Froyo Guide to Thousand Oaks

 

Sweet XO at The Oaks

Fro-yo girl here. Thousand Oaks, California is the second largest city in Ventura County, with a population of 125,766. It’s 35 miles west of downtown Los Angeles and considered one of the safest cities in the US. Thousand Oaks also has a Tree City USA designation and is home to nearly 20,000 oak trees.

The first froyo shop in Thousand Oaks must have opened in the early 1980s and was probably a Penguin’s. Penguin’s was based in Thousand Oaks. It was founded in 1983 and reached well over 100 locations in 10 years. Penguin’s filed for bankruptcy in 1991. There were at least four TCBY shops in Thousand Oaks.

The Oaks Mall has been the center of the second wave of froyo activity in Thousand Oaks. Most of the newer froyo shops in town have been at The Oaks. The Oaks is currently home to Menchie’s and a Pinkberry vending machine.

There are currently three places to get froyo in Thousand Oaks: Menchie’s, Pinkberry (vending machine), and Wild Cherry.

Current Froyo Shops (& a Vending Machine)

• Menchie’s, 168 W Hillcrest Dr. #1, opened a self-serve froyo emporium in 2012 by the movie theater. This location also sells froyo cakes.
• Pinkberry by iCream, 350 W Hillcrest Dr, is a froyo vending machine by the Sprinkles cupcake ATM at The Oaks. The machine was installed in 2022.
• Wild Cherry Frozen Yogurt, 1724 N Moorpark Rd, is a self-serve froyo shop that also sells boba drinks. When they first opened in 2010, they charged $0.33/oz. Wild Cherry also has a location in Camarillo and one that closed in Ventura.

Former Froyo Shops

• Bericup, 382 W Hillcrest Dr., was a self-serve froyo shop in the food court area of The Oaks Mall. The shop opened in 2009 and may have closed in 2014. BeriCup was a froyo chain founded in Garden Grove, CA in 2007.
• Blizz Frozen Yogurt, 2200 Thousand Oaks Blvd, was a self-serve froyo chain from Southern California. It was open from 2010 – 2011.
• Golden Spoon, 2000 Avenida de los Arboles, closed in 2013. I’m not sure when it opened but probably before 2010.
• Golden Spoon, 1404 N Moorpark Rd., probably opened before 2010 and closed in 2013. The owner changed the concept to Tizzy’s Yogurt Café.
• Go Greek, 350 W Hillcrest Dr., opened in May 2018 at the Oaks Mall and closed less than a year later in March 2019. The authentic Greek yogurteria served fresh Greek yogurt and frozen Greek yogurt. The froyo was self-serve.
• Krave It, 350 Via Las Brisas, was a self-serve froyo shop that opened in 2015 and closed in 2017
• Lotus Yogurt Bar, 540 N Moorpark Rd STE 1, was a small self-serve froyo shop in the Village Square Shopping Center that opened in 2009 and closed in 2011. Lotus Yogurt Bar also had locations in Northridge and Hermosa Beach (both now closed).
• Mali Cuisine, 140 W Hillcrest Dr suite 111, was a Southeast Asian restaurant that also had self-serve froyo. It was open from 2016 – 2021.
• Penguin’s Frozen Yogurt, 1344 N Moorpark Rd, unknown opening and closing dates.
• SweetXO, 350 W Hillcrest Dr, opened on the 2nd floor of The Oaks Mall in 2014 and closed in 2015. The shop had self-serve froyo, ice cream, cupcakes, cookies, candy, and gifts.
• TCBY, 1772 E Avenida De Los Arboles, opened and closed in 2009 or 2010.
• TCBY, 212 W Hillcrest Dr, Ste M4, probably closed well before 2010
• TCBY, 3170 Los Feliz Dr, probably closed well before 2010
• TCBY, 378 W Hillcrest Dr #K010B, was at The Oaks Mall
• Tizzy Yogurt Café, 1404 N Moorpark Rd, opened in 2013. It was started by an ex-Golden Spoon franchisee and served froyo, shakes, smoothies, Belgian waffles, oatmeal, and coffee. It may have closed in 2014.
• Yozen Frogurt, 2416 E Thousand Oaks Blvd, opened in 2008 and closed in 2011. The original Yozen Frogurt opened in West Hills in 2007. The Thousand Oaks branch was self-serve.

I found 16 former froyo shops in Thousand Oaks. There were probably other Penguin’s locations but it’s difficult to find out much about them because they closed so long ago. Did I miss any froyo shops in Thousand Oaks? Let me know.

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.

Camarillo, California Froyo Guide

Fro-yo girl here. I’ve had my share of froyo in Camarillo, California but still, I didn’t make it to most of the froyo shops that opened there. Camarillo is a city in Ventura County with a population of 68,112 in 2019. They’re known for the Camarillo Premium Outlets and Cal State Channel Islands.

If you’re looking for froyo today, your options are limited. Wild Cherry, 2112 E Ponderosa Dr., is the only froyo place that’s still open. They first opened in 2010 and the format is self-serve. At one time Wild Cherry also had locations in Thousand Oaks and Ventura. The Ventura location closed and the Thousand Oaks location is still open.

Froyo Places in Camarillo that Have Closed

• Green Leaf’s and Bananas Frozen Yogurt, 740 Ventura Blvd, was a counter-serve salad/frozen yogurt shop was located at Camarillo Premium Outlets food court. They closed in 2020, though Google Places calls it a temporary closure. The earliest review was in 2013.
• Mission Oaks Café, 5227 Mission Oaks Blvd, was a café specializing in fresh and local foods. The café opened in 2006 and closed in 2019. In 2017, they added self-serve froyo and called it Mo’s.
• Polar Bears, 389 Carmen Dr., closed in 2011. It seems to have opened before 2008 because multiple reviewers mention that they’d been open for many years.
• Rockin’ Berry, 2112 Ponderosa Rd, was a self-serve froyo shop that opened in 2008 and closed in 2010.
• Surf N Yogurt, 5233 Mission Oaks Blvd, was a surf-themed self-serve shop that opened in 2013 and closed in 2017. Surf N Yogurt already had two locations in Ventura when it opened in Camarillo.
• sweetFrog, 2306 Las Posas Rd Ste C, was the fifth sweetFrog location in California. It opened in 2015 and closed in 2019.
• Swirl, 267 Village Commons Blvd #11, was located in the Brookshire Commons HOA. Google lists Swirl as temporarily closed and Yelp doesn’t indicate that it’s closed. Their Instagram account says that they are temporarily closed but the last post was in October 2020. I’m guessing that it will not reopen.
• TCBY, 950 Camarillo Center Dr, was once located at the Camarillo Premium Outlets. It may have closed in 2011. While I don’t know when TCBY opened, the Camarillo Premium Outlets opened in 1995, so it can’t have been before 1995.
• Yogreens, 389 Carmen Dr., a self-serve froyo and salad bar café opened in the old Polar Bears space in September 2011. It closed for good a few weeks later in December 2011.
• Yogurtland, 660 Ventura Blvd #200, was located at the Camarillo Premium Outlets. They opened in 2014 and closed in 2020. The same person owned Yogurtland in Ventura and Oxnard.

Yogurtland was my favorite froyo place in Camarillo and it’s the only place that I miss. I also visited sweetFrog and Swirl. I remember waiting for that Yogurtland to first open.

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 Good Plow Opens in Carpinteria and Yes, They Serve Froyo

 

Fro-yo girl here. The Good Plow is a new farm-to-table restaurant that opened in Carpinteria, CA last month at the old Fosters Freeze site. The owners are a local family who also own the Farm Cart, which delivers fresh produce from local organic farms to Carpinteria homes.

The Good Plow is an organic, mostly plant-based café and retail store, with an ice cream window. And yes, you can get organic soft-serve froyo from the ice cream window. They have one Taylor machine and two flavors a day. During my visit, the flavors were organic tart yogurt (from Cloud Top) and organic chocolate. A small cup is $3 and a large, $4. Toppings included fruits, almonds, coconut, chocolate chips, rainbow sprinkles, cookie crumble or magic cone dip. The ice cream window is adorable – reminds me of something you’d see in the Midwest.

Tart yogurt with cookie crumble ($3.50): The yogurt was thick and smooth with a mild tanginess. It had a pleasant clean taste but isn’t as flavorful as Pinkberry’s original tart or Yogurtland’s plain tart. It seemed less sweet and I know it’s all-natural, kosher, hormone-free, non-GMO, and probiotic. The cookie crumble features house-baked chocolate chip cookies. I didn’t get a lot of chocolate chips but I appreciated the housemade touch. Good stuff.

The ice cream window seemed like a hit. Let’s hope it stays that way.

I haven’t had froyo in Carpinteria since Yo Yum Yum many years ago. Yo Yum Yum opened in 2008 and changed ownership in 2014.

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

THE GOOD PLOW: 5205 Carpinteria Ave, Carpinteria, CA 93013

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.