History of Corner Stores & Froyo in San Francisco

Foodhall, San Francisco

Fro-yo girl here. Everything’s a little fancier in San Francisco, where corner stores and liquor stores just might carry soft serve froyo. The most famous of these is Michaelis Wine & Spirits in the Marina. Michaelis is a liquor store but they also have a counter for counter serve froyo and toppings towards the back of the store. They’ve been serving froyo for at least 15 years, I’m sure, but I’m not sure when they first started serving froyo. I can’t find reviews from over 15 years ago. Way back in 2005, they had 6 flavors of froyo a day and reviewers liked the generous servings and low prices. It was the first liquor store I ever got froyo from. 

Foodhall, which opened in 2016, is an upscale corner market with a coffee bar, pastries, cheese, produce, pantry staples, flowers, and a large wine and spirits collection. And yes, they serve froyo too. It’s Italian style, plain soft serve, made with local Straus organic milk. There are fancy toppings like hazelnuts, olive oil, pine nuts, and espresso.

Loop Neighboorhood opened its first location in 2013. Started by Bay Area gas station operator, Vintners Distribution, Loop envisioned a new type of convenience store, an upscale one that offered healthy food and fresh foods in an inviting environment. There are currently 35 Loop markets and 33 of those have self-serve froyo. Luckily, all three San Francisco locations offer self-serve froyo.

Corner Stores That Used to Offer Froyo

New Russian Hill Market on Pacific Ave. used to offer self-serve froyo but it looks like they discontinued doing so around 2012.

K & D Market on 16th St. in the Mission is a small liquor store that serves Korean food and used to (?) serve froyo. The newest review that mentions froyo is from 2015 and the neon frozen yogurt sign was removed.

Walgreens isn’t exactly a corner store but when they opened the Union Square flagship in 2013, they had self-serve froyo. Walgreens stopped offering self-serve froyo in 2017. Their Upmarket concept was similar to Loop Neighborhood.

Here are the addresses of the markets with froyo:

• Michaelis Wine & Spirits, 2198 Union St, San Francisco, CA 94123
• Foodhall, 3100 16th St., San Francisco, CA 94103
• Loop Neighborhood, 2890 3rd St., San Francisco, CA 94107
• Loop Neighborhood, 1200 19th Ave, San Francisco, CA 94122
• Loop Neighborhood, 2501 California St, San Francisco, CA 94115

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.

2020 Froyo Guide to San Francisco

Easy Breezy Frozen Yogurt

Fro-yo girl here. My froyo guide to San Francisco was published in 2015, so it’s time for an update. Of the four shops that I recommended in 2015, two have closed since then: Fraiche Yogurt and Pinkberry. The Pinkberry Union Square location was the only Pinkberry in San Francisco. Yes, there’s a Pinkberry at SFO Airport but that’s outside of San Francisco. Fraiche closed in Palo Alto last December, so their SFO kiosk is the last remaining location.

Hayes Valley/Marina/NOPA

Souvla (517 Hayes St., 2272 Chestnut St., 531 Divisadero St.,) has opened additional locations and even launched a froyo truck since my last 2015 SF froyo guide. I’ve had their Greek froyo at all of their locations and the froyo is consistently wonderful. Their salads are tasty and popular and they have Greek wine. But the star is the creamy Greek froyo made in house. The Greek frozen yogurt comes in one size and one flavor (plain) with your choice of toppings: baklava crumbles with syrup, sour cherry, olive oil and sea salt or honey. I like to get sour cherry syrup and baklava crumbles. The froyo comes in a cute NY coffee cup that’s perfect for strolling.

The Mission

Foodhall, 3100 16th St.) opened in April 2016 as a stylish gourmet grocery store with coffee, pastries, cheese, produce and a large wine and spirits collection. Foodhall serves Italian style frozen yogurt made with Straus organic milk. There’s just one flavor, plain and they have some fancier toppings. The froyo is thick, smooth, and dense.

Oh, there’s a Souvla in this neighborhood too, at 758 Valencia St., and yes, froyo is available.

Noe Valley/Inner Sunset/ West Portal

Easy Breezy Frozen Yogurt (4028 24th St., 718 Irving St., 44 West Portal Ave.) moved from the Castro to West Portal and opened a shop in Corte Madera since 2015. I’m recommending them again because they make their own froyo with their own recipes. It’s fresh and unique. They try to use organic ingredients as much as possible and have interesting toppings. The décor is adorable and they care about the environment. Plus, all their shops are Swirl of Honor shops.

Pacific Heights

Apizza (2043 Fillmore St.) is 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. The froyo there is hand-blended to order and creamy but with more texture than your typical froyo. 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. There are other Loving Cup locations in SF but the one inside apizza offers the best value, but with fewer 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.

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.

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.

The Argentum Project Offers Authentic Greek Yogurt in San Francisco, CA

Fro-yo girl here. When I first heard about the Argentum Project, which opened in July of this year, I knew it was a place that I had to visit. The owners grew up in Greece. The Argentum Project is a “Greek-style coffee cafe featuring Greek specialties, take away sweets & savories and gift items." One of the items on the menu is award winning soft serve frozen yogurt from Greece (Kayak brand).

The soft serve frozen yogurt is available in two flavors, original 0% no sugar added or vanilla.

Small $5/ Medium $7/ Large $9

The price includes your choice of honey syrup, sour cherry syrup, or housemade baklava crumbles. Or you can add a Greek spoon sweet (+$1.25), organic fruit (+$1.50) or granola (+$0.50).

* Original, 0% fat, no sugar added. This was icier than the vanilla. It was sweeter than I expected because the yogurt has Stevia. There was no tang and it didn’t have much flavor.

* Vanilla: Fat and no Stevia made this the better flavor. It was rich, velvety smooth, and very creamy. The vanilla flavor was subtle. While the texture was nice, the yogurt seemed to melt quickly and was never that firm, even when I first received the cup. The frozen yogurt had little tang. While it was good, it wasn’t as flavorful as I had hoped. It was different than the usual vanilla froyo – less like ice cream and more like froyo but not tangy.

In addition to frozen yogurt, the Argentum Project offers Greek specialties like spanakopita, bougatsa, hortopita, tiropita, tahinopita, baklava, kataifi, pastachio, beeftekia, Greek desserts, sandwiches, spreads, salads, and more.

If you want to check it out, be aware that it’s in a rundown area with a lot of pawn shops.

4 out of 5 stars.

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

* THE ARGENTUM PROJECT: 47 6th St, San Francisco (SOMA), CA 94103

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.

Easy Breezy Opens in West Portal (San Francisco)

Fro-yo girl here. I’ve been going to Easy Breezy since day 1 of their first location, which opened in Noe Valley (San Francisco, CA) in 2012. I fell in love with their creative, fresh, hand-crafted flavors and their commitment to quality frozen yogurt and toppings. They even had premium and sometimes creative toppings. I’m definitely excited to see them expand; the newest location is in West Portal. The space used to be occupied by Tuttimelon and then Quickly, so I’ve been there many times. In fact, it was the first place that I ever met Mr. Tuttimelon on the day that Tuttimelon West Portal opened.

Since I moved away from San Francisco, I wasn’t able to attend Easy Breezy West Portal’s opening day, March 3rd. But, I did swing by recently during a quick trip to the Bay Area in April.

The shop was super cute with wood accents and the signature blue Easy Breezy color. Breezy, the mascot, appears outside the shop and inside too. The signs are super eye-catching and appealing.

It was very busy during our visit. All the tables inside were taken and people were sitting on the bench outside. The customers were mostly young families.

There were four machines serving 8 flavors. It’s self-serve like the other Easy Breezy locations. Toppings included sauces, candy, cheesecake, mochi, cookie dough, popping boba, fresh fruit (the blueberries and strawberries were organic), brownies, chocolate chips, yogurt chips, local granola, cereal, nuts, sprinkles, etc. I love the Belgian butter waffle cookies that I sometimes find there but they didn’t have any during my visit. It’s 81 cents an ounce.

Flavors of the day:

• Acai & me (vegan) 
• Chocolate amaretto (vegan) 
• Chocolate custard 
• Vanilla bean (organic yogurt)) 
• Cookie dough monster (organic yogurt) 
• Vanilla custard 
• Original tart (organic yogurt) 
• Mango tajin (organic yogurt) 

The vegan flavors are made with different bases, including coconut milk and cashew milk. There were lots of organic froyo options, plus indulgent frozen custards as well.

Congrats, Easy Breezy, and welcome to West Portal.

* EASY BREEZY WEST PORTAL: 44 W Portal Ave, San Francisco, CA 94127

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 La Boulangerie

Fro-yo girl here. On November 28, the news broke that La Boulangerie’s owners had invested in San Francisco based Loving Cup, with the goal of franchising and opening 100 locations in the next few years. Loving Cup has opened a pop-up inside the Financial District’s La Boulangerie (222 Sutter St., San Francisco, CA) with more locations expected inside other La Boulangerie locations.

According to Loving Cup’s Facebook post,

“Loving Cup ❤️ La Boulangerie. So much so that we've decided to partner with them to bring you all the deliciousness of Loving Cup and the scrumptiousness of La Boulangerie under one roof! We're moving into a few of their existing locations and growing with them as we open new locations together. First up: FiDi!”

The November 28 announcement says,

“The La Boulangerie team is helping Loving Cup with menu items like a brownie option and a chocolate sea salt cookie that will be incorporated into the menu, as well as sold retail. Some of the sauces the shop makes will also be sold retail, (co-owner Liz) Fielder said.”

I’ve been going to Loving Cup since the days when they had just one location on Polk St. It’s different from other froyo shops because the froyo is mix in style and it’s not self-serve. You choose size, a base (chocolate, vanilla or non-dairy) and your mix-ins and they hand churn everything together using a machine. With mix-in style custom blended yogurt, you design your own flavor.

While a custom blended frozen yogurt can be tasty as it distributes the toppings so that there are toppings in every bite, it does change the flavor of the frozen yogurt (which can be good or bad). Sauces and candy are good mix ins. If you want a tangy yogurt, add berries. Some toppings don’t taste as good when they’re blended – for example, graham cracker crumbs become gritty when blended into the frozen yogurt, and mochi isn’t transformed, it just becomes smaller.

I visited the Loving Cup pop-up at Sutter St. La Boulangerie to see how it compared to the other four Loving Cup locations (it’s the first “mini” Loving Cup location). I’ve been to all the SF locations now but not the one in Marin. The Sutter St. pop-up is not that different from the other Loving Cup locations. You can get their rice puddings there and the yogurt offering is essentially the same (same prices, same mix ins, same bases as the Union St. location). 

However, I did notice that the Sutter location had housemade brownies, green tea matcha latte froyo and pumpkin 5 spice froyo. I’m not sure if the other Loving Cup locations offer these new additions. The new flavors sound more sophisticated and complex, so I see them as a good sign of things to come.

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 Opens in the Marina/Cow Hollow, San Francisco

Fro-yo girl here. The old Pacific Puffs location on Union Street is the home of the fourth location of Loving Cup, the SF based rice pudding and hand churned froyo specialist. They opened on July 29, 2017. The new location is directly across the street from Michaelis Wine & Spirit, which also sells frozen yogurt. It’s interesting that years ago, Union Street Coffee Roastery had froyo too, so three of the four shops on the corner of Union and Fillmore had froyo at one point in time.

Each cup of froyo is hand churned to order with the customer’s choice of mix ins to create a truly custom flavor. First you choose the base (vanilla, chocolate or vegan) and pick your mix ins (fruit, candy, sauces, almond butter, peanut butter, cookies, Nutella, sprinkles, nuts, cookie dough) or opt for one of their preselected favorite combinations (e.g., Brian Boitano, Dirty Hipster, The Dude Abides). The frozen yogurt is all natural, probiotic and nonfat. It’s made with grassfed milk. The vegan base is made with bananas. The machine combines your frozen yogurt with your mix ins.

Prices: Small $4/ Medium $5/ Large $6/ Pint $8, add a cone or waffle bowl for $1.25. The first mix-in is free, extras are 75 cents each. The cones and bowls looked housemade.

The shop is cute and small with white tiles and benches by the window. It’s a to go/takeaway kind of place. They no longer have the paper loyalty cards but they still do have a loyalty program. Most people seem to go there for froyo, but they also have their rice puddings.

If you’re a flavorista, submit your favorite froyo flavor creation on Instagram, @lovingcupsf #MyLovingCup. A new winner will be chosen every month and every time someone orders your flavor from the Union Street location, you’ll get 50 cents.

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

* LOVING CUP: 2201 Union St., San Francisco, CA 94123

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.

Love Berry at Stonestown Galleria, San Francisco, Closes

Fro-yo girl here. Love Berry inside Stonestown Galleria wasn’t the first place to carry tart froyo in San Francisco (that was Yogurt Bar) but it was one of the earliest. They started offering tart frozen yogurt back in late 2007. It wasn’t a great froyo shop but the location did provide them with a steady stream of customers. And they did outlast Yoppi Yogurt's Stonestown Galleria location, the first wave of tart froyo shops and most of the shops at Stonestown Galleria.

With Love Berry’s closing, Stonestown Galleria no longer has a shop that serves frozen yogurt. Now there are multiple places for milk tea and juice. And you can get ice cream sandwiches at CREAM.

The Love Berry space is behind scaffolding. I’m not sure what will replace it.

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

* LOVE BERRY: 400 Winston Dr., San Francisco, CA 94132

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 Showdown in the Mission (San Francisco, CA)

Fro-yo girl here. Foodhall opened in April 2016 as a stylish gourmet grocery store with coffee, pastries, cheese, produce and a large wine and spirits collection. The space is beautiful, especially the ceiling. The chalkboard sign out front says Best Froyo Ever.

Foodhall serves Italian style frozen yogurt made with Straus organic milk. There’s just one flavor, plain. I can respect that. Plain is usually one of the best flavors.

Froyo prices: Small ($3.50)/ Medium ($4.50)/ Large ($6.50)/ Cone ($6)

Toppings ($1.50 each): Dark chocolate hazelnut sauce, salted caramel sauce, espresso, sour cherries (they didn’t have any during my visit), organic macerated strawberries, organic blueberries, organic raspberries, toasted hazelnuts, pistachios, almonds, pine nuts, granola, maple bacon

Complimentary toppings: Olive oil & sea salt, honey, maple syrup, sprinkles

The cones are gourmet, hand-rolled ones from the Konery in Brooklyn. The froyo is dispensed from a countertop Taylor machine. It’s generally available all day, unless they happen to be cleaning the machine.

The small froyo was a generous size. The froyo was thick and smooth. It was sweet but tangy. It reminded me a lot of Yogorino’s Italian froyo, only denser. It has that unique taste that Yogorino had.

Is it the best froyo? The answer definitely would have been yes when they first opened but since then, Souvla opened a few blocks away at 758 Valencia St. Souvla also offers just one flavor of froyo (plain tart) dispensed from a countertop Taylor machine, but it’s Greek style. Both Foodhall and Souvla offer excellent froyo. Souvla’s isn’t as sweet or dense; it tastes more like natural yogurt. Souvla’s also isn’t as dene. I prefer the Greek toppings at Souvla though their toppings selection is more limited. Personally, I prefer Souvla froyo but I can see why others who like a sweeter yogurt would argue in favor of Foodhall’s version.

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

* FOODHALL: 3100 16th St., San Francisco, CA 94103
* SOUVLA: 758 Valencia St., San Francisco, CA 94110

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 to Open in the Marina (San Francisco, CA)

Fro-yo girl here. The old Pacific Puffs location on Union Street is the home of the fourth location of Loving Cup, the SF based rice pudding and hand churned froyo specialist. Each cup of froyo is hand churned to order with the customer’s choice of mix ins to create a truly custom flavor. The froyo comes out thick, rich and indulgent – though it’s still lowfat. They have non-dairy options too.

The doors open at noon on Saturday, July 29 and swirls are just $1 between 2 – 3 PM.

* LOVING CUP: 2201 Union St., San Francisco, CA 94123

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.

RockIt Swirl Transforms into Cuppa, the Update

Fro-yo girl here. Back in 2011, Eggettes in Glen Park (San Francisco, CA) remodeled and rebranded, becoming Rockit Swirl. I covered the story at the time: http://froyogirl.blogspot.com/2011/07/rock-it-swirl-takes-over-eggettes-in.html

Eggettes first introduced frozen yogurt at the Glen Park location in 2009: http://froyogirl.blogspot.com/2009/05/fro-yo-meet-eggettes-eggettes-meet-fro.html

The owners have remodeled and rebranded again. Rockit Swirl is now called Cuppa. Cuppa serves “bubble tea, froyo, smoothies, snacks and more.” I missed the grand opening in March but I did check out the shop recently.

Cuppa represents a somewhat fresh start, though the frozen yogurt machines have remained and the menu isn’t that different from the previous incarnation. Some of the Rock It Swirl signs are still present too. The interior has been painted and it does feel cleaner (and cleanliness was an issue before). It looks more mature.

Rockit Swirl became a grimy hangout for high school and middle school kids. More families are going to Cuppa now (but I also visited during the summer, so I'm sure fewer school kids were out looking for a place to go afterschool).

The froyo is still self-serve. They had 6 flavors at the time. The toppings bar is what they had before: syrups, candy, fruit, popping boba, nuts, sprinkles, granola, chocolate chips, coconut, jellies and mochi. It’s 65 cents an ounce.

The customer service was friendly but when I asked for a sample cup, she only gave me one. One sample cup isn’t helpful, especially since I didn’t like what I sampled.

Froyo flavors of the day:

• Cable car chocolate
• French vanilla
• Strawberry: sweet, creamy, like ice cream, not yogurt 
• Original tart: the best flavor that I sampled, it had a refreshing edge and clean finish without being watered down, it didn’t taste lemony but had a bit of sourness and tang
• Almond milk, vanilla: dairy free, no probiotics, the texture was icier which I don’t mind but the flavor was very sweet and pretty chalky, plus it was bland
• Mango sorbet

For snacks, they have spam musubi, potstickers, chicken bites, etc. The best thing they ever offered here was the egg waffles. And those haven’t been offered for years. It feels like the place has improved a little but not a lot. The changes are more cosmetic on the froyo side though they did add almond milk soft serve (a premium offering). I doubt I would return unless they brought back the eggettes but that seems unlikely. Eggettes have become popular again though, so they should offer them.

Glen Park is a lovely neighborhood. It deserves a higher quality froyo spot.

$5 credit card minimum.

3 out of 5 stars

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

* CUPPA: 2810 Diamond St., San Francisco, CA 94131

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.

RockIt Swirl Transforms into Cuppa

Fro-yo girl here. Back in 2011, Eggettes in Glen Park (San Francisco, CA) remodeled and rebranded, becoming Rockit Swirl. I covered the story at the time: http://froyogirl.blogspot.com/2011/07/rock-it-swirl-takes-over-eggettes-in.html

Eggettes first introduced frozen yogurt at the Glen Park location in 2009: http://froyogirl.blogspot.com/2009/05/fro-yo-meet-eggettes-eggettes-meet-fro.html

Now Rockit Swirl (in the early days, it was Rock It Swirl, later it was Rockit Swirl) has remodeled and rebranded again. Rockit Swirl is now called Cuppa. Cuppa serves “bubble tea, froyo, smoothies, snacks and more.” It’s open now but they’re having a grand opening on March 18.

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

* CUPPA: 2810 Diamond St., San Francisco, CA 94131

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.

San Francisco Froyo Guide

Fro-yo girl here. It’s been almost three years since my Fro-yo Visitor’s Guide to San Francisco post and it’s time for an update. Sadly, some of the frozen yogurt shops on the original list are no longer in business but the good news is that new places have opened. This guide contains the frozen yogurt shops that are worth visiting.

* Hayes Valley: Hayes Valley, the artsy shopping/dining district has long been devoid of good dessert places but all that has changed and the neighborhood is now a frozen dessert mecca with Smitten (freshly made nitrogen ice cream), Miette (ice cream sandwiches made with Straus organic ice cream) and my froyo pick. Souvla (517 Hayes St.) is a crazy popular casual Greek eatery that specializes in spit-fired all natural meats. Get a Greek sandwich or salad, drink some Greek wine or beer and enjoy a cup of creamy Greek froyo for dessert. The Greek frozen yogurt comes in one size and one flavor (plain) with your choice of toppings: baklava crumbles with syrup, sour cherry, olive oil and sea salt or honey. It comes in a cute coffee cup that’s perfect for strolling over to Patricia’s Green (Octavia at Hayes), the neighborhood urban park with rotating art exhibits. 

* Japantown/Fillmore: There are so many cute places to shop in Japantown. My top picks are New People, Daiso, Ichiban Kan and Kinokuniya. Fillmore St. is also a shopping destination with Marc by Marc Jacobs, Paper Source, Jonathan Adler, Steven Alan, NARS, Kiehl’s and Nest. Fraiche Yogurt (1910 Fillmore St.) offers artisanal yogurt and fro-yo made from scratch. The soy fro-yo is excellent and the combination of steel cut oatmeal and fro-yo is an unexpected delight. The housemade chocolate shell sauce is out of this world. I also recommend afternoon tea at the British owned Crown & Crumpet (1746 Post St., make reservations) and Jane (2123 Fillmore St.) for a fresh baked treat and Four Barrel Coffee.

* Union Square: No trip to San Francisco is complete without visiting Union Square, the main shopping destination in SF. Pinkberry (170 O’Farrell St.) is conveniently located at Macy’s Union Square. There are other froyo shops in the downtown area (e.g., Yoppi, Caffe Ambrosia) but Pinkberry is the best one. You can never go wrong with the original tart with fresh fruit – such a refreshing, light treat after a long day of shopping.

* Castro/Noe Valley/Inner Sunset: Easy Breezy Frozen Yogurt (4028 24th St., 718 Irving St., 4092 18th St.) became the International Frozen Yogurt Association’s first Swirl of Honor recipient. Look for the IFYA Swirl of Honor decal and know that you’re in for a treat – hand-crafted unique frozen yogurt and frozen custard flavors (e.g., Lemon Ginger Zinger, Cherry Marzipan, Vietnamese Coffee, Banana Cream Pie), including organic and non-dairy flavors made with almond milk and coconut milk. There are three locations and the décor is super cute. Swirl your own cup and head over to the toppings bar which features local toppings and toppings you won’t see elsewhere. The Inner Sunset location is close to the San Francisco Botanical Garden (9th Ave. & Lincoln) and museums in Golden Gate Park.

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.

Souvla: Frozen Greek Yogurt at a Greek Restaurant

Fro-yo girl here. Why don’t more Greek restaurants offer froyo? And why aren’t more of them casual quick serve spots? Souvla opened a few months ago in the Hayes Valley neighborhood in San Francisco and it’s been praised by many publications for its food (spit fired all natural meats are their specialty) and dessert. It’s a casual spot where you order up front and sit at communal tables. What’s for dessert? Greek frozen yogurt of course.

Souvla keeps it simple when it comes to frozen yogurt. I think that’s part of the reason it’s so good.

The froyo, which is their own recipe, comes in one flavor (plain) and one size. You have your choice of Greek toppings: sour cherry syrup, baklava crumbles, honey, or olive oil with sea salt. It comes in a cute Greek paper cup (like a coffee cup).

* Frozen Greek yogurt with baklava crumbles and (honey) syrup ($5): The texture is smooth, creamy and airier (whipped)…reminiscent of Yogorino. It’s probably not nonfat…The froyo wasn’t sour and only mildly tangy but it did have less sugar so it tasted more natural and more like Greek yogurt. The aftertaste was clean and slightly sweet. The honey syrup wasn’t too sweet either. And the baklava crumbles, oh the baklava crumbles – yummy chewy morsels of nutty, cinnamon deliciousness. I’ll have to come back to try the other toppings.

I asked someone walking down Hayes about his froyo…he said it was extremely sour. I didn’t find it sour but compared to other froyo it’s less sweet. It’s a perfect dessert for strolling around Hayes Valley.

I’m hoping to try GRK in NYC which also has Greek frozen yogurt (and theirs is imported from Greece). Stay open till I get there, please.

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

* SOUVLA, 517 Hayes St, San Francisco, CA 94102

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