Seattle Froyo Update

 

Fro-yo girl here. About 12 years ago, I used to visit Seattle regularly, and I visited most of the froyo shops there. When I first started visiting, there were a few local shops like Crazy Cherry (inspired by Pinkberry), Utopia, Café Koi, and old-school Shy Giant at Pike Place Market. Boba shops in the U District like Citra started offering froyo. Cafes like Jewel Box Café and Sprout also started offering froyo.

I witnessed the rise of the self-serve froyo shops in Seattle, with the opening of multiple branches of Menchie’s and Yogurtland. Menchie’s was the first to open a self-serve shop in Seattle back in 2010. Yogurtland had six locations in Washington and they’ve all closed. Menchie’s has 21 locations in Washington, with two of these in Seattle proper.

Quite a few froyo shops have opened and closed since that time, including Zoeyogurt, Cool Whirled, Yeti Yogurt, Refresh, Red Mango, TCBY, Chill, Froyo Fresh, etc. Some froyo shops that closed were replaced by other froyo shops (e.g., Yogurtland became Refresh, Menchie’s University Village became Chill).

YoYo and CoCo opened in Wallingford in 2022. It was the first shop in the US that offered froyo cubes, a trend that started in China. It was open for a year. Interestingly, another yogurt cube shop opened in Bellevue in 2023. It’s called Lucky Cube.

Current Froyo Shops

• Menchie’s Queen Anne, 2101 Queen Anne Ave North
• Menchie’s Admiral, 2620 California Ave SW, Ste 400
• Shy Giant, 1500 Pike Pl #16, Seattle, WA 98101

Hellenika Cultured Creamery, 1920a Pike Pl, Seattle, WA 98101, offers gelato style scoopable cultured gelato, from the family that founded Ellenos. But they do not call their product froyo.

For a city with a population of 757,992 in 2024, that’s not many froyo 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.

Innovative Froyo (Cultured Gelato) Shop Spotlight: Hellenika Cultured Creamery in Seattle

Fro-yo girl here. I recently visited Seattle to check out Hellenika Cultured Creamery, which opened in Pike Place Market in July 2023. Hellenika Cultured Creamery was founded by three siblings, including one of the co-founders of Ellenos Yogurt.

Hellenika calls the cultured scoopable frozen dessert that they serve “cultured gelato”; it’s made with milk, cream, sugar, and cultures. The cultures that are used result in a product that is less tangy than traditional yogurt. The cultured gelato is made in gelato machines and served straight from the machine. There are twelve flavors offered at a time. Some flavors are made with products from other vendors at Pike Place Market.

The shop has a minimalist/laboratory look. It’s very white. Instead of a case of gelato, the counter has churning gelato. Each flavor is covered by a clear dome. The kitchen is visible from the retail area.

Flavors: London Fog, Matcha, Dutch Chocolate, Plain Greek, Bananas Foster, Yuzu, Ube Coconut, Honey Lavender, Miso Caramel, Mango, Lemon Curd, Marionberry. No vegan options. 

Ube coconut had bits of coconut. Plain Greek was mild with little tang. Lemon curd wasn’t sour but it had a bit more tang. Marionberry had some tang from the berries. The gelato is rich (it’s made with whole milk), so even a small size seems satisfying. I did miss the tang of yogurt. The gelato tasted more like cream than yogurt. The texture was sticky and softer than ice cream. I prefer the firmer texture of ice cream over gelato and the flavor of tangy froyo over both ice cream and gelato.

Prices: Walkaround ($6.50, add $0.75 for a split flavor), Medium ($8.50), Large ($12.50), Mezze ($16.50). They do not have any toppings or sauces.

Both Yogurtland and Menchie’s have offered cultured gelato in the past. Their cultured gelato didn’t taste like yogurt either.

Hellenika is located at Pike Place Market, near Piroshky Piroshky and the first Starbucks.

* HELLENIKA CULTURED CREAMERY: 1920a Pike Pl, Seattle, WA 98101

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.

Innovative Froyo Shop Spotlight: Top It Yogurt Shoppe in Snohomish, WA

Fro-yo girl here. Once in a blue moon, I’ll encounter a froyo shop with an owner who really cares about providing the best froyo and the best froyo shop experience. And I found that in the small town of Snohomish, about 60 miles north of Seattle.

Top It Yogurt Shoppe opened in 2013. The current owner, Ken, took over Top It about 1.5 years ago and transformed it into a shop that reflects his commitment to serving the best froyo and toppings in a unique, friendly environment.

The froyo is made with a liquid mix served from the best soft serve machines (Electro Freeze & Carpigiani). The texture is superior, so the froyo tastes better too. It’s self-serve with 12 flavors a day. Each flavor label lists whether the flavor is gluten-free, sugar-free, lowfat, contains nuts, contains egg, etc. And each label also had a Titanic fact.

He switched to flat rate pricing, because he knows what it’s like when you take your kids to a self-serve froyo shop and they load up their cups.

Prices: Small ($5)/ Medium ($7.50)/ Large ($9). It’s self-serve but flat rate. There’s a smaller cup available, if you ask for it.

He wanted to serve products that he felt good about and when he looked at the ingredients in some common froyo toppings, he decided to make his own toppings. Over half the toppings and sauces, including the sprinkles, cookies, crumble, cookie dough, cheesecake, brownies, brownie batter, mochi, granola, etc. are made in-house. Almost everything is vegan. The only dairy product used is milk. Other toppings include fresh fruit, nuts, candies, chocolate-covered nuts, chocolate chips, pb chips, cereal, honey, etc. I haven’t seen so many homemade toppings at a froyo shop in many years.

Ken cares about the environment, so the shop is carbon neutral, composting and recycling most of the waste, and offering reusable bowls and spoons. Organic ingredients are used when available.

And Ken wants to make the shop a true experience, so he’s decorated it with various themes. The current theme is Titanic and the shop is currently a mini-Titanic museum (you have to see it to appreciate it). There are replicas of the stained glass windows of the Titanic and the side of the Titanic, photos of the Titanic, artifacts from the Titanic, books on the Titanic, and more. He even posted elaborate daily summaries of the final voyage of the Titanic. And he made toppings inspired by what was served on the Titanic.

Ken greeted everyone who entered the shop, and he was the one who dispensed the samples.

The shop has the charm of an older building (it’s in Historic Downtown Snohomish) and is a few steps from the Snohomish River. If you provide your phone number, you’ll get 5% off on subsequent visits. It’s a true gem of a froyo shop that you should visit if you’re in the area. It has to be the best froyo shop in the Seattle area right now.

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

* TOP IT YOGURT SHOPPE, 801 1st St, Unit 203, Snohomish, WA 98290

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.

Remembering Yeti Yogurt, the Pacific Northwest Froyo Chain

Fro-yo girl here. Back in April 2013, five years ago, I shared some pictures of the newly opened Yeti Yogurt in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, WA. The location in the University District of Seattle seems to have opened around the same time.

This was the beginning of Yeti Yogurt’s expansion as they sought to dominate froyo in the Pacific Northwest. Yeti Yogurt exploded onto the scene in 2013 in a way that I hadn’t seen before. They opened most of their locations in 2013. Suddenly, Yeti Yogurt had two locations in Tacoma, both opened in 2013, and locations in Sumner, Puyallup, Maple Valley, Tukwila and two in Canada, in North Vancouver and Burnaby. 

The Canadian locations were sold to Qoola. The other locations started to close. It looks like only one location remains, in Sumner, WA, with reduced hours (2 PM - 9 PM on weekdays, 11 AM - 10 PM on weekends). Their website domain, is available from GoDaddy. The last @yetiyogurt Instagram post was on June 7, 2016.

Yeti Yogurt stores featured a minimum of 16 flavors every day and over 60 toppings. The design was bright and colorful. The Yeti mascot likely appealed to kids. The Yeti bigfoot spoons appealed to people like me, the yogurt spoon collectors. They had proprietary flavors and more toppings and yogurt flavors than the competition.

How did Yeti Yogurt grow so quickly? The explanation seems to rest in the fact that it was started by BigFoot Investments, which also founded the BigFoot Java specialty coffee chain in the Pacific Northwest. Yeti Yogurt even offered some BigFoot Java branded flavors, such as Mythical Mocha®, Strawberry Sasquatch® or Nutty Yeti®.

What happened to Yeti Yogurt? Reading through the old employee and customer reviews, people cited lack of management and poor training. The stores started strong but later, towards the end, the yogurt was runny, the shop was dirty, and the price was very high. Another factor is probably location. People don’t eat as much froyo in the Pacific Northwest compared to California.

Sadly, I never tried Yeti Yogurt, but on the bright side, I do have their yogurt spoons.

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.

Yeti Yogurt Opens in Seattle

Fro-yo girl here. My Seattle fro-yo scout, @badrobot68 has graciously supplied his pictures of a brand new frozen yogurt shop in the Queen Anne neighborhood, Yeti Yogurt Frozen Creations. He pronounced his cup of fro-yo as yummy.

Yeti Yogurt opened on April 8, 2013 and has 16 flavors of self-serve fro-yo with 65 types of toppings. Yeti Yogurt serves Kosher frozen yogurt with live and active cultures. Certain flavors such as Mythical Mocha and Strawberry Sasquatch can only be found at Yeti. For flavor updates, check out their Facebook page.

Thanks Badrobot!

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

* YETI YOGURT FROZEN CREATIONS: 604 First Ave N., Seattle, WA

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.

Future Fro-yo Shop Pictures: Red Mango Downtown Seattle

Fro-yo girl here. Thanks to another tip from @badrobot68, I found another future Red Mango Seattle location. This one is on 1st Avenue, across the street from Pike Place Market. It’s also going to be self-serve. The door wasn’t open.

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

* RED MANGO: 1418 1st Ave., Seattle, WA 98101

Future Fro-yo Shop Pictures: Red Mango Rainier Square

Fro-yo girl here. Following up on a tip from @badrobot68, I walked over to 4th and Union and spotted the future Red Mango shop at Rainier Square. The doors were open so I peeked inside and saw that the wall for the fro-yo machines was in place. There’s space for five machines. Also, the signs indicate that this will be a self-serve location with fro-yo and smoothies. 

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

* RED MANGO: 405 4th Ave., Seattle, WA 98104

Fro-yo Seattle Report: The Invasion of the Chains

Fro-yo girl here. There’s been quite a bit of fro-yo activity since my visit to Seattle last fall. Self-serve fro-yo has taken off in a big way. Yogurtland and Menchie’s are staking their claim on various neighborhoods.

* Current Seattle area YL locations: Capitol Hill, Wallingford, University Village, Bellevue. Coming soon to Redmond and Kent.
* Current Seattle area Menchie’s locations: Queen Anne, University Village, West Seattle, Vancouver, Federal Way, Lynnwood. Coming soon to Kirkland, Bellingham, Puyallup and Magnolia Village (Seattle).

For some reason the Yogurtland locations seemed more accessible and closer to various colleges and universities. I never made it to West Seattle to see the Menchie’s there. I love how Yogurtland's Wallingford location is right next to a teriyaki restaurant. So Seattle!

Other self-serve fro-yo shops in Seattle include Zoeyogurt in Greenlake and Froyo Fresh in the Columbia Center downtown. Cool Whirled was a self-serve fro-yo shop that didn’t last long in the Fremont neighborhood. It’s the golden age of self-serve fro-yo in Seattle.

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

Fro-yo Seattle report: University District bubble tea vs. fro-yo

Fro-yo girl here. The fro-yo scene in the University District of Seattle is different than in other neighborhoods. In the U-District, pearl/bubble tea shops (Wow, Yunnie's...Pochi Tea Station had fro-yo but no longer offers it) are everywhere and most of them have also added one fro-yo machine. They carry one flavor, original/plain tart. There are fewer fro-yo shops (Citra, Cafe Koi, Red Mango) and those shops don't have that many more flavors of fro-yo. Citra offers pearl/bubble tea. One teriyaki restaurant, University Teriyaki, offers fro-yo. The majority also offer free wi-fi, which people in Seattle certainly love.

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

* CITRA FROZEN YOGURT: 4730 University Way NE, Ste 105, Seattle, WA

Fro-yo Seattle report: Self-serve fro-yo

Fro-yo girl here. I've returned to Seattle looking for fro-yo. Since my last visit back March of this year, self-serve fro-yo has really taken hold of the city. Judging from the crowds, it was something that Seattle residents really desired.

Self-serve fro-yo timeline:
* December 2010: Menchie's opens in Queen Anne, offers 14 fro-yo flavors a day, 43 cents an ounce
* March 2011: zoeyogurt opens in Green Lake
* April 2011: Yogurtland opens in Capitol Hill, offers 16 fro-yo flavors a day, 35 cents an ounce


It was very interesting to observe the patrons at these self-serve fro-yo shops. I noticed that their self-serve creations looked pretty awful. They don't have swirling skills yet but I'm sure they'll learn quickly. If their market follows what I've seen elsewhere, some full serve fro-yo shops are going to convert to self-serve soon and Tutti Frutti shops will pop up (seemingly) overnight. Maybe the prices will decline (Menchie's and Yogurtland charge more here).

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

* MENCHIE'S:2101 Queen Anne Ave N, Seattle, WA
* ZOEYOGURT: 6900 E Green Lake Way N, Seattle, WA
* YOGURTLAND: 1620 Broadway Suite D, Seattle, WA

Fro-yo Seattle report

Fro-yo girl here. Last week I was in Seattle, looking for fro-yo of course. It's odd how hard it is to find fro-yo downtown, while teriyaki and pho are EVERYWHERE. There is a fro-yo place at Pike Place Market (Shy Giant) but it was closed due to remodeling. Somehow I missed the Red Mango (must have walked right past it) on Pike. YoBerry seemed to have odd, irregular hours (it was closed when I dropped by); it's attached to a teriyaki restaurant and had only one machine (2 fro-yo flavors).


Many places (e.g., Utopia, Crazy Cherry, Cafe Koi) were full serve with only 1 or 2 machines and many neighborhoods were without fro-yo shops. The highest concentration of fro-yo is by the University of Washington. I tried Utopia and Cafe Koi. They were both quite good. Utopia was my favorite because of its unique black sesame fro-yo flavor.

Self-serve fro-yo arrived last year when Menchie's opened in Queen Anne. Another self-serve shop, zoeyogurt opened this month in First Hill. And Yogurtland is coming to Capitol Hill.

I need to get my hands on the Menchie's signature spoon. It would be incredible if all the teriyaki places started offering fro-yo.

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

* UTOPIA FROZEN YOGURT: 600 5th Ave S, Seattle, WA
* CAFE KOINONIA: 4100 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA
* YOBERRY: 823 3rd Ave, Seattle, WA