Fro-yo girl here. I recently heard that Frozen Land opened, taking over the old Yogurtland space in Westwood Village, across from the UCLA campus. I never had the chance to go to that Yogurtland, since I figured it would be open for a long time. It was there for ten years, so that is a long time.
Interestingly, there is no self-serve frozen yogurt left in Westwood Village. What’s left? Frozen Land is the only froyo option in Westwood Village proper and it’s no longer self-serve. If you go down Westwood Blvd., you’ll run into Bon Bon Berry, Penguin’s, and The Bigg Chill. Frozen Land offers 10 froyo flavors a day, along with scoopable ice cream and gelato. Bon Bon Berry replaced Frost Frozen Yogurt in 2014 and is known for acai bowls. The Bigg Chill and Penguin’s are old school, from the 90’s. Ralph’s the supermarket in Westwood Village, had self-serve froyo for awhile, but they no longer offer it. I was surprised to see the soft serve machines were still there and the empty toppings bar.
This move away from self-serve is surprising, when self-serve was all the rage for years. You can still get self-serve froyo in West LA but you have to go to Century City. Culver City, Brentwood, and Santa Monica. West Los Angeles was an important place for froyo, but it no longer feels like froyo central. Red Mango opened its first US location in Westwood Village, Pinkberry’s first location was in West Hollywood, and Pinkberry HQ was in Santa Monica. On the other hand, Westwood Village has a lot of empty storefronts, so it’s not just froyo that’s suffering.
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.
Fro-yo girl here. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, you’re likely familiar with Fred Meyer – the retailer that started in Portland, Oregon and pioneered the idea of one stop shopping. Fred Meyer stores are huge and they strive to save customers time and money with service, selection, quality and prices. A typical Fred Meyer store has groceries, clothes, home products, electronics, health and beauty care and more under one roof.
Last month the Fred Meyer in the Hawthorne neighborhood of Portland, OR unveiled its self-serve frozen yogurt station. The station is called Fred’s Frost-O-Matic and it features three Electro Freeze machines that offer six flavors at a time, plus a toppings bar. The froyo and toppings are sold by weight at the price of 43 cents per ounce.
The frozen yogurt is from Dannon YoCream. Toppings include candy, cookies, fresh fruit, chocolate chips, granola and sprinkles (fewer toppings than your typical self-serve froyo shop).
Fred Meyer and Ralph’s have the same parent company, Kroger. The Fred Meyer and Ralph’s with self-serve frozen yogurt have a similar look – with sushi bars and a Murray’s Cheese area – but the Ralph’s is nicer. Both use the same froyo machines and use the same frozen yogurt mix. Ralph’s dessert bar had more toppings and was clearly staffed. The Fred Meyer froyo station didn’t appear to be staffed and no one offered sample cups.
During my visit the flavors were Original Tart, Salted Caramel Corn, White Vanilla, Dutch Chocolate, Very Strawberry and Mango Tango sorbet.
The original tart was a bit soft but had a pleasant flavor and refreshing finish. I would have tried more flavors if I’d been offered or spotted sample cups.
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
* FRED MEYER: 3805 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland, OR 97214
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.
Fro-yo girl here. Where can you find the largest Ralph’s supermarket in California? The answer is Westwood Village, at the former location of Bullock’s, on the edge of the UCLA campus. This location is a monster – it looks like a merger of more than one market because one side looks different from the other. That’s because it was expanded by 40,000 square feet in November 2014.
The Ralph’s of the future/Ralph’s 2.0 is open 24 hours and includes a several prepared food bars (including an organic salad bar), Cork & Tap wine and beer bar with flatscreen TVs, walk in wine vault, Murray’s Cheese counter, staffed sushi bar with counter dining and the Dessert Bar.
The Dessert Bar had its grand opening on Friday, June 26. The staffed area features gelato, cupcakes, a self-serve froyo bar and toppings. It’s the first Ralph’s with a self-serve froyo bar. There are 10 flavors on tap (housed in five Electro Freeze machines) and a middle handle to swirl two side by side flavors together. The froyo is from Dannon. The flavor signs have nutritional information. The yogurt had a nice creamy, smooth texture (the same Dannon yogurt at Rite Aid, which uses Stoelting machines, was icy and gritty). They had sorbets and no sugar added options as well.
The toppings bar is smaller but they offer some healthy items like hemp seeds, pecans, almonds and fresh fruit, along with candy, cookies, marshmallows, chocolate chips and syrups (even Nutella). Froyo and toppings are 45 cents an ounce.
They’ve done a nice job with the Dessert Bar. Having it staffed helps a lot. The staff person was friendly and offered samples. Plus he kept the area clean.
This Ralph’s also has an excellent select of fresh yogurt and packaged frozen yogurt – it’s like they’re trying to carry everything.
Get two hours free parking in the parking lot with validation.
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
* RALPH’S FRESH FARE: 10861 Le Conte Ave., Los Angeles (Westwood Village), CA 90024
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.
