Los Angeles County Fire Froyo Update

 

The Yogurt Shoppe

Toppings

Fro-yo girl here. The ongoing Palisades Fire, the largest of the recent fires in Los Angeles County, burned through 23,000 acres as of late January 11. Over 5,300 structures were destroyed, including two frozen yogurt shops.

The Yogurt Shoppe owners lost two shops in Pacific Palisades: the original location at 873 N Swarthmore Ave and Toppings Frozen Yogurt a block away at 872 Via De La Paz. 

The Shoppe first opened in 2011. Toppings Frozen Yogurt opened in 2012.

There is a Go Fund Me fundraiser to help the employees of both shops and to help with rebuilding the shops. 

The Eaton Fire did not destroy any frozen yogurt shops because there is no frozen yogurt shop in Altadena. I don’t think Altadena has ever had a frozen yogurt shop. It doesn’t even have an ice cream or boba shop.

Yoga-urt in Glendale lost product due to the power outage during the fire. Bloomfield Creamery in Pasadena was a mile from the fire. They were closed until January 14, lost product, and three employees lost their residences. Yogurtland in East Pasadena is near the Eaton Fire. The shop has not been damaged by the fire but reduced its hours because of the unhealthy air quality.

Go Greek, Menchie's Encino, and Yoga-urt are offering free meals to first responders. The Yogurt Shoppe and Menchie’s in Sherman Oaks are collecting donations of essentials for fire victims.

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.

My Best Swirl of 2023

Fro-yo girl here. What was my best swirl of 2023? I saved pictures of all the froyo that I consumed in 2023 on my Pinterest board, 2023 Froyo Consumed by Me. After looking at all the photos, my best self-swirl was the cup of plain tart froyo that I swirled at Bloomfield Creamery in Pasadena, California. The froyo texture looks wonderful - firm, creamy, and smooth. Yum! 

My most viewed cup of froyo was the one that I swirled at Amazon Go. It had over 1.1k views on Pinterest. I'm not sure why that particular picture was so popular. 

This year, I consumed 130 cups of froyo, less than last year's 144 cups. My first cup of froyo this year was a cup of plain tart from Yogurtland Eagle Rock. 

Of the cups and cones of froyo that I consumed, 50% were self-serve, 13% partial serve, 32% counter-serve, 1% machine-served, and 4% pre-packed. In 2022, 60% of my cups were self-serve or partial-serve. Most places are back to full self-service but a few Yogurtland locations, including Yogurtland Eagle Rock, still have the employee serve the toppings. I don't see pandemic restrictions at other businesses, so not allowing for full self-serve seems lame. 

I prefer getting one flavor per cup. In 2023, 84% of my froyo cups and cones featured one flavor (compared to 88% in 2022). Similarly, 85% of my froyo cups and cones were dairy-based froyo (compared to 81% in 2022).

You can see every cup of froyo that I consumed on my Pinterest board.

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.

Pasadena 2020 Froyo Report

Fro-yo girl here. Has it really been over seven years since my last Pasadena froyo report? The coronavirus outbreak has inspired me to update my old posts. I can’t go out for froyo that often, so it’s a good time to reflect.

Every froyo shop mentioned in the 2013 report has closed, except for 21 Choices, which moved about a block or two from its previous location in Old Town Pasadena. The new address is 44 N Fair Oaks Ave.

Closures since 2013 report:

• Buzio’s
• Cherry on Top
• Moka Café
• Pinkberry

Cold Stone Creamery is still open, but it’s not a froyo shop. I think they still have scoopable froyo. Jamba Juice stopped offering mix-in froyo at all their locations.

Since the 2013 report, the following froyo shops have opened in Pasadena:

• Blissery Frozen Yogurt, 1727 E Washington Blvd, took over the Yoguroo space in East Pasadena and was in business from 2013-2017. They made the space more colorful.
• Bloomfield Creamery, 1727 E Washington Blvd, took over the Blissery space in 2017. They kept the self-serve froyo but added their own ice cream and cookie dough. They made it less colorful.
• Freshii inside Target on Colorado briefly served froyo starting in 2016 and then closed in 2017.
• Froyolife, 1709 E Colorado Blvd, was part of a small local self-serve froyo chain which only has one location left, in downtown Montrose. The Pasadena location was across the street from Pasadena City College and was only open from 2014-2015. The Los Feliz location was razed and will be replaced by a medical office. Yawn.
• Sunlife Organics, 146 S Lake Ave., opened in 2016 and had organic froyo. It was one size, huge, and it wasn’t that good. I’m not sure if they still offer froyo but it isn’t listed on their online menu.
• Yogurtland Lake, 415 S Lake Ave., C107, opened in 2013 and was my regular location for years. I have many fond memories of this location. Sadly, ownership changed in December 2018 and things went downhill quickly. It’s still open but a shell of its former self.
• Yogurtland Old Town Pasadena, 30 W Colorado Blvd, was the second Yogurtland location to open in Pasadena, CA and it operated from 2014-2019. The Old Town location was smaller with fewer machines than the Lake location. It looks like someone new is taking over the space.

So, the current places for soft-serve froyo in Pasadena are: 

• 21 Choices
• Bloomfield Creamery
• Yogurtland Lake

And in South Pasadena:

• Menchie’s 
• Penguin’s

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.

Bloomfield Creamery Opens in Pasadena

Fro-yo girl here. Bloomfield Creamery opened last weekend. They took over the space that Yoguroo occupied that later became The Blissery Frozen Yogurt. Bloomfield Creamery has lots of dessert options, including small batch housemade ice cream, housemade edible cookie dough, self-serve frozen yogurt and soft serve, milkshakes, cookies, ice cream paninis, homemade waffle cones and beverages.

The inside looks less colorful than it did before. It’s all white now but the general layout looks the same, with tables on the left, froyo towards the back, and the toppings counter (joined by cookie dough and ice cream) near the front. I find the all white look soothing and clean.

There are 10 froyo and soft serve flavors on tap and a small but nice toppings bar (chocolate chips, fruit, nuts, mochi, cookies, candy, granola, sprinkles, coconut, cheesecake, sauces). It’s 40 cents an ounce (very reasonable). I found the textures to be rich, creamy, and smooth. Ask for sample cups.

Froyo & soft serve flavors of the day:

• Cake batter
• Cinnamon toast soft serve (made with almond milk)
• Chocolate custard
• Vanilla custard
• Cookies & cream yogurt
• Strawberry yogurt
• Tart yogurt
• Dole pineapple whip
• Honey-berry yogurt (no flavor card, not sure what it was called)
• (One flavor wasn’t available)

They haven’t made it easy to combine the cookie dough with the froyo but it can be done. Ask for a scoop of cookie dough after they’ve weighed your yogurt.

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

* BLOOMFIELD CREAMERY: 1727 E Washington Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91104

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.

Future Froyo Shop Picture: Bloomfield Creamery to Take Over The Blissery Space in Pasadena

Fro-yo girl here. The space that Yoguroo occupied that later became The Blissery will be occupied by yet another dessert shop. The sign is up for Bloomfield Creamery. According to the banner, Bloomfield Creamery will offer ice cream, edible cookie dough and of course, frozen yogurt.

While Pasadena has many places to get froyo, these locations are concentrated in west Pasadena. Bloomfield Creamery will serve northeast Pasadena/East Washington Village. It won’t be the first business in town to offer edible cookie dough; 21 Choices has been making its own cookie dough for years. However, I don’t think there’s a cookie dough place in east Pasadena and edible cookie dough has become the treat of 2017.

I took a peek inside and it didn’t look that different from before – the counter was still in the same place and there were tables and chairs on the left.

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

* BLOOMFIELD CREAMERY: 1727 E Washington Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91104

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.