Half of Yalla Mediterranean Locations Have Closed

Fro-yo girl here. Last June, I mentioned that Yalla locations were no longer serving Greek froyo. Now I’ve learned that half of Yalla’s locations have closed. Last year, pre-pandemic, Yalla had branches in the following cities:

• Burbank, CA
• Culver City, CA
• Dublin, CA
• Fremont, CA
• Pleasant Hill, CA
• Seal Beach, CA
• Walnut Creek, CA
• Chicago (delivery only)

The Fremont location at 3141 Mowry Ave. closed and the space has been taken over by Nick the Greek, the fast casual Greek chain which happens to serve Greek froyo. It looks like it closed at the end of 2020. It opened in 2016. I used to go fairly often because if you checked in on Yelp, you’d get a free Greek froyo with baklava. The food was decent, healthy, and reasonably priced. But once the froyo machine broke, the food didn’t seem as good either. The portions got smaller. The broken froyo machine seemed to be a sign that they weren’t making an effort to maintain their standards.

Yalla Seal Beach, 12420 Seal Beach Blvd, opened in 2016 and seems to have closed in September 2020. I went once for froyo but the froyo machine was broken. The machine worked for two years and the it seemed like they “broke” at every Yalla location. The froyo was always on the icy side but it became icier over the years.

The Yalla Dublin location at 5246 Dublin Blvd opened in November 2015 and closed for good some time during the 2020 pandemic (hard to say when exactly since it was probably a temporary closure that turned permanent), maybe in the fall or late summer? It became a Nick the Greek as well.

Yalla Pleasant Hill, 55 Crescent Dr Ste F, opened in December 2014 and may have been open earlier this year. Yelp says it is permanently closed and the location is no longer on the Yalla website. Yalla Pleasant Hill was the first location. It was a new concept from Daphne’s California Greek, with a different look, a broader Mediterranean menu than Daphne’s, and an emphasis on sustainability by using local GMO-free ingredients, responsibly raised meat and fish, and eco-friendly packaging. Daphne’s was acquired by Victory Park Capitol Advisers earlier in 2014 and FAT Brands in December 2018.

As of March 2021, only Burbank, Culver City, Walnut Creek and Chicago remain open. Those locations do not serve froyo. I used to go to the one in Burbank for froyo but once they stopped offering it, I stopped going.

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.

Yalla Mediterranean No Longer Serves Greek Froyo

Fro-yo girl here. Some time last year I was in Orange County and on the way back home, I took a detour to Seal Beach for froyo at Yalla Mediterranean. However, when I visited, I was told that the soft serve machine wasn’t working and that it had been broken for six months. The employee said that they probably wouldn’t fix it because of the high cost of the repair. I was told that it would be cheaper to get a new machine than repair the old one. While I was quite disappointed at the time, I didn’t think too much about it.

Recently, I read that the soft serve machine is “broken” at the Yalla locations in Burbank, Culver City, and Walnut Creek. The Seal Beach experience was not an isolated incident. It made me wonder what’s going on with Yalla.

The newer paper Yalla menu does not list frozen yogurt, though frozen yogurt is still shown on the Yalla website, including the online menu. The last Yalla post showing froyo was on November 25, 2018 on Instagram.

From what I can tell, the frozen yogurt is no longer offered at any Yalla location. This is sad because they developed their own recipe for Greek froyo and offered tasty toppings like baklava and chocolate cookies. It was available in one flavor, plain tart. The frozen yogurt was rather icy but it was refreshing and I enjoyed the baklava topping. 

Also, for a few years (2016-2018), you could get a free froyo with baklava there with a Yelp check-in. I went fairly often to get a salad and froyo for dessert. I probably won’t go back there since they stopped offering Greek froyo. Would you still go? The food was decent but the froyo was the main attraction.

Yalla started in late 2014, when Daphne’s California Greek, the Greek fast casual chain, started the new concept. Yalla had a different look, a broader Mediterranean menu than Daphne’s, and an emphasis on sustainability by using local GMO-free ingredients, responsibly raised meat and fish, and eco-friendly packaging. Daphne’s was acquired by Victory Park Capitol Advisers earlier in 2014. The first Yalla location opened in Pleasant Hill, CA in December 2014.

The expansion phase followed, with new company owned locations opening in Northern California first, then Southern California. Most of the new locations were converted from Daphne’s. The last of the new locations opened in 2015.

FAT Brands, a global franchising company that also owns Fatburger, Ponderosa, Buffalo’s Café and other franchise brands, acquired Yalla in December 2018. At the time, Yalla had 7 locations. Since then, no new locations have opened but none have closed either. Yalla is looking for franchisees.

Currently, there are Yalla locations in

• Burbank, CA
• Culver City, CA
• Dublin, CA
• Fremont, CA
• Pleasant Hill, CA
• Seal Beach, CA
• Walnut Creek, CA
• Chicago (delivery only)

On a happier note, Nick the Greek, a fast casual Greek eatery, is expanding rapidly in California (13 locations and counting) and offering Greek froyo.

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.

2018 Froyo Wish List

Fro-yo girl here. It’s time for my annual froyo wish list. First, let's see if any of my 2017 wishes came true. Last year I wished for:

* Pinkberry Pops: They’re now available in UAE, KSA, Lebanon, Qatar and Turkey. I would love to try one without traveling to the Middle East!

Update: They started selling Pinkberry Pops at the Pinkberry in Toronto, Canada, Ghana, and Panama. So, the Pinkberry Pops are getting closer though they’re still far away. Why aren’t these available in the US? You can even get Hong Kong waffles at Pinkberry Toronto and Pinkberry Ghana, but not the US. I love Hong Kong waffles but they seem more popular in Europe than in the US.

* Llaollao: Llaollao seems to be everywhere (e.g., Russia, Slovenia, Cambodia, Uruguay, Chile, El Salvador) except North America.

Update: Llaollao continues to expand but they’re still not in the US.

* Menchie’s should add the flavor finder feature on the Menchie’s My Smileage mobile app. I’d like easy access to list of flavors carried by specific Menchie’s locations.

Update: I didn’t notice any changes to the Menchie’s app. It doesn’t serve much purpose, so I rarely use it. At least Pinkberry finally fixed their app. Their website doesn't have a flavor finder either. Why do they make it so difficult to find out the flavors that each store carries???

* More Daphne’s Greek locations should be converted to their new concept, Yalla: I’d like a closer Yalla so that I can get my Greek froyo w/ baklava fix on a regular basis.

Update: Yalla didn’t open new locations and the portions of their food and froyo have shrunk. My guess is that’s their way of dealing with rising costs. Other places have started offering baklava as a froyo topping. Kentro in Fullerton isn’t any closer and Spread didn’t have any baklava during my last visit.

Well, I didn't have much luck with my 2017 froyo wishes and I'm not too optimistic about 2018's wishes either.

Here’s my froyo wish list for 2018:

* More soy froyo (or tofu soft serve). While there seems to be an anti-soy sentiment in the air, I love the flavor of soy. I’m hoping to see tofu soft serve. Tofu soft serve is popular in Japan and other parts of Asia. I did find tofu soft serve at Uji Time in San Francisco but not in Southern California. I also tried the soy soft serve at Sumo Dog in LA but it was too sweet.

* Bring back the tart. I’d love to see a Yogurtland promotion for just tart froyo flavors. Froyo, why have you become so sweet? I miss the old days of froyo wave two when froyo flavors were mostly tart. I miss green tea tart. 

* More Halloween froyo spoons. I imagine Menchie’s is the best candidate to offer more Halloween froyo spoons. No one else has come out with custom Halloween froyo spoons. It was a slow year for collectible froyo spoons in general.

* Good bubble waffles: They're surprisingly hard to find and I love them. I'm sure that I'd love them with froyo. They've become so popular in other countries (Canada, UK, Germany, Russia). I live in an area with a high concentration of Chinese and I can't find good bubble waffles. So strange.

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.

New Chain Review: Yalla Mediterranean

Fro-yo girl here. The race is on to be the next Mediterranean version of Chipotle. Yalla is a new concept from the owners of Daphne's California Greek chain. Yalla launched in Pleasant Hill in 2014 and now has 7 locations in the Bay Area and Southern California. They have that assembly line where you choose your style/base and choose your protein, sauces and toppings. Choose a wrap, salad, or plate. Then pick a protein (falafel, shawarma, kabobs), add sides, toppings and sauces. 

I won’t go into too much detail about the food since what I really care about is their Greek frozen yogurt. The Greek frozen yogurt set up reminds me of SF’s Souvla. They use the same Carpigiani machine, offer only one flavor (plain), and offer similar Greek toppings.

The yogurt is apparently a “special house recipe.” It’s available with honey, chocolate or sour cherry sauce for $2.25 or with chopped baklava or chocolate pita crumbles for $2.95. It’s a small portion but good for dessert.

How was it? Souvla’s Greek frozen yogurt is definitely better in terms of flavor and texture; it's creamy, smooth and tastes like yogurt. Yalla’s frozen yogurt is smooth but icy and it tastes like original tart yogurt. Yalla's sour cherry syrup isn’t very sour but it’s very good with yogurt.

The frozen yogurt was disappointing and the food was as well. Their hummus was so salty. The falafel was salty too. But Chipotle is also a sodium bomb, so maybe people will like their extra salty food.

I’m hoping that San Francisco's Souvla or GRK opens in SoCal one day. Or maybe Spitz will add froyo. GRK, which got its start in NYC, recently opened a location in Dubai but they aren't present on the West Coast yet.

* YALLA: 3141 Mowry Ave., Fremont, CA 94538

3.5 out of 5 stars

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.