RockIt Swirl Transforms into Cuppa, the Update

Fro-yo girl here. Back in 2011, Eggettes in Glen Park (San Francisco, CA) remodeled and rebranded, becoming Rockit Swirl. I covered the story at the time: http://froyogirl.blogspot.com/2011/07/rock-it-swirl-takes-over-eggettes-in.html

Eggettes first introduced frozen yogurt at the Glen Park location in 2009: http://froyogirl.blogspot.com/2009/05/fro-yo-meet-eggettes-eggettes-meet-fro.html

The owners have remodeled and rebranded again. Rockit Swirl is now called Cuppa. Cuppa serves “bubble tea, froyo, smoothies, snacks and more.” I missed the grand opening in March but I did check out the shop recently.

Cuppa represents a somewhat fresh start, though the frozen yogurt machines have remained and the menu isn’t that different from the previous incarnation. Some of the Rock It Swirl signs are still present too. The interior has been painted and it does feel cleaner (and cleanliness was an issue before). It looks more mature.

Rockit Swirl became a grimy hangout for high school and middle school kids. More families are going to Cuppa now (but I also visited during the summer, so I'm sure fewer school kids were out looking for a place to go afterschool).

The froyo is still self-serve. They had 6 flavors at the time. The toppings bar is what they had before: syrups, candy, fruit, popping boba, nuts, sprinkles, granola, chocolate chips, coconut, jellies and mochi. It’s 65 cents an ounce.

The customer service was friendly but when I asked for a sample cup, she only gave me one. One sample cup isn’t helpful, especially since I didn’t like what I sampled.

Froyo flavors of the day:

• Cable car chocolate
• French vanilla
• Strawberry: sweet, creamy, like ice cream, not yogurt 
• Original tart: the best flavor that I sampled, it had a refreshing edge and clean finish without being watered down, it didn’t taste lemony but had a bit of sourness and tang
• Almond milk, vanilla: dairy free, no probiotics, the texture was icier which I don’t mind but the flavor was very sweet and pretty chalky, plus it was bland
• Mango sorbet

For snacks, they have spam musubi, potstickers, chicken bites, etc. The best thing they ever offered here was the egg waffles. And those haven’t been offered for years. It feels like the place has improved a little but not a lot. The changes are more cosmetic on the froyo side though they did add almond milk soft serve (a premium offering). I doubt I would return unless they brought back the eggettes but that seems unlikely. Eggettes have become popular again though, so they should offer them.

Glen Park is a lovely neighborhood. It deserves a higher quality froyo spot.

$5 credit card minimum.

3 out of 5 stars

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

* CUPPA: 2810 Diamond St., San Francisco, CA 94131

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.

Palo Alto Froyo Update

Fro-yo girl here. I have a special place in my heart for Palo Alto, CA since I used to live there and they were also way ahead of the froyo curve with Fraiche and Culture Organic Frozen Yogurt. It’s been awhile since I posted an update on the froyo scene in Palo Alto. Much has happened. Red Mango closed and reopened with Auntie Anne’s at Stanford Shopping Center, Pinkberry opened at Stanford Shopping Center in 2010, Yogurtland opened in 2011, and L’Amour, Yoppi Yogurt and Culture (so sad, it still hurts) have closed. 

Today there are five frozen yogurt shops in Palo Alto: Fraiche (the local froyo spot that makes its own yogurt and has two locations in Palo Alto), Pinkberry, Red Mango, and Yogurtland. Fraiche and Pinkberry are counter-serve while Red Mango and Yogurtland are self-serve. 

I hadn’t visited the Fraiche location on the Stanford campus for maybe a year and there have been changes. They remodeled in May 2015 and they added a new savory menu that includes salads, vegan soup, avocado toast, lox tartine, and egg white wraps. These savory items are currently only available at the Stanford location. The items are healthy and “made from scratch with simple recipes that highlight wholesome ingredients.” The items looked really good (I had to get my SF Chronicle special w/ froyo and steel cut oatmeal though). I tried their dairy-free almond milk soft serve for the first time – the chocolate hazelnut flavor was apparent but the texture was rather icy and it was also pretty sweet. I like their soy froyo better but I like soy better than chocolate.

The Axe & the Palm Cafe on the Stanford campus stopped serving froyo (why bother when Fraiche is steps away?) but it now has boba drinks, popcorn chicken and macarons.

Prices have gone way up at Yogurtland. It’s 52 cents an ounce now. It seems like the ownership may have changed.

Pressed Juicery’s Palo Alto location is one of the few in the Bay Area that offers their Freeze dairy-free soft serve. It’s not froyo but it’s refreshing and clean tasting. 

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

* FRAICHE STANFORD: 459 Lagunita Dr, Stanford, CA 94305

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.