Glendale, CA Froyo Roundup

Fro-yo girl here. I recently completed my tour of the Glendale, CA’s froyo shops and found 5 shops that carry froyo, or 6 if you count Pressed Juicery, which offers dairy-free soft serve (technically not froyo). All but one of these shops is located at either the Glendale Galleria or the Americana Mall (the Americana is right next to the Galleria). It seems like life in Glendale centers around that shopping mall area. Go there any day of the week and it’s swarming with people.

The best froyo in Glendale can be found at Pinkberry Americana. This is a particularly nice, spacious Pinkberry location that often has test flavors and test products. They serve six froyo flavors a day and you can’t go wrong with their classic Original Tart with fresh fruit. Some of the limited edition flavors that I’ve liked recently include Lemon Lime and Raspberry White Chocolate. They also have the best froyo toppings.

Yoppi Frozen Yogurt at the Glendale Galleria has average froyo. It features 6 self-serve froyo flavors a day and a decent selection of toppings (fresh fruit, cheesecake, mochi, syrups, cereal, cookie dough, brownies, chocolate chips, cookies, nuts, sprinkles) for 45 cents an ounce. They also have gelato.

My Yummy Yogurt, which is near Eagle Rock, is below average but it does offer free wi-fi (though it’s not a place that one feels like hanging out at).

The froyo is self-serve with 8 flavors a day and a small toppings bar with cereal, candy, sprinkles, nuts, syrups, chocolate chips, brownies, mochi, chocolate covered things, coconut, and two types of fresh fruit for 39 cents an ounce. The fruit was stored in the back and it’s brought out when there are customers. The frozen yogurt is icy and bland.

Froyo is an afterthought at the two Haagen Dazs locations. The kiosk at the Americana only had one flavor, vanilla. The one inside the Glendale Galleria carries two flavors.

Pressed Juicery offers a tasty, vegan, healthier soft serve option that isn’t frozen yogurt. Called Freeze, it’s made with just a few ingredients and is 100% fruit, vegetables and nuts. Freeze flavors include Greens, Roots, Citrus, Fruits, Chocolate and Vanilla. You can top your Freeze with healthy, quality toppings: fresh fruit, spices, seeds, granola, nuts, almond butter, honey, rose syrup, peanut butter, Hawaiian pink salt, cacao nut freezing drizzle, and goji berries. Ask for samples (it’s not self serve).

Try the vanilla flavor (almonds, dates, sea salt, vanilla). It’s icy and not very smooth but very clean and fresh tasting.

Ice N’Cream at the Glendale Galleria used to carry froyo but they switched to soft serve ice cream. Godiva has Belgian soft serve ice cream in two flavors, chocolate and vanilla. I tried it - wasn't too impressed.

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

• HAAGEN DAZS: 889 Americana Way, Glendale, CA 91210
• HAAGEN DAZS: 1113 Glendale Galleria, Glendale, CA 91210
• MY YUMMY YOGURT: 1321 Colorado St., Ste A, Glendale, CA 91205
• PINKBERRY: 759 Americana Way, Glendale, CA 91210
• PRESSED JUICERY: 889 Americana Way, Glendale, CA 91210
• YOPPI YOGURT: 3211 Glendale Galleria, Glendale, CA 91205

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.

Woman’s World You Deserve the Best Frozen Yogurt

Fro-yo girl here. I was recently approached by Woman’s World for supermarket fro-yo recommendations for their You Deserve the Best Frozen Yogurt feature. One of my picks appear in the June 25th issue, on sale on newsstands from June 14 - 20. A woman in a pink bikini is on the cover. You can find my pick in the article entitled “You deserve the best frozen yogurt.”

Here are the rest of my favorite supermarket frozen yogurt products:

• BEST ORGANIC FROZEN YOGURT:  Julie’s Organic Vanilla, it’s sweet and gelato-like with a clean, pure flavor
• BEST TART FROZEN YOGURT: Double Rainbow Strawberry Tart has that creamy, firm, smooth texture that I look for and it tastes more natural than competitors. It’s a cross between a good strawberry sorbet and strawberry ice cream with a nice tartness.
• BEST SWEET FROZEN YOGURT: Haagen Dazs Vanilla Honey & Granola is very sweet but also really good. It still has a hint of real yogurt flavor. I love the flavor of the honey and the slightly crunchy granola bits.
• BEST GREEK FROZEN YOGURT: Ben & Jerry’s has a good smooth texture and real yogurt flavor, plus the add-ins (fudge chunks, graham crackers) are very flavorful

I tried Blue Bunny’s frozen yogurt bars after I provided my picks to Woman’s World. Blue Bunny’s frozen yogurt bars are better than Jamba Juice’s (the product I picked in WW).

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

Haagen Dazs Frozen Yogurt Review

Fro-yo girl here. I’ve been eating Haagen Dazs sweet fro-yo for awhile now as it’s my favorite supermarket fro-yo so far (not counting their new tart natural flavor) although it is really sweet. It isn’t tart but it’s not just an ice cream substitute either. The texture is quite rich and creamy.

It comes in six flavors(and now 7, natural tart):
* Vanilla
* Dulce de leche
* Vanilla honey & granola
* Wildberry
* Vanilla raspberry swirl
* Coffee

The regular price for a pint is $4.49 at Safeway. I purchased mine on sale for $3.50.

My favorite flavor is the Vanilla Honey & Granola. It is quite sweet but I love the flavor of the honey and the slightly crunchy granola bits. The honey and granola make it more like fro-yo than ice cream. They support honey bee research.

The Dulce de Leche has a rich, smooth caramel flavor and a creamy texture. I find the caramel swirl a little too sweet though but I suppose dulce de leche should be quite sweet. And the fro-yo contains condensed milk.

Their fro-yo has live and active cultures. It’s high in calcium, low in fat but also high in sugar.

4 stars (out of 5).

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

It Finally Happened! Tart Fro-yo Hits the Supermarket

Fro-yo girl here. One of my wishes for 2009 has come true. Thanks to Haagen Dazs, you can buy tart fro-yo at your local supermarket. It’s called tart natural and it has live and active cultures.

Is it any good? It’s okay. I can understand that it’s denser than your usual tart fro-yo but the flavor isn’t refreshing. It’s creamy and heavy with a milky aftertaste. Imagine plain ice cream (i.e., milk, sugar, egg, cream) with a tiny bit of lemon juice (not enough to make it taste like lemon ice cream) and you’ll get a sense of what it tastes like. There is some yogurt flavor but it is subtle.

Find Haagen Dazs tart natural fro-yo near you: http://www.haagendazs.com/products/product.aspx?id=365

3 stars (out of 5).

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