Los Angeles Froyo Shops That I’m Avoiding

 

Go Greek, Studio City

Fro-yo girl here. Now that I’ve told you about my favorite froyo chain locations in Los Angeles, it seems right to also warn you about some locations that I’m avoiding. I hate to be critical of froyo shops, but the feedback could also be helpful.

Go Greek, 12930 Ventura Blvd # 114, Studio City, CA 91604

The froyo is good but this location does not have the same rewards program as the Santa Monica and Beverly Hills locations. I’ve also tried to sign up for rewards twice, unsuccessfully.

Menchie’s, 10619 Valley Blvd Unit D, El Monte, CA 91731

The scanner has been broken for over a year at this location. I found out the hard way when I was participating in the Menchie’s app game challenge. Since they did not have a working scanner, I could not get credit for my visit there.

Pinkberry, 612 S Myrtle Ave, Monrovia, CA 91016

The main reason that I no longer frequent Pinkberry in Monrovia is that they chose not to participate in the Pinkcard program. Who does that? I’ve also had icy froyo there but that could have been a temporary issue. Also, the Bible materials that they have there bother me.

Pinkberry, 120 E Palm Ave, Burbank, CA 91502

Sadly, so many of the soft serve machines are out of order. During one visit, they only had two flavors available. Also, it’s self-serve but you still can’t get your own toppings.

Yogurtland, 10250 Santa Monica Blvd #1260, Los Angeles, CA 90067

At $1.35/oz, the Yogurtland at Westfield Century City is too expensive. It also doesn’t have as many flavors as the typical Yogurtland location.

Yogurtland, 1321 3rd Street Promenade, Santa Monica, CA 90401

The Santa Monica Yogurtland is also crazy expensive.

I’m hoping things change for the better.

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.

Price Increase at Pinkberry Burbank

Fro-yo girl here. Froyo prices have been increasing like crazy this year (e.g., prices at Yogurtland Pasadena on Lake have gone up three times already this year). In February, the froyo was $0.74/oz at Pinkberry Burbank. The price is now $0.80/oz, an increase of over 8%. Ouch. That's more than the anticipated price increase of 4.1% for food-away-from-home and we're not even at the halfway point of 2024.

Food-at-home prices are expected to increase less than food-away-from-home prices. Maybe it's time to bring your own toppings?

You know you love me. xo xo, 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.

Pinkberry My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 Promotion

Fro-yo girl here. September 7 was My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 Day in New York City and Los Angeles. In NYC, various restaurants and businesses offered Greek-inspired treats, products, and gift cards. Five NYC Pinkberry locations gave away My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 froyo special: mini original froyo with granola, honey, and blueberries.

In Los Angeles, six Pinkberry locations participated in the My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 froyo giveaway and The Great Greek in Sherman Oaks served a free MBFGW lunch special. The participating Pinkberry locations were: Torrance, Long Beach, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Marina Del Rey, and Burbank.

Pinkberry Burbank had My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 signs and they gave out 250 mini cups of original tart froyo with granola, blueberries, and honey. The taste did make me think of Greece.

The movie is in theaters on September 8 (today). Tickets are available at www.MyBigFatGreekWedding3Tickets.com

I wonder if Pinkberry shows up in the movie?

FYI, Pinkberrygreek was launched nationwide ten years ago. It was a non-frozen refrigerated yogurt that they served in Powerbowls and used to make smoothies.

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.

Pinkberry Burbank Is Under New Ownership

Fro-yo girl here. Pinkberry Burbank was the only self-serve Pinkberry still open in Southern California but during COVID, they switched to full service. That wasn’t surprising since just about every self-serve froyo shop switched to full service. Most have returned to self-serve but Pinkberry Burbank has not. It turns out that the ownership changed during COVID-19 and it’s unclear when or if self-serve will return.

Prices went up. They charged 49 cents an ounce for many years. It’s now 65 cents an ounce. Yes, they still charge by the ounce even though you can’t serve your own froyo. The original tart had great texture, but the associate put big scoops of toppings in my cup. I have to say all my trips to Pinkberry Burbank this year have been positive but I got a very icy cup of froyo last year. Things seem to have improved!

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

* PINKBERRY BURBANK: 120 E Palm Ave, Burbank, CA 91502

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.

2020 Burbank Froyo Guide

Fro-yo girl here. Back in 2015, I visited every place in Burbank, CA that offered soft serve froyo and found six froyo shops. Since that time, Pit Stop Froyo and Yumz Express went out of business. Otherwise, not that much has changed. No new froyo shops have opened, although Yalla Mediterranean offered Greek froyo for about 2-3 years. Yalla (1781 N Victory Pl) is part of that huge strip mall off the I-5. The casual Greek eatery opened in October 2015. I used to come for their Greek froyo, which is made with their house recipe. They had one flavor, plain, which I enjoyed topped with baklava. For years, you could check in on Yelp and get a free Greek froyo w/ a topping. The soft serve machine seems to have broken down, just like it has at their location in Seal Beach. Froyo is no longer on the menu, so I don’t have a reason to eat there.

Where you can get froyo in Burbank:

• Yogurtland (304 N San Fernando Blvd.) is in downtown Burbank. I like this location (it’s friendly and clean), but it’s across the street from Pinkberry, so I tend to go to Pinkberry instead. It’s not that I go to Pinkberry more often, but there are fewer Pinkberry locations than Yogurtand locations. I usually go to Yogurtland closer to home.
• Yogurtland (2400 W Victory Blvd.) is in a strip mall called Landmark Shopping Plaza closer to the airport. I’m rarely in that area but I’ve had a few pleasant visits there. It’s the highest reviewed froyo shop in Burbank, based on Google Reviews.
• Pinkberry (120 E Palm Ave.) is across from the AMC Burbank 16 movie theater in downtown Burbank and it has the distinction of being the first self-serve Pinkberry location. There are 12 self-serve froyo flavors a day and your typical Pinkberry toppings bar (fresh fruit, popping boba, mochi, candy, nuts, cookies, sauces, Nutella, granola, coconut, cheesecake, brownies, cereal, waffle cookies, and luxe toppings) for 49 cents an ounce. It’s very similar to a regular Pinkberry only with more flavors, larger cups and the self-serve format. Surprisingly, the price hasn’t changed in years. It was 49 cents when I wrote the post in 2015 and it’s still 49 cents. I used to like to visit this location because they had more flavors and sometimes even test flavors, but during a recent visit, the texture of the froyo was way off. 
• Menchie’s (3800 W Verdugo Ave) is in a strip mall. The ownership changed over a year ago and it’s actually gotten better since then. They renovated the shop. It seems cleaner and friendlier now. They also had a new flavor that I had a hard time finding closer to home.

Interestingly, all the froyo shops are self-serve. The froyo shops that closed definitely weren’t as good as the ones that are still open. Yumz was horrible and Pit Stop was okay. Burbank never had innovative froyo options.

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.

New Pinkberry Flavors: Orange Tang and Pink Lemonade

Fro-yo girl here. I hadn’t been to Pinkberry Burbank for awhile but I thought it would be nice to do my own swirling. I was pleasantly surprised to run into two new “test” flavors, Pink Lemonade and Orange Tang.

* Orange Tang: The flavor does remind me of an orange drink like Tang or Sunny Delight. I haven’t had either for a really long time but Orange Tang doesn’t taste just like orange juice added to frozen yogurt. There’s something different going on. I think it tastes better than Tang, or what I remember Tang tastes like. Recommended toppings: yogurt chips, popping boba

* Pink Lemonade: I love lemonade and lemonade froyo. This flavor is quite tart but with a sweet finish. Yum. Recommended toppings: raspberries, gummy bears

Both flavors had that lighter, refreshing quality that sets Pinkberry apart.

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

* PINKBERRY BURBANK: 120 E Palm Ave., Burbank, CA 91502

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.

Burbank Froyo Guide

Fro-yo girl here. I’ve traveled all over Burbank, CA to visit every froyo shop in town, including frozen yogurt shops that have closed their doors for good (RIP, Yogurtiers, Froyo Bliss). Yogurtiers, which opened in 2008, was Burbank’s first frozen yogurt shop. There are currently 6 frozen yogurt shops in Burbank and only one of these, Pit Stop Froyo & More, is an independent froyo shop. All of them are self-serve.

Downtown Burbank

Yogurtland has two locations in Burbank. The downtown Burbank Yogurtland location (304 N San Fernando Blvd.) turned 5 last year (the celebration included free froyo and prizes). They carried the Yogurtland cookie dividers early on.

Pinkberry (120 E Palm Ave.) is across from the AMC Burbank 16 movie theater and it has the distinction of being the first self-serve Pinkberry location. There are 12 self-serve froyo flavors a day and your typical Pinkberry toppings bar (fresh fruit, popping boba, mochi, candy, nuts, cookies, sauces, Nutella, granola, coconut, cheesecake, brownies, cereal, waffle cookies, and luxe toppings) for 49 cents an ounce. It’s very similar to a regular Pinkberry only with more flavors, larger cups and the self-serve format.

Burbank Bob Hope Airport/Magnolia Park

I’m not too familiar with this area but it has strip malls and Magnolia Park has interesting retro/vintage boutiques (apparently it's a new shopping hot spot). FroyoFace recently morphed into Pit Stop Froyo & More (3503 W Magnolia Blvd.). Pit Stop has six self-serve froyo flavors a day (from YoCream), juices, smoothies, and boba drinks. About a block away, the ARCO station has a Yumz Express (3701 W Magnolia Blvd.) with four flavors of froyo. While you can serve yourself, the pricing is based on cup size. The frozen yogurt we tried was horrible…definitely avoid – it’s the worst place in town. Pit Stop and Yumz are right by Porto's Bakery and the Magnolia Park shopping district.

Menchie’s (3800 Verdugo Ave.) is also close by and the Yogurtland (2400 W Victory Blvd.) has a nice outdoor patio. Both are in strip malls.

Scoopable Froyo

You can also get scoopable froyo at Quenelle, Cold Stone Creamery and Ben & Jerry’s but why bother?

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.

A Visit to a Self Serve Pinkberry Location

Fro-yo girl here. I was surprised to learn that the downtown Burbank Pinkberry location switched to a self-serve format last year. I didn’t see an announcement at the time (though they did announce it on the Burbank Pinkberry Facebook page – a page I wasn’t checking). It’s just a toe dip into the self-serve format though. As far as I know this and the Brea location are the only self-serve Pinkberry locations.

The Burbank location carries 12 self-serve froyo flavors a day (the same flavors you’d find at other Pinkberry locations) and your typical Pinkberry toppings (fresh fruit, popping boba, mochi, candy, nuts, cookies, cookie dough, sauces, Nutella, granola, coconut, cheesecake, brownies, cereal, waffle cookies, chocolate, granola, and luxe toppings) for 49 cents an ounce. It’s very similar to a regular Pinkberry only with more flavors, larger cups and the self-serve format. At your typical Pinkberry you can get multiple flavors and unlimited toppings so there isn’t much difference. Sample cups are on a tray at the toppings bar. You can also request a waffle bowl.

The shop looked like a regular Pinkberry shop only with a wall of froyo machines. The interior has pastel colors, plants and pebble floor. They kept the toppings bar very clean and the fruit looked fresh. The toppings are better than average. My favorite topping is the dark chocolate crisps.

Froyo flavors of the day:

• Vanilla bean
• Chocolate chip cookie
• Sea salt chocolate
• Cookies & cream
• Passionfruit
• Pomegranate
• Mango
• Original
• Blood orange
• Raspberry white chocolate
• Pineapple
• Pina colada

I don’t think this location has frozen shakes or yogurt smoothies. It’s froyo only. Mr. Froyo and I thought it was a well maintained shop. We weren’t that thrilled about serving ourselves (counter serve is more sanitary) but we did enjoy our froyo. I recommend getting the new Raspberry White Chocolate flavor – the raspberry is tangy and the dominant flavor but the white chocolate adds a pleasant sweetness.

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

* PINKBERRY BURBANK, 120 East Palm Avenue, Burbank, CA 91502

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.