Dallas Fort Worth Airport Froyo Options

 

Fro-yo girl here. Did you know that the Dallas Fort Worth Airport has the most places inside an airport to get froyo in the world? There are six places to get froyo. Of the five terminals, only Terminal E does not have froyo. DFW Airport is the second largest airport in the US. Luckily the Skylink train connects the terminals and arrives every two minutes.

All the Pinkberry locations have the same owner, same flavors, same menu (froyo and smoothies), two Taylor machines, and same prices. Each has two froyo machines. A small froyo with toppings is $7.89 or $6.09 for the yogurt only. A medium is $7.09 yogurt only and $8.89 with toppings.

• Freshens is in Terminal C. It serves froyo, smoothies, and drinks. I spotted two froyo machines. A cup of froyo was $6.29.
• Pinkberry, located at Terminal A, Gate A19 after security, opened at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport in 2017, possibly. There are two Pinkberry locations in Terminal A.
• Pinkberry, in Terminal A is near Gate A25, seems to have opened after 2015 and possibly replaced the Red Mango near Gate A25.
• Pinkberry, Terminal C at gate 22 seems to have opened after 2015.
• Pinkberry, Terminal D at gate 12 seems to have opened after 2015. Terminal D is the international terminal, the nicest terminal.
• Red Mango, Terminal B, has two twin-twist Taylor soft serve machines. A 12 oz cup of froyo without toppings is $8.56. They also have smoothies and acai bowls. At one time there were five Red Mango locations in the Dallas Fort Worth airport. Today, one remains open.

I wasn't too impressed with the stale toppings and texture of the Pinkberry froyo that I ordered from Terminal C and I was afraid that I would have a similar experience at another DFW Pinkberry.

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.

Sherman Oaks, CA Froyo Guide & Froyo History

Fro-yo girl here. Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley. It’s a nice, affluent neighborhood with a population of nearly 70,000 with a median age of 38. There are four places to get froyo in Sherman Oaks today: Humphrey Yogart, Menchie's, Yogurtland and 59th & Lex Cafe inside Bloomingdale's.

Sherman Oaks is important in froyo history because it’s the home of the first Humphrey Yogart, 4574 Van Nuys Blvd. Humphrey Yogart opened in the Sherman Oaks in 1984. They had several locations (six at the peak) in the 80’s and 90’s but Sherman Oaks was the first. The owners met and fell in love at the shop. Humphrey Yogart closed the original location in March 2016 when they could not reach an agreement with the new landlord. Fortunately, they moved into Gelson’s, 4520 Van Nuys Blvd, which is in the same shopping center as their original shop. Humphrey Yogart is known for their mix-in style froyo and their former employee, Meghan Markle, the Dutchess of Sussex.

Sherman Oaks also had two celebrity-owned froyo shops and numerous celebrity froyo sightings.

Froyo Shops Currently Open in Sherman Oaks

• 59th & Lex Cafe, 14060 Riverside Dr, is Bloomingdale’s café. They serve salads, sandwiches, wraps, burgers, pasta, and their famous Forty Carrots frozen yogurt.
• Humphrey Yogart, 4520 Van Nuys Blvd. inside Gelson's
• Menchie’s, 13369 Ventura Blvd, opened in 2009 and is in its 13th year. It’s not too far from the original Menchie’s in Valley Village, which opened in 2007. Humphrey Yogart is super close to the Menchie’s in Valley Village but it must be near the border of Valley Village and Sherman Oaks.
• Yogurtland, 4954 Van Nuys Blvd, opened in 2008. It was 30 cents an ounce when it first opened. Those were the days!

Closed Froyo Shops

• Blizz Frozen Yogurt, 14439 Burbank Blvd, is listed as being in Sherman Oaks on some sites and Van Nuys on others. This self-serve froyo shop was opened by Dr. Paul Nassif, the famous plastic surgeon and TV personality, in 2010 and it seems to have closed in 2020.
• C&M Café, 12924 Riverside Dr, was a cute brunch spot that had an adjoining room with self-serve froyo and seating. It opened and closed in 2016.
• Frootsi, 14318 Ventura Blvd, was a cupcake, boba, and mix-in style froyo shop that opened in 2010 and closed in 2015.
• Hollyberry, 14425 Ventura Blvd had gelato and counter-serve tart froyo and was in business from 2008 – 2009.
• Limelite, 15030 Ventura Blvd, was a counter-serve shop similar to Pinkberry that was open in 2007.
• Red Mango, 15301 Ventura Blvd, Ste 470 was in Sherman Oaks around 2007.
• Sweetharts, 13704 Ventura Blvd, was founded by Melissa Joan Hart in 2012. The shop sold froyo, gelato, cupcakes, candy, and more. It closed in 2014.
• Swirlz, 14006 Riverside Drive, at Westfield Fashion Square was a self-serve froyo shop that opened in 2010. It’s unclear when they closed.
• Tutti Frutti, 14006 Riverside Drive, was at the Sherman Oaks Westfield Mall in 2010.

Still Open but No Longer Serves Froyo

• Farm Boy, 14107 Riverside Dr, is a small family run produce market known for sushi that used to sell froyo.
• Happy Days Café, 14552 Ventura Blvd, is a churro café that added froyo back in 2019 but they stopped serving froyo at some point.

I remember another self-serve froyo shop in Sherman Oaks but I can’t remember what it was called. Mr. Froyo remembers it too.

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.

Red Mango LA Live Location Under New Ownership

Fro-yo girl here. I haven't been to LA Live, the entertainment complex next to Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles since the pandemic started. I recently thought of the Red Mango at LA Live and wondered if it were still open. Their Instagram account, @redmangolalive, disappeared and I hadn't seen any new posts for a year (I think).

The Red Mango LA Live location is still listed on the LA Live website and the Red Mango website, though it is reported as permanently closed on Yelp. There have been several recent reviews on Google though, so it seems to be open for business. It's under new ownership as of December 2020. The terms of the sale were not disclosed. The listing describes the business as, "Featuring 4 self-serve machines (8 rotating flavors), cold pressed juice bar, large toppings bar and more. Small footprint. Simple operation. Turnkey. Plus 30 minutes free parking available in the downstairs garage."

This is the only Red Mango location still open in Los Angeles and Southern California. The shop first opened in 2013.

Update: Red Mango closed some time in 2021. Daphne's took over the space in 2022 but did not last a year.

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

RED MANGO: 1011 S Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90015

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.

Where to Get Froyo for Breakfast (Los Angeles)

Chill, Studio City

Penguin's, South Pasadena

Fro-yo girl here. With Yoga-urt adding breakfast items to the Glendale location recently, I was able to enjoy froyo for breakfast again. I also realized that I hadn’t updated my froyo for breakfast post since 2013!

All the places that I mentioned in the 2013 post have since closed, except for Caffe Ambrosia in downtown San Francisco’s Financial District. Sadly, I can no longer get my favorite froyo for breakfast item, the SF Chronicle Special (Slow cooked, warm steel cut oatmeal, your choice of five toppings in between and your choice of yogurt or frozen yogurt on top) at Fraiche Yogurt. The ownership changed and the froyo went downhill.

Of course, now that Yoga-urt has breakfast, my froyo for breakfast woes are over. And, it turns out that a lot more places are serving froyo early than I thought. So, here’s an updated list of places to get froyo for breakfast in and around Los Angeles. These shops are open at 10 AM or earlier.

• The Bigg Chill, 10850 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles (West Los Angeles), CA 90064: This froyo institution has been around since the 90s. It’s not self-serve but they pile on the froyo and toppings. People love their housemade vegan cookie dough.
• Bon Bon Berry, 1848 Westwood Blvd., Los Angeles (West Los Angeles), CA 90025: Bon Bon Berry is known for acai bowls. They also have froyo (not self-serve), smoothies, oatmeal bowls and other drinks. The acai smoothie comes with a swirl of froyo on top.
• Chill Café, 11706 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604: Chill Café serves bagels, crepes, sandwiches, coffee, and self-serve froyo. I haven’t been there since the ownership changed last year.
• CoffeeWalk YogurTalk, 700 S Flower St., Los Angeles (Downtown), CA 90017: I went once and didn’t like it but it’s convenient if you work right downtown near the BLOC. The space is small but they manage to offer self-serve froyo and toppings.
• Crepes N Shakes, 7105 Eastern Ave, Ste H-A, Bell Gardens, CA 90201: When I visited this shop, it was called Tutti Frutti. I think they still have self-serve froyo, plus crepes, waffles, milkshakes, and more.
• Go Greek (Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Woodland Hills): Fancy, high end Go Greek Yogurt offers fresh Greek yogurt and frozen Greek yogurt. The yogurt is actually from Greece, where the founder is from. You can serve yourself and add healthy toppings, including some Greek toppings. 
• Penguin’s Frozen Yogurt, 1105 Fair Oaks Ave., South Pasadena, CA 91030: They open at 7 AM every day except Sunday! They serve Peet’s Coffee. It’s an old school froyo shop with lots to choose from: soft serve, shakes, smoothies, sundaes, and even ice cream. The froyo side usually opens at 10 AM though.
• Pinkberry, 6000 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City, CA 90230: Since it’s a mall-based location, Pinkberry Culver City opens when the mall opens. 
• Pressed Juicery (various locations): Not every Pressed Juicery location has Freeze, their dairy-free soft serve product but Freeze would be delicious for breakfast. The best sauce is the almond butter. Get extra almond butter! 
• Red Mango, 1011 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles (Downtown), CA 90015: Since Red Mango at LA Live offers juice, smoothies and acai bowls, in addition to self-serve froyo, they open early. 
• Yoga-urt, 1407 ½ W Kenneth Rd., Glendale, CA 91201: The homemade waffles are gluten-free, soy-free, vegan and yes, still scrumptious. You can get them topped with a scoop of vegan froyo, toppings, maple syrup, and Cocowhip. They might even be good for you? I like how the waffles aren’t too sweet and they have a chewiness that remind me of moffles (mochi waffles). 

Business hours have changed due to COVID-19, so check with the froyo shop before heading out there. 

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.

Westchester County, NY/CT Froyo Report

Fro-yo girl here. Westchester County is a huge county in the suburbs of New York City, covering 450 square miles. I visited various small towns but didn’t see most of the county. During my visit, I noticed that most small towns had at least one froyo shop but a fair number have closed. Peachwave was the chain that I saw the most often though some of their locations like the one in Mount Kisco, NY had recently closed (permanently).

Rural Connecticut was similar with nicer towns like Greenwich sporting a Pinkberry. The Pinkberry at Woodbury Commons Outlet Mall had just opened.

Here’s a list of froyo shops in other cities that I visited:

• Ridgefield, CT: Peachwave, Swizzles (closed)
• Danbury, CT: Peachwave, Yogen Fruz, 21 Taste (closed)
• Bethel, CT: Peachwave
• Greenwich, CT: Pinkberry, Rosie’s, Yogurt City
• New Canaan, CT: Swirl, Peachwave (closed August 2015), Red Mango (closed August 2014)
• Port Chester, NY: Bubbles & Berry

A 2011 article about frozen yogurt in Westchester Magazine has a list of frozen yogurt shops by the year that the shop opened. I’ve looked into which shops are still open.

Opened 2011

• Frannie’s Goodie Shop, Mount Kisco: I visited the shop and it’s nice, they have many toppings and lots more besides frozen yogurt, including cupcakes, cookies, muffins, donuts, etc.
• Nuts About Yogurt, Eastchester: Closed permanently
• Pearl Yogurt, White Plains: Closed permanently
• Yogo Berry, Tarrytown: Closed permanently

Opened 2010

• Go Greenberry, Dobbs Ferry: Name changed to Go Greenly
• Go Greenberry, Scarsdale: Name changed to Go Greenly
• Red Mango, Larchmont
• Treat Frozen Yogurt, Cross River: Closed permanently
• Yogo Berry, Larchmont 
• Yogo Berry, Mount Kisco: Closed permanently
• Yogo Joy, Scarsdale: Closed permanently

Opened 2009

• Yogo Berry, Scarsdale: Closed permanently
• Yogo Joy, Rye: Closed permanently

The majority of the shops in the article have closed for good, though new ones have opened since the article was published. I noticed most of the small towns now have juice shops.

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.

Valentine’s Day Froyo Offers

Fro-yo girl here. Happy Froyo Valentine’s Day! I hope your Valentine’s plans include froyo. Here are some sweet Valentine’s froyo deals that you can share with your loved one:

• 21 Choices Frozen Yogurt (Old Town Pasadena): Free red velvet cake on Valentine's Day
• Awesome Yogurt: Buy one, get one free on Valentine's Day when you mention that you saw the offer on Twitter 
• FlavorBerry: Enjoy a buy one, get one free offer on Valentine's Day
• Forever Yogurt Panama: Free hot toppings for Valentine's Day
• FroyoWorld has a free Valentine’s treat bag for you with a minimum $5 purchase from Feb. 12- Feb. 16, 1 – 5 PM, while supplies last
• J.Co Indonesia has a buy 2 single size froyos, get 1 free on Valentine's Day, say #ILOVEJCOOL to the cashier to redeem
• Menchie’s in Willamsburg, VA is offering a buy one, get one free deal on Valentine’s Day, find the coupon at: http://www.williamsburgfamilies.com/
• Menchie's UBC Vancouver has a buy one, get one 50% off deal for Valentine's Day
• Orange Leaf has a buy one, get one free deal all Valentine’s Day
• Pinkberry Edmonton has a buy 2 small, medium or large Pinkberry frozen yogurts for $9.90 Valentine’s special
• Pinkberry Kuwait The Avenues location has heart shaped frozen yogurt pops (swoon) for a limited time
• Pinkberry Thailand’s offer runs from Feb. 8 – 22, buy two cups of Pinkberry and get 14% off
• Red Mango Club Mango members get double points during Valentine’s weekend
• sweetFrog Southend-on-Sea’s location has a buy one, get one free deal during Valentine’s weekend
• sweetFrog Danville, VA: Buy 2 cups on Valentine's Day and get 25% off, arts and crafts and a photo booth all weekend long
• TCBY (North Carolina): Buy one, get one for 50% on Valentine's Day
• Yo-chi: Free chocolate hazelnut and sour cherry bark on Valentine's Day
• Yoga-urt (Glendale, CA) is offering a buy one, get one half off deal on Valentine’s Day
• Yogurt Paradise: Buy one, get one free Friday - Sunday, Valentine's Day
• Zebra Treats: $1 froyo cones on Valentine's Day

You could order a Valentine’s Day froyo cake from Menchie’s, Qoola, 16 Handles, TCBY, Loreta's or other places that have froyo cakes.

There’s still time to print out a Valentine’s card from Yogurtland and get a gift card to go with it. It’s sure to make a froyo lover smile or even swoon.

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.

Boston Froyo Report

Fro-yo girl here. Boston is a respectable froyo town. It became achieved that status when Berryline opened at Harvard Square in Cambridge (3 Arrow St.) back in 2007. Local favorite Berryline has won Best FroYo from boston.com’s A-List in 2010-2014. The original shop offers four house flavors a day and they do come up with creative flavors like malted cinnamon cocoa, pear almond, banana chocolate, apple cinnamon, rose and lavender honey. They also have some housemade toppings like granola, mochi and brownies. Some of their flavorings are subtle. The frozen yogurt texture is smooth and light.

Coolidge Corner and the Allston/Brighton/Brookline neighborhoods seem to be the hub of frozen yogurt activity. Many froyo shops are located in this area, including the recently closed Yogurtland (which closed in September 2015), FroyoWorld (from Connecticut), 16 Handles and local shops: Mixx, Chill, JP Licks. Chill (354 Chestnut Hill Ave., Brighton, MA) is a local shop that carries ice cream and counter serve frozen yogurt (4 rotating flavors). Their Original Tart is thick, creamy and refreshing.

JP Licks is primarily an ice cream shop (with 13 locations in the Boston area) but they do offer frozen yogurt. Sweet and tart flavors are offered. Yogurt X is their plain/original tart flavor and it’s respectable (moderately tart, firm with a sweet finish, the texture was slightly gritty).

Mix in, hand churned style yogurt is a popular menu item at Angora Café (1024 Commonwealth Ave., Boston) across from Boston University. The delightful Japanese bakery, Japonaise (1020 Beacon St., Brookline), also offers mix in style froyo, including a green tea and red bean variety.

Froyo is never too far when you’re on the Freedom Trail, starting with the Walgreen’s flagship store (620 Washington St.) at Boston Common which carries UpMarket froyo. Faneuil Hall has Grasshopper Creamery with four flavors of froyo, while you can find froyo at Quincy Market’s The Berry Twist and Sprinkles Ice Cream. Pinkberry (285 Hanover St., Boston) is across the street from the Freedom Trail in the North End area.

You can find froyo at several transportation hubs. Pinkberry has locations at South Station and Logan International Airport. Pinkberry locations in Boston carry more than froyo. I also spotted cupcakes, coffee and acai bowls.

Other froyo shops in Boston include FroZen Yo, Red Mango, iYo, Orange Leaf, etc.

I was excited to try Stonyfield Frozen Yogurt Pearls at Whole Foods, but they weren’t available at the location that I visited.

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 York City Froyo Report

Fro-yo girl here. New York City has always been a trendsetter when it comes to food and it’s no different when it comes to froyo. I’m always excited to visit and check out the froyo offerings. The diversity of froyo offerings is impressive and the city offers much more than your typical froyo, including many counter serve shops and innovative froyo offerings.

Homegrown Favorites

GRK is a quick-serve chain of Greek cafes serving fresh Greek food, Greek drinks and Greek yogurt (fresh/refrigerated or frozen). GRK started in NYC and now has a Washington DC outpost.

There’s a separate express line for counter-served fresh or frozen yogurt (spelled ygrt on the sign). Toppings are limited but include interesting Greek toppings like cherry preserves, fig preserves, rose petal preserves along with figs, fresh fruit, Greek honey and nuts. They only have one flavor of yogurt, plain. The yogurt contains no added sugar and is sweetened with honey. It’s on the icier side with a sweet, clean finish – it tastes like real yogurt with natural tanginess.

Culture: An American Yogurt Company is still my favorite NYC froyo shop. The housemade yogurt and housemade toppings are a notch above what you can find elsewhere. They take their yogurt very seriously, making Greek yogurt from scratch from locally sourced Hudson Valley milk and live probiotic cultures. The counter-served yogurt is available fresh or frozen. One variety per day is organic. The frozen yogurt is super thick, clean, tangy with a refreshing edge, less sweet – what froyo should taste like. Gourmet toppings include fresh key lime custard (recommended, very tangy), strawberries macerated in balsamic vinegar and pineapple roasted with cardamom in maple syrup. The key lime pie sundae features key lime custard, lime syrup and graham cracker crumbs (yum). They also have yogurt drinks, froyo cookie sandwiches and Stumptown Coffee. Culture has two locations in NYC and its fresh Greek yogurt is available at select local markets, including Whole Foods.

Victory Garden (31 Carmine St., New York (West Village), NY) is the only goat milk soft serve ice cream and frozen yogurt shop in town. The goat milk is sourced from a local farm. Flavors and toppings are seasonal. The goat milk frozen yogurt flavor is distinctive and delicious. The texture is smooth, dense and creamy and the aftertaste is sweet and clean. It tasted “cleaner” and less processed than the typical frozen yogurt. The flavor was tangy but moderately so and the slight refreshing edge was also pleasant. You can taste the goat milk. The flavors are more sophisticated and the toppings healthier. Look out for unusual toppings and sauces like mole sauce, raspberry rose sauce, edible flowers, blackcurrant bay leaf sauce, fennel pollen, bitter orange drizzle, and candied pine nuts.

Butterfield Market (1114 Lexington Ave., New York, NY) is a smallish Upper East Side gourmet market with a froyo/smoothies counter and walkup window. The froyo is counter-served and they serve Frogurt, the same frozen yogurt carried by Forty Carrots (Bloomingdale’s, 1000 3rd Ave., New York, NY).

Blue Olive Market (210 E 41st St., New York, NY) is an upscale Greek market and café in Murray Hill known for its made to order frozen Greek yogurt. The yogurt and toppings are combined and then frozen with liquid nitrogen. 

Greecologies (379 Broome St., New York, NY) serves grass-fed Greek fresh yogurt served in terracotta bowls, smoothies, desserts, coffee and tea in Little Italy. The yogurt is made with local milk and can be topped with sweet or savory toppings like sour cherry, quince, quinoa, muesli and olive oil. There was talk of adding frozen yogurt but they are currently still working on the recipe.

Invasion of the Foreign Froyo Chains

“If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere. It’s up to you, New York, New York.” New York is where Chillbox (of Greece) and Yooglers (of Spain) chose to open their first US locations. Yooglers recently closed for good before I had a chance to try it.

Chillbox (204 E 60th St., New York, NY) has one Upper East Side location. I was told that the frozen yogurt comes from Greece and so do some of the toppings like the honey and sour cherry syrup. I suppose this explains the price, 78 cents an ounce. While the frozen yogurt is good (tangy, whipped, light and smooth), it isn’t the best in town and some of the toppings didn’t look that fresh.

Yogorino (657 Broadway, New York, NY) of Italy opened its first US location in Philadelphia. The NYC location added a new flavor, chocolate, a few months ago. The chocolate flavor tasted too much like cocoa powder, but the original flavor is as good as I remembered it: thick, creamy, whipped/light with a light tang and mild flavor. It’s not as tart as tart froyo but it does have some tang. This location also offers crepes, gelato, milkshakes and beverages.

Froyo for Travelers

Penn Station’s Chickpea cafes feature Red Mango frozen yogurt. You can also find Red Mango at JFK International Airport Terminal 7 and LaGuardia International Airport.

Of course there are many other froyo shops in NYC, including 16 Handles, Pinkberry, Yogurtland, Red Mango, Off the Wall, YoArt, Yorganic, Fresko, Uptown Swirl, etc. Unfortunately I didn’t have the chance to visit them all.

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.

Happy Froyo Valentine’s Day/Singles Awareness Day 2015

Fro-yo girl here. Are you celebrating Valentine’s Day with a froyo date or with a single cup of froyo?

Valentine’s Day specials:

• Forever Yogurt has a BOGO offer from 12-6PM, mention “Forever Friend Promo”
• Froyoworld has a BOGO offer
• Red Mango Club Mango members enjoy double points
• Samba Swirl is 50% off

Check out our Valentine’s Day Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/froyogirl/valentines-day-froyo-images/

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.

2014 Bay Area Froyo Year in Review

Fro-yo girl here. It’s time to look about at the year in froyo in the Bay Area. Since I’ve moved to SoCal, this will be the last Bay Area yearly review.

Closings slightly outpaced openings. Most of the openings occurred in the South Bay (San Jose area), followed by San Francisco openings. New froyo shops continued to replace old ones (e.g., Pure Yum, Yogurt in Love, Over the Moon). With two new San Jose locations opening in 2014, Yogurtland has the most locations in the Bay Area of any chain. They plan to open a location in Mountain View, CA soon. Red Mango opened a location at the San Jose International Airport last month.

Bay Area Openings 

• Easy Breezy Inner Sunset (San Francisco)
• Fusion Mix (Fremont)
• Honeyberry (Oakland)
• Loving Cup Hayes Valley (San Francisco)
• Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt (Oakridge Mall, San Jose & Dublin)
• Over the Moon Ice Cream & Cookies (2 locations, they took over Yogorino’s SF locations and kept the yogurt machines, and they still serve froyo)
• Pure Yum (Fremont, former FreshBerry location)
• Red Mango (San Jose International Airport)
• Souvla (San Francisco)
• YoDo Yogurt (Campbell)
• Yogurt in Love (Los Gatos)
• Yogurtland Brokaw, Cambrian Park, Cottle Rd. (San Jose)
• Yogurtland (Morgan Hill)

Most of the closings occurred in San Jose. Notable closings include Yogurt Delite’s two locations in San Jose. Both locations survived for decades. Tuttimelon closed its flagship Irving St. location (they moved from the original location on Irving St. to a larger location – the larger location closed) and one of its earliest locations on Chestnut St. in San Francisco. Icebee was the earliest self-serve shops in SF and it recently closed. Yogen Fruz opened its first location in the Bay Area at the Embarcadero Center in San Francisco in early 2008, that location closed this year. Tutti Frutti closed several locations this year. The shops that closed were diverse – some were new self-serve shops and others had been around for decades. Some sold froyo only and others like Next Door Sweets and Good Bellies had many offerings plus froyo.

Bay Area Closings

• Cultive (San Francisco)
• Fro-Yo Shoppe (Mountain View)
• Froyo Delight (San Jose)
• Gaga Yogurt (San Jose)
• Good Bellies (Oakland)
• Icebee (San Francisco & San Jose)
• Next Door Sweets (San Francisco)
• Tuttimelon Chestnut St. & Irving St. (San Francisco)
• Tutti Frutti Oak Grove & Palos Verdes Mall (Walnut Creek)
• Tutti Frutti (Milpitas)
• Tutti Frutti Silver Creek (San Jose)
• Yogen Fruz (San Francisco)
• Yogurt Delite (Blossom Valley & Meridian, San Jose)
• Yogurt Village (San Jose)
• Yogurt Walk (Dublin)
• Yotopia (San Francisco)

More froyo shops are on the way in 2015.

Future Openings

• Easy Breezy Castro (San Francisco)
• Yogurtland (Mountain View)

For a comprehensive review of froyo events in 2014, check out IFYA's post on key events in the froyo industry in 2014 post.

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.

Cinco de Mayo Froyo Style

Fro-yo girl here. Happy Cinco de Mayo froyo fans! I’m thinking back to all the Mexican inspired frozen yogurt that I’ve tried in the past and I came up with the following list:

• Dulce de leche - the most common flavor, many shops carry it
• Mexican Hot Chocolate - Yogurtland Flavor Quest flavor, from the 1st Flavor Quest
• Aztec Chili Chocolate - Easy Breezy in San Francisco, CA
• Flan - Yogurtland 2nd Annual Flavor Quest flavor 
• Horchata frozen yogurt 

If you’re in or near the Glendale, AZ, Razzleberriez has two Cinco de Mayo flavors on tap, Churro and Margarita, and a buy one, get one free offer for today.

Red Mango has a month long special called "Cinco de Mango" where you can fill up your cup for $5 Monday - Thursday. 

Haagen Dazs has a Dulce De Leche frozen yogurt available in most supermarkets.

If you can’t find any of these Mexcian inspired frozen yogurt flavors, you can always make your own. Here’s a recipe for Horchata frozen yogurt from the Food Network.

http://www.foodnetwork.co.uk/recipes/horchata-frozen-yogurt-ru330139.html

* RAZZLEBERRIEZ: 6751 N. Sunset Blvd. Suite E-106, Glendale, Arizona 85305

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.

Happy Froyo Valentine’s Day 2014

Fro-yo girl here. Happy Valentine’s Day, froyo fans! Do you think it’s more romantic to (a) share a cup of froyo or (b) treat your sweetheart to a cup of froyo? However you plan on spending your Valentine’s Day, I hope it’s romantic and involves frozen yogurt.

16 Handles, FroyoWorld, Peachwave, Red Mango, Snog, Yogen Fruz and Yogurty’s have Valentine’s Day promotions this year. Check your local froyo shop for Valentine’s Day specials. 

For inspiration I created a new Pinterest board called Valentine’s Day Froyo Images: http://www.pinterest.com/froyogirl/valentines-day-froyo-images/

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 Postcards from NYC

Fro-yo girl here. I wanted to share a few fro-yo related pictures I took on my recent trip to NYC. They include:

* Yogurt Culture (125 Park Ave.): the newish fresh and frozen yogurt place by Grand Central Terminal imagined by Dannon
* 16 Handles (153 2nd Ave.): packed at night despite the intense cold, the glowing sign is so inviting
* Roastown (267 W. 34th St.): with its cute sign for fro-yo, sushi, coffee and more, in Midtown, a good area to shop for clothes
* Red Mango (11 W. 32nd St.): it's 59 cents an ounce, NYC fro-yo is more expensive, ouch

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

Best New Flavor of 2012

Fro-yo girl here. Peach Pinkberry, Blackberry Passionfruit (Yogurtland), Honey Badger (Red Mango)...2012 had its share of brand new fro-yo flavors. My favorite new fro-yo flavor for 2012 was from a new local (San Francisco) self-serve shop, Easy Breezy Frozen Yogurt: Lime Breezy fro-yo. 

Lime is one of my favorite flavors and it’s one that I rarely see in fro-yo form. Easy Breezy makes Lime Breezy with fresh lime juice. The fresh, tangy natural lime flavor shines through. The texture is creamy, light and smooth. The color is natural (not green). Check Easy Breezy’s Facebook page for the current flavor line up.

I also liked Yogurtland’s Key Lime Bar Tart fro-yo flavor, which was introduced early in 2011 and was made with real key limes.

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

* EASY BREEZY FROZEN YOGURT: 4028 24th St., San Francisco, CA

Fro-yo Holiday Gift Card Offers

Fro-yo girl here. Fro-yo gift cards make the perfect gift or stocking stuffer and there are many deals to be found this time of year, including the following holiday promotions:

• Red Mango: Buy $25 gift card, get $5 card, offer expires 12/30/2012 or while supplies last
• Pinkberry: Buy $25 or more gift card, get $5 card, offer expires 12/31/2012
• Yogurtland: Buy $25 in gift cards, get 10 ounces free card on your next visit, while supplies last
• Nubi: Free cup of fro-yo (up to 10 ounces) when you buy $15 or more in gift cards
• Tutti Frutti: Buy $25 in gift cards, get $5 bonus gift card, offer expires 12/31/2012

Check your local fro-yo shop to see if they have any holiday promotions. Spread the gift of fro-yo!

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

Fro-yo Chain Store Location Count

Fro-yo girl here. It's time for another update of the chain store location count. Several are close to having 200 open locations. Wondering who’s in the lead?

* MENCHIE’S: 199 locations in the U.S. (vs. 98 last August) and 28 locations outside the U.S.
* ORANGE LEAF FROZEN YOGURT: 190 locations in the U.S.
* RED MANGO: 182 locations in the U.S. (vs. 128 last August), including a whopping 47 in NY.
* YOGURTLAND: Approximately 181 locations in the U.S. (vs. 96 last August), 9 locations outside the U.S. Their website doesn’t make it easy to view a list of individual locations.
* PINKBERRY: 139 locations in the U.S. (vs. 116 locations last August) and 61 locations outside the U.S. The SF location was store #200. They have many locations in Peru and United Arab Emirates.
* CHERRYBERRY: 102 locations in the U.S.

The store counts are based on the locations listed on the company website in August. Menchie’s is now the largest self-serve fro-yo chain in the U.S. (and the world). They’ve been opening an average of 10 stores a month. Menchie’s expects to have 500 stores open by the end of 2013. Yogurtland plans to have 1,000 locations open by the end of 2017.

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

Favorite Fro-yo Chain Poll Results

Fro-yo girl here. I recently asked my readers to choose their favorite fro-yo chain. The results are in and Yogurtland won easily with 49% of the votes. Pinkberry came in 2nd with 35% of the votes and Red Mango placed third with 14%.

Red Mango was named the best fro-yo and smoothie chain by Zagat in September 2011, based on Zagat’s Fast Food Poll, based on the votes of 6,064 diners. Red Mango beat out Pinkberry, TCBY, Smoothie King and Jamba Juice. It looks like Yogurtland wasn’t included in the Zagat poll.

The three chains have roughly the same number of locations in the U.S. (Yogurtland has the most, Pinkberry the least) and they represent different service levels. Pinkberry is full service, Yogurtland is self-serve and Red Mango has both full-service and self-serve outlets.

While the number of voters was much smaller with my poll (81 votes, 1 vote per person), my readers are passionate about fro-yo. I consider them to be fro-yo industry opinion leaders.

There’s much to admire about Yogurtland. They have a dedicated flavorologist who comes up with creative fro-yo flavors, they introduce new flavors often, they popularized limited edition fro-yo spoons, and they’ve had some adorable partnerships with Tokidoki and Sanrio. They even have giant fro-yo spoon door handles (Capitola, CA) and college specific fro-yo signs (UC Berkeley’s mascot, Oski the Bear, prefers Bears Mango fro-yo).

Congratulations Yogurtland!

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

Fro-yo Store Count

Fro-yo girl here. It's time for another update of the chain store location count. The counts are based on the locations listed on the company websites. Yogurtland just announced the opening of store #150 in Bakersfield, CA, on August 14. The figure includes U.S. and international locations. Their goal is "to open 550 stores by 2015."

* YOGURTLAND: 147 locations in the U.S., 3 outside (Mexico, Guam and Japan), 96 U.S. locations last August
* RED MANGO: 128 locations in the U.S. though a recent article says 132 stores are in operation in the U.S., "230 locations in over 17 countries across the world," 70 U.S. locations last August
* PINKBERRY: 116 locations in the U.S., 17 locations outside the U.S., 95 U.S. locations last August
* GOLDEN SPOON: 102 locations in the U.S., 25 locations outside of the U.S., 113 U.S. locations last August
* MENCHIE'S: 98 locations in the U.S., 2 in Canada, 47 U.S. locations last August
* YOGEN FRUZ: 56 locations in the U.S., locations in 13 other countries, 40 locations in the U.S. last August

Red Mango's growth has been impressive with 62 new U.S. locations since the last time I counted about a year ago compared to 21 for Pinkberry and 51 for Yogurtland. Menchie's has proven to be one to watch with 51 new U.S. locations since last August.

It will be interesting to see what impact the new CEO of Red Mango, Barry Barron, will have. They've embraced self-serve as well as other products (smoothies, parfaits, iced tea) while Yogurtland and Menchie's offer only fro-yo.

TCBY continues to be the largest fro-yo chain, with over 470 U.S. locations.

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

The DailyGobble Blog, DailyGobble Presents: FroYo Battle!

The DailyGobble Blog, DailyGobble Presents: FroYo Battle!

Thought this was worth reposting...there are only a few more days to take advantage of the DailyGobble offer. Also, Pinkberry Lychee is going away soon, so you'd better get your fill now:

Red Mango or Pinkberry: Which one is your favorite FroYo shop? Show your support!

From today through May 24, go to any Red Mango or Pinkberry location (New York or San Francisco), and DailyGobble will give you $3.25 back!

The offer is valid at all Red Mango and Pinkberry locations in NYC and selected locations in the SF Bay Area.

To claim your deal, upload your receipt through the DailyGobble website or their free smartphone (iPhone and Android) apps and provide DailyGobble with your Paypal ID to get your rebate within 24 hours.

Fro-yo Chicago Report: In the Neighborhoods & O'Hare

Fro-yo girl here. My last Chicago fro-yo report covered the downtown area. This one focuses on the neighborhoods of Chicago. I heard about the car driving into Forever Yogurt. FY sorry to hear about that. On the positive side of things, they're supposed to open 3 additional shops this month with 12 locations planned for 2011.

I've had good yogurt gelato and yogurt ice cream (if that makes any sense) but I still haven't had good custom fro-yo. I'm talking about places like iCream where they make the ice cream or frozen yogurt after you order it...using liquid nitrogen. iCream's frozen yogurt ranks among the worst I've ever had. The texture was lumpy and sticky and the taste was like a bad pear syrup. Horrific.


Things are looking up food-wise at O'Hare, thanks to the Red Mango kiosk. They're at Midway Airport as well.

In Evanston, Northwestern students can choose between Red Mango, 38 Degrees, and a couple of non-fro-yo only shops. Having tried 38 Degrees, I would choose the creamier and better tasting Red Mango shop.

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

* iCREAM: 1537 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL
* 38 DEGREES: 940 Church St., Evanston, IL
* RED MANGO: 809 Davis St., Evanston, IL
* RED MANGO: 1000 W. O'Hare Airport Terminal B5, Chicago, IL