Fro-Yo Lessons Learned

Fro-yo girl here. Those of you who know me know that I consume a great deal of fro-yo and have visited many fro-yo shops. I’ve learned some lessons along the way that should increase your chances of having a good fro-yo experience.

Lesson 1: Don’t order fruit as a topping unless you can see the fruit first. Inspect fruit toppings for freshness.

I’ve seen rotten fruit out there and you don’t want to let that ruin your cup of fro-yo. You can usually tell if chopped fruit has been sitting around for hours or days. You should be able to tell whether the fruit is fresh, thawed, or canned.

Lesson 2: Ask for samples before ordering

Most places have sample cups. You don’t want to order a cup of something you don’t like if you can sample it first. If you can’t sample it, vanilla and chocolate are usually safe flavors (safer than original/plain tart).

Lesson 3: Look at the cup size before ordering

A small cup usually is 5 to 6 ounces but I’ve seen a great deal of variance in cup sizes, e.g., from 4 to 8 ounces for small cups.

Lesson 4: Match the number of toppings to the cup size

If you’re dealing with a tiny cup, choose 1 or no toppings. The larger the cup, the more toppings it can hold (obviously).

Lesson 5: Match the toppings to the fro-yo flavor

Which toppings complement which fro-yo flavors depends on the individual palate but I personally think that berries and acidic fruits are better suited to tart fro-yo than candy and cookies. I also never mix sweet toppings with tart toppings.

Lesson 6: Ask for a bonus card

Most places have frequent buyer cards but sometimes you have to ask for the card.

Lesson 7: Provide feedback

Even the larger fro-yo chains have local managers who care about local preferences. If you want to see new toppings or have other suggestions, speak up. Many fro-yo shop owners read their Yelp reviews. Some have a presence on MySpace and Facebook.

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.

Weirdest Places for Fro-yo

Fro-yo girl here. Fro-yo can happen anywhere. All one needs is the space for a fro-yo machine, a refrigerator, a sink, an area to chop fruit, and room for toppings.

Here's a look at some of the unusual places that offer fro-yo in the Bay Area.

1. CLEAR OPTOMETRY: 138 E 3rd St., San Mateo, CA. One side of the store features a swanky eyewear store with frames from Chanel and other brands, the other side features a dessert bar with delicious fro-yo and several flavors of mochi toppings. Yum. This is my favorite "weird" place for fro-yo. Get your eyes examined there or buy eyeglasses, get free fro-yo!


2. KIWITIWI: 569 High St., Oakland, CA. Part car wash, part convenience store, part fro-yo shop. It would qualify for the strangest place if it didn't have the convenience store as well. While people who are waiting for a car wash have time to sit around and enjoy fro-yo, the fumes from the car wash are less than pleasant.


3. MICHAELI'S WINE & SPIRIT: 2198 Union St, San Francisco, CA. It's not unusual for liquor stores to have delis but this is the first time I've seen one with fro-yo too. What a great idea! I'd rather have a corner fro-yo shop than a corner liquor store.


4. BLONDIE'S PIZZA: various locations. Greasy, cheap pizza and now fro-yo? Blondie's reminds me of college and certainly college students are among those who enjoy fro-yo. I didn't like their tart fro-yo but the sweet flavors might be better.

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