Northridge Froyo Guide

 

Pinkberry Northridge

Fro-yo girl here. Northridge is a neighborhood of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley. It’s the home of Cal State Northridge and has a population of 72,150. Almost 40,000 students attend CSUN. Northridge has been the home of many froyo shops. Penguin’s Place was the oldest froyo shop and Tutti Frutti was the first self-serve froyo shop.

If you want froyo, you can still get some at Pinkberry, Tutti Frutti, and maybe TCBY.

Current Froyo Shops

• Pinkberry, 8850 Tampa Ave Ste 101 Ste 101, opened in 2008 and is still in business.
• TCBY, 9301 Tampa Ave #185, is still open at the Northridge Mall. It’s basically a Mrs. Field’s Cookies with a case of TCBY scoopable ice cream and frozen yogurt. I’m not sure if they serve ice cream, frozen yogurt or both. I’ve seen more of these locations lately – with barely any TCBY products.
• Tutti Frutti, 10186 Reseda Blvd, 2009-present, was the first self-serve froyo shop in Northridge, beating out Lotus Yogurt Bar by a month.

Former Froyo Shops

• Cool Creations, 9301 Tampa Ave, 2018-?, was the short-lived rebrand of Cups. I’m not sure when Cool Creations closed.
• Cups Frozen Yogurt, 9301 Tampa Ave, 2015-2018, was part of that chain of froyo shops known as the Hooters of froyo. became something else. I went to the grand opening on April 11, 2005. In 2018, the owners changed the name to Cool Creations.
• Freshii, 8999 Balboa Blvd, 2015-2017. Remember when Freshii was located inside some Target locations? They served salads, grain bowls, and froyo.
• Lotus Yogurt Bar, 9420 Reseda Blvd #4, 2009 – 2011, was a self-serve froyo shop with several locations in Southern California. 
• Penguin’s Place, 18641 Devonshire St, 2007-2011, was the old school counter-serve froyo option. I’m not sure when it opened.
• Prinkipia Yogurt, 9301 Tampa Avenue, was located at Northridge Fashion Center. It might have opened in 2016?
• Red Mango, 18514 Devonshire St, 2008-2010, was counter-serve with four flavors a day.
• Rosegreen, 10201 Reseda Blvd, was a Pinkberry-esque counter-serve froyo shop. I’m not sure of the date it opened or closed but it probably opened around 2008 when Pinkberry and Red Mango opened in Northridge.
• Spoon Me, 9301 Tampa Ave, 2012-2014, was a self-serve shop at Northridge Fashion Center.
• Yogurt Planet, 18427 Nordhoff St, 2011-2016, replaced Bounce Boba Loft.
• Yogurtland, 9225 Reseda Blvd, 2012- 2018, was located closed to Cal State Northridge. It was a smaller location with 12 flavors a day. They offered a discount to CSUN students.

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.

Favorite Locations of Froyo Chains

Fro-yo girl here. If you’re lucky enough to live in an area with many frozen yogurt shops, you may live close to more than one location of the same chain. You may have noticed that not all locations of the same chain are the same. In Los Angeles, the chains with the largest presence are Menchie’s, Pinkberry, Tutti Frutti and Yogurtland. I’d like to recognize my favorite locations of major frozen yogurt chains. Thank you! 

• Yogurtland: The Yogurtland Pasadena location (415 S Lake Ave., Pasadena, CA) is by far my favorite Yogurtland location (I’ve also been to many other Yogurtland locations in the area – San Gabriel, Monterey Park, Alhambra, Eagle Rock, Old Town Pasadena, Montebello, Arcadia, Monrovia, etc.). Not only is the customer service extra friendly, but they keep up with Yogurtland promotions (e.g., if a collectible spoon or new flavor is supposed to be available on a certain day, this location will be ready and have it in stock). The location is clean with easy parking, the price is lower, they update their Facebook page unlike many Yogurtland locations, they participate in community events, they update the flavors on the Real Rewards app every morning (thank you!) and they have many promotions including the cold day discount, student discount, etc. They were one of the few locations to have a Kung Fu Panda 3 release party. On a sad note, they've never offered cookie dividers, they don't have the new syrups dispenser unit with Magic Shell and peanut butter sauce, and they need to rotate flavors more often. Bring back chocolate milkshake, flan, oatmeal cookies and lemon cookie.

• Pinkberry: The Pinkberry Americana location (459 Americana Way, Glendale, CA) is one of the largest of their locations. It’s also one of their busiest. The associates seem extra friendly here. They’ve had test flavors in the past. The décor is cheerful yet soothing and I do love strolling around the Americana outdoor mall. Parking can be a challenge though. The downtown Burbank location also is appealing when I'm feeling like self-serve. The sample cups are on the counter for easy sampling.

• Menchie’s: While the other Menchie’s locations in the area often don’t have the new flavors on the launch date, Menchie’s Monrovia (606 W Huntington Dr., Monrovia, CA) usually has those flavors. And when the other Menchie’s locations (South Pasadena, Alhambra) ran out of Menchie’s Alvin spoons, Menchie’s Monrovia still had the Alvin spoons. Menchie’s Monrovia has also been known to hand out coupons and they have more promotions than the other Menchie’s locations in the area. They're the best about answering the phone when you call. If you're in the SFV, Menchie's Encino (17245 Ventura Blvd., Encino, CA) is the best place to go - as the training center (aka Menchie's University), they frequently test new flavors and products and the froyo texture is always spot on (plus they're extra friendly).

• Tutti Frutti: Tutti Frutti La Crescenta (3731 Foothill Blvd., La Crescenta, CA) has all kinds of cute Tutti Frutti signs, plus cute TF cups and fruit shaped yogurt spoons. This location has more toppings and interesting flavors that I haven’t seen at other Tutti Frutti locations (e.g., cereal milk, peanut butter soy). They also carried soy frozen yogurt for a year but the last time I went it wasn’t there. I found light up Tutti Frutti spoons here. They also have happy hours, coffee and boba drinks. For SFV dwellers, Tutti Frutti Northridge (10186 Reseda Blvd., Northridge, CA) has better flavors, TF spoons, and drinks. 

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.