early counter serve froyo shop specializing in tart froyo, Papamingo definitely had some loyal fans. People say that it went downhill after the management changed.
• The Pho Bar, 2011-2014: The plain tart froyo was made with Sketch Ice Cream’s recipe.
• Ryno’s, 2007-2009: A tiny shop on Telegraph that was taken over by other froyo shops (Honeyberry, Tutti Frutti) and now it’s a boba tea shop called Rare Tea.
• Sketch Ice Cream, closed, then reopened in 2012-2014: A beloved artisanal soft serve ice cream spot with house-baked goods and a great plain tart froyo which was later served by the Pho Bar
• Tutti Frutti, 2011-2013: Tutti Frutti replaced Ryno’s. Though the space was small, they still offered self-serve froyo and the cheapest price in town, 29 cents an ounce
• Yogofina, 2016-2017: This self-serve chain had consistently terrible frozen yogurt and lots of candy toppings.
• Yogurt Harmony, 2008-2011: My favorite place in Berkeley, RIP
• Yogurt Park, 1977-present: The first place that I ever had froyo!
• Yogurtland Bancroft, 2009-2017: This was the smaller location across the street from UCB with fewer machines. The one on Shattuck was bigger and better.
• Yogurtland Shattuck, 2009-2017: The better Yogurtland location in Berkeley.
• Yoloberry, 2014-2016: This was the second location for Yoloberry, which started in Davis, CA.

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.