Frozen Yogurt History and Update on Current Froyo Scene in Oakland, CA

Fro-yo girl here. It’s been seven years since I’ve had a post dedicated to frozen yogurt in Oakland, CA. An update is long overdue. Which frozen yogurt shops are still swirling in Oakland? There are four, with the year of opening:

• Tutti Frutti, 2066 Mountain Blvd., 2013 - present
• Tutti Frutti, 4214 Piedmont Ave., 2009 - present. I heard this location closed but people are still reviewing it, so it seems to still be open?
• Yogofina, 6140 Medau Pl., 2010 - present
• Yogofina, 3261 Lakeshore Ave., 2010 - present

The four remaining shops are all self-serve.

Yogurt Delite (4139 Piedmont Ave.) and Yogurt Deluxe (3203 Lakeshore Ave.) were the oldest froyo shops that I remember. Both were full-service shops. Yogurt Delite also had smoothies while Yogurt Deluxe offered ice cream and smoothies. They were open long before the 2nd wave of froyo. Yogurt Deluxe closed in 2018 and Yogurt Delite closed in 2014. Both faced froyo competition on the same street; Mr. Green Bubble and Tutti Frutti on Piedmont Ave. and Yogofina on Lakeshore Ave.

Way back in 2007, High Street Car Wash at 569 High St. added a froyo shop called Kiwitiwi. It was my first time having froyo at a carwash. I think it lasted until 2010. Freshens was also open in 2007 at the Oakland International Airport. I’m not sure when it closed. Freshens had the worst froyo. Other froyo shops that followed:

• Good Bellies, 2010- 2014. It was a cute eatery that also had froyo.
• Honeyberry, 2014-2016. Primarily a roti bun shop, they had one froyo machine.
• iYogurt, 2010-2014. Located in the Vietnamese part of town, self-serve.
• Miam Miam Lounge, 2010-2014. This was the best, most innovative froyo to have graced Oakland. The owners also owned an award-winning Italian housewares company. They worked with pastry chefs to develop their own froyo recipes and performed extensive taste tests before launching.
• Mr. Green Bubble, 2010-2012. This boba shop is still open but they stopped serving froyo around 2012.
• SoGreen Yogurt, 2009-2010. The space was taken over by Yoppi Yogurt. Their tart froyo was pretty tasty and they specialized in green tea froyo.
• Tutti Frutti Chinatown, 2010-2013. This was a tiny self-serve froyo shop. They even sold sushi and vegan soul food for a time.
• Yoppi Yogurt, 2012-2015. Yoppi converted the SoGreen space to a self-serve froyo format. 

I named Oakland as a froyo hot spot for 2010. In 2010, “Oakland saw the most fro-yo activity. Multiple new locations of Tutti Frutti and Yogofina led the way. Mr. Green Bubble, iYogurt, and Miam Miam Lounge also opened in Oakland in 2010. Last year was a slow year for new innovative fro-yo shops. The one innovative newcomer of note was Miam Miam Lounge in Oakland.”

Sadly, Oakland’s seen many sub-par froyo shops over the years and there’s no decent place to get froyo any longer. There isn’t even a Yogurtland or a Menchie’s. Pretty sad.

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.

Future Fro-yo Shop Picture: Yoppi Yogurt Oakland

Fro-yo girl here. Here’s a picture of the future home of Yoppi Yogurt at the City Center in downtown Oakland. It’s next to Radio Shack with no visible Yoppi signage. However, Yoppi is listed in the center’s directory. I walked by the old SoGreen Yogurt Oakland space in the same complex. It’s still vacant and available for lease.

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

* YOPPI YOGURT: 500 12th Street, Suite C125, Oakland, CA

Fro-yo Closures and Moves

Fro-yo girl here. SoGreen is on the move. Today was the last day at their Crocker Galleria location and they should be open at the New Metreon food court in 1 - 2 weeks.

Culture Organic Frozen Yogurt in Palo Alto closed its doors. I feel blessed to have had their tangerine fro-yo and will miss their homemade organic toppings, especially the pumpkin spice granola and chocolate chip cookies. It’s a sad day for Bay Area fro-yo.

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

Future Fro-yo Shop Picture: SoGreen Yogurt at the New Metreon

Fro-yo girl here. The New Metreon food court had a “soft” opening today but not much was open. Contrary to what was reported in the SF Chronicle, EaterSF, Inside Scoop SF and other sources, SoGreen Yogurt isn’t open and won’t be for “a few weeks” (source: Metreon security). In fact, the SoGreen space doesn’t have a sign up yet but the guard pointed to the wall (across from Sanraku, close to where Starbucks used to be ages ago) behind which construction is occurring.

In the meantime, you can still get fro-yo at the Metreon at Yogen Fruz (movie theater snack bar area).

The top level of the Metreon is still closed. Downstairs where the food court is, they added tables and chairs...probably making it the largest indoor seating area in downtown SF. I like the shiny new globe pendant lamps.

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

SoGreen Yogurt Opens on Wednesday (May 20)

Fro-yo girl here. Get ready to eat some more fro-yo. The second location of SoGreen Yogurt opens this Wednesday in Oakland. Here’s a coupon for 20% off, good till June 12, 2009: http://sogreenyogurt.com/sgy4.html

I think it opens at 10 AM. Welcome SoGreen!

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

* SOGREEN YOGURT: 500 12th ST. #B134, Oakland, CA

Second SoGreen Location to Open in Mid May

Fro-yo girl here. Oakland’s been a bit of a fro-yo dead zone (there’s much more fro-yo action in Alameda). All that is about to change in a few weeks when SoGreen Yogurt opens their second location at the Oakland City Center: http://www.oaklandcitycenter.com/store_locator.cfm. They’re currently going through final code inspections with an anticipated opening date in mid-May (it says May 13th on their website but it might be the 12th instead).

http://www.sogreenyogurt.com/

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

Best Cities for Fro-Yo in 2008

Fro-yo girl here. Happy New Year, fro-yoholics. For my first post of 2009, I'd like to recognize certain cities for leading the way in fro-yoland. In other words, these cities are the best in the Bay Area for fro-yo. To earn a place on the list, the city must have the following:

(1) Quantity of fro-yo shops
(2) Quality of fro-yo shops
(3) Innovativeness of fro-yo offerings

And the winners are:

1. Palo Alto - scores the highest on innovation thanks to Culture (homemade toppings, organic fro-yo of the highest quality) and Fraiche (great homemade mochi). Quality is also high with Red Mango in the mix, along with Culture and Fraiche. You can even find fro-yo on the Stanford campus at the Axe & Palm. Avoid Michael's Gelato and the future Orange Tree location.

2. San Francisco - Yogurt Bar was the first tart fro-yo shop in town but they have since been overtaken by many better tasting fro-yo shops. SF scores the highest on the quantity factor with fro-yo available all over town (with the highest concentration in the Financial District), including liquor stores (e.g., Michaeli's, New Russian Hill), pizza shops (Blondie's), malls (SoGreen, LoveBerry) and college campuses (Natural Sensations). Chains such as Yogen Fruz and Cefiore are represented along with homegrown high quality favorites, Tuttimelon, Jubili, Swirl Culture, Caffe Ambrosia, and Chill. Self-serve joints are represented as well (Yoppi, Icebee, Happy Yogurt). Chill ups SF's innovation score.

3. Cupertino - another high scoring city when it comes to quantity but not as high as SF in terms of innovativeness. Those who work and live in Cupertino have no shortage of fro-yo shops to choose from, including my one of my favorites, Red Mango, and a good self-serve spot, Tartini. For sweet fro-yo, check out I Love Yogurt for massive portions. Other fro-yo shops include the ever popular Yogurtland, Froyo? (you can eat fro-yo while watching a movie at Vallco), DIY Yogurt

4. Berkeley - started out strong with Ryno's, Yogurt Harmony, Papamingo and Michelle's Yogurt but new fro-yo shops have been slow to open. Of course Berkeley will forever be known as the home of Yogurt Park (known affectionately as YoPa). Though they specialize in soft serve ice cream, Sketch has fabulous tart fro-yo. The new year should see the arrival of Tuttimelon and other shops.

Support your fro-yo shop in 2009.

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