Pinkberry Closes in San Francisco

Fro-yo girl here. My state of shock continues. I’m still grieving over the closure of Pinkberry in Pasadena in 2015. Then they closed the wonderful Glendale/The Americana location last year. Last month, Pinkberry La Canada, which had become my regular Pinkberry, closed. Around that time, some time in January 2019, Pinkberry closed its sole San Francisco location, in front of Macy’s Union Square (170 O’Farrell St., San Francisco, CA).

This was their only location in SF. Yes, they have a location at SFO but the airport isn’t technically in San Francisco though the address is in San Francisco. I visited the Union Square location many times, since it was there when I lived in San Francisco. Tracy T. & I met there quite a few times. It was the most convenient location for me to visit. I remember being there for the grand opening in 2012. It was the first and last time I tried their lemon cookie crunch topping. When Pinkberry SF opened, it was the 200th location. RIP.

I noticed the Pinkberry SF Google Places listing says it's temporarily closed. Could it be true? I'm not too optimistic. Pinkberry locations keep closing. The Bay Area still has a few Pinkberry locations: Palo Alto, San Jose - Pueblo Plaza, Sunnyvale, and SFO.

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.

Froyo for Breakfast

Fro-yo girl here. Do you ever crave frozen yogurt in the morning? Ever think that most frozen yogurt shops open too late? 

My answer is yes to both of course. I miss Jubili Frozen Yogurt on Fillmore, which used to open at 8 AM and made wonderful frozen yogurt parfaits.

The good news is that you can get Fraiche’s frozen yogurt early in the morning. The SF and Palo Alto locations open at 7 AM on weekdays (8 AM on weekends) and the frozen yogurt is ready early (as soon as they open or shortly thereafter). The Stanford campus location opens a bit later but it does have steel cut oatmeal and housemade mochi.

My favorite thing to get is their SF Chronicle special ($6.25): Slow cooked, warm steel cut oatmeal, your choice of five toppings in between and your choice of yogurt or frozen yogurt on top. The toppings insulate the frozen yogurt so it doesn’t melt that quickly but even when it melts into the frozen yogurt, it tastes amazing. My favorite toppings are extra housemade mochi, fresh fruit and something crunchy, like Batter Bakery's granola which has nuts and coconut.

They sometimes run out of steel cut oatmeal so it pays to go early. Should you not feel like having frozen yogurt for breakfast, they have steel cut oatmeal, yogurt muffins, green juice, housemade Greek (non-frozen yogurt), kombucha and more.

Caffe Ambrosia in the FiDi area of downtown SF is open early but they don’t turn on their frozen yogurt machines till later (around 10:30 AM). Caffe Ambrosia was nice enough to say that you could call first and ask them to turn it on earlier.

Pinkberry Union Square opens at 10 AM which is earlier than most places. I’m not sure about the hours for the Walgreen’s frozen yogurt machines but the location opens at 7 AM.

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

* FRAICHE YOGURT: 1910 Fillmore St., San Francisco, CA 

* CAFFE AMBROSIA: 14 Trinity Place, San Francisco, CA
* PINKBERRY: 170 O’Farrell St., San Francisco, CA

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.

Yogurtland to Open First Store in SF

Fro-yo girl here. The San Francisco Planning Commission met this week to discuss Yogurtland’s plans to open at 1250 Ocean Avenue. Thanks anonymous tipster for the heads up! The space in question is brand new (the Avalon building), by City College of San Francisco (CCSF). Whole Foods is opening up in the same complex. My fingers are crossed that SF will finally get a Yogurtland.

What a momentous week it’s been for Bay Area fro-yo.
* July 10: New Sanrio spoons arrive at Yogurtland
* July 12: Pinkberry opens first SF store, store #200, Planning Commission meets to discuss Yogurtland’s application
* July 13: Easy Breezy opens in Noe Valley

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

Pinkberry’s 200th Store Opens in SF

Fro-yo girl here. I just returned from the grand opening of Pinkberry Union Square, the first Pinkberry in SF. I’m perplexed by the lack of publicity for the event...I didn’t get a Pinkberry Groupie email or see a Pinkberry tweet. But Union Square is open FINALLY (as of a few minutes before 5 PM)..

They’re giving away free fro-yo (small size with any toppings you want) till 10 PM tonight. There’s a big tent out front with tables and a DJ. I saw them roll out the famous pink carpet. The employees are really friendly. There must have been 30 of them. They’re squeezed in tight behind the counter. It’s really loud inside. I recommend getting those luxe toppings today. If you don’t want to wait in line, they had free samples for passerbys (you don’t have to be in line).

Fro-yo flavors:
* Original: a great balance of tangy and sweet, creamy yet refreshing, very smooth, sweet aftertaste
* Strawberry: very nice, tangy, sweet, smooth
* Mango
* Watermelon
* Chocolate
* Peanut butter

Tomorrow is the first official day. Welcome to SF, Pinkberry!

Fro-yo prices (without toppings): Cone/Mini ($2.95)/ S ($3.50)/ M ($4.50)/ L ($6.50).

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

* PINKBERRY UNION SQUARE: 170 O’FARRELL ST., SAN FRANCISCO, CA

Pinkberry Coming to Downtown SF, Finally!

Fro-yo girl here. Thanks Ann L. for the tip that Pinkberry is finally coming to downtown SF. It’s right next to the entrance to Macy’s Union Square on O’Farrell St. The space is covered up so one can’t see the shop. However, the sign says Swirling June 2012. For jobs, email unionsquarejobs@pinkberry.com. See Craigslist for more information on the positions available.

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