Loving Cup Quietly Closes OG Location in Russian Hill, San Francisco

Fro-yo girl here. Loving Cup closed the original location in Russian Hill earlier this summer. No announcement was made, so I’m not sure exactly when it closed. The last reviews were written in June 2023. I hadn’t visited that location for many years since the other ones were more convenient.

Loving Cup opened 2356 Polk St. in late 2008, back when the tart froyo craze had taken over San Francisco. Loving Cup offered something different from other froyo shops because the froyo was mix-in style. Customers selected a size, a base (chocolate, vanilla or non-dairy), and mix-ins. The associate would hand churn everything together using a machine. They also sold rice pudding.

In late 2018, the owners of La Boulangerie acquired Loving Cup. As fans of Loving Cup, Pascal Rigo and Nicolas Bernadi hoped to open 100 locations in a few years. They also talked about adding Loving Cup to a few La Boulangerie locations.

As of September 2023, there are three Loving Cup locations, two in San Francisco (608 Divisadero St, 2201 Union St.) and one in Marin County. Apizza in San Francisco also serves Loving Cup. I haven’t heard anything about Loving Cup in La Boulangerie since 2018. Loving Cup has gone quiet as well. Their last Facebook post was in April 2020 and the last Instagram post in May 2021.

La Boulangerie has five remaining locations. The location in San Francisco's FiDi district that served Loving Cup has closed in 2020 or 2021.

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.

Loving Cup at apizza San Francisco

Fro-yo girl here. I finally made it to apizza, the new concept from the founder of La Boulangerie and new owner of Loving Cup. The idea is to make high quality pizza and froyo that’s fast, eco-friendly, and affordable. It’s not a new concept but apizza puts its own spin on it and offers Loving Cup froyo too. The toppings are more chef-driven and creative than say Blaze Pizza, Pieology and the build your own individual pizza competitors. There are fewer options though. You don’t build your own pizza but they have options that you can customize with an egg, potato stix, fried onions and coming soon, CBD oil. They use organic dough and organic tomato sauce.

I was surprised by how cheap the froyo was. It’s smaller than the serving you’d get at a full-fledged Loving Cup. There are fewer choices as well. Choose your base (nonfat vanilla, nonfat chocolate, non-dairy vanilla made with coconut milk) and pick a swirl (achocolate, my favorite, thinner mint, guilty-ish pleasure, all good). You can add a chocolate chip cookie, sprinkles or additional mix ins or toppings. The froyo is mixed to order.

* My favorite (vanilla froyo base mixed with Heath and peanut butter), $3.75. It was a good size portion for a snack or dessert – not too large and not too small. The froyo was very creamy but most of the flavor came from the mix-ins.

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

* APIZZA: 2043 Fillmore St., San Francisco (Pacific Heights), CA 94115

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.