The regular menu includes spit fired all-natural meats (Snake River Farms pork shoulder, Mary’s free range rotisserie chicken, Thomas Farms lamb) served as a pita sandwich or salad, with a sweet potato option for vegetarians. They also have sides, Greek beverages (including their own wine) and Straus Family Creamery organic Greek frozen yogurt with toppings or plain ($5). Toppings include sour cherry syrup, olive oil & sea salt, baklava crumbles & honey syrup, and Cretan wildflower honey.
In case you’re wondering, the froyo is just as good at this location. There’s one size and one flavor, plain. It’s my favorite froyo! So good! Creamy but not heavy, tangy even sour, natural tasting, lightly sweetened. The sour cherry syrup isn’t that sour but it does enhance the tang of the froyo. The portion is still generous enough to satisfy though it doesn’t last long because I love it. The menu used to not mention that they used Straus organic dairy.
The price has gone up a dollar (from $5 in 2021 to $6 or $8 for froyo with baklava) but still feels totally worth it. Wish there were a smaller size, not that I have any problems finishing my Souvla froyo.
The froyo is the best thing on the menu!
* SOUVLA: 2505 3rd St, San Francisco (Dogpatch), CA 94107
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.
Fro-yo girl here. I recently visited Tahina in Alameda. Tahina is a new fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant that opened in the Alameda Marketplace last June. The owner also owns the Beanery inside Alameda Marketplace. The menu includes mezze, soups, desserts, and wraps, pitas, bowls and plates with your choice of falafel, chicken shawarma or beef shawarma.
And yes, they make their own Greek frozen yogurt. There’s one flavor, plain, and three toppings: baklava crumble, honey, or sour cherry. You can choose 1, 2 or 3 toppings for the same price. There is one size. A froyo with toppings is $5 and you get a lot of froyo.
The menu and froyo reminded me of Souvla and Tahina’s frozen yogurt tasted like Souvla’s. It tasted natural with few additives and less sweet than usual. The texture was crazy thick, smooth, and dense – denser than Souvla’s. It tasted like real yogurt but not tangy and less sour than Souvla’s. Really good! They weren’t as generous with the baklava but the sour cherry sauce was fantastic with the plain yogurt. Also, my shawarma wrap was great too. I like Souvla’s froyo better but Tahina’s is close and more convenient for East Bay folks.
* TAHINA: 1650 Park St, Alameda, CA 94501
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.
Fro-yo girl here. While I was feeling sad about how mini chain, Yalla Mediterranean, stopped offering Greek froyo, I was reminded that the Nick the Greek franchise has been growing throughout California. A new Nick the Greek location opened in Ventura on May 23, 2020.
Nick the Greek was established in 2014 by three cousins, all named Nick, and all 2nd generation Greeks. The authentic Greek fare served in a fast casual setting. The specialities are souvlaki and gyros. The first location opened in downtown San Jose. They added Greek froyo in 2018 at one location in San Jose and now offer it at all their locations. They offer one flavor, plain Greek frozen yogurt. You can get it plain or with honey and baklava. I hope they’ll offer a smaller size in the future. The current size is huge.
Nick the Greek currently has 13 locations; 11 of the 13 are in the Bay Area. The Ventura location is their first in Southern California.
The locations and the year they opened are:
- Downtown San Jose, 2014
- Almaden Expressway, San Jose, 2015
- Sunnyvale, 2016
- Willow Glen, San Jose, 2016
- Santa Teresa, San Jose, 2016
- King Road, San Jose, 2016
- Redwood City, 2017
- Stevens Creek, San Jose, 2018
- Morgan Hill, 2019
- Santa Cruz, 2019
- San Carlos, 2019
- Santa Clara, 2019
- Ventura, 2020
According to the Nick the Greek website, future locations will be opening in:
- Gilroy
- Mountain View
- Napa
- Newport Beach
- San Diego
- South San Francisco
- Union City
I can't wait to eat Greek froyo from the new locations! They also make loukoumades, Greek donuts. Donuts & 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.
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.
Fro-yo girl here. Pita GR (the GR stands for Greek) is a fine-fast casual Greek street food eatery that opened in late September 2018. The chef is Greek. I also learned that there's a good number of Greeks living in Downey and a Greek church.
The menu is simple: choose lamb (soulva or lamb chops), pork (yeero or souvlaki), chicken souvla or roasted sweet potato as a pita sandwich, salad or plate/merida. They also have dips, meat sold by weight, sides, desserts, Greek beer, Greek wine, drinks and GREEK FROZEN YOGURT with sour cherry syrup, lemon preserve, housemade baklava, or wildflower honey.
They make their own frozen Greek yogurt with their own recipe and they make their own baklava as well. There's only one flavor, plain.
* Frozen Greek yogurt with crumbled baklava ($5): I was impressed they had a shiny new Carpigiani soft serve machine. The set up, toppings, machine and cups made me think of Souvla SF. However, Pita GR’s Greek frozen yogurt is better than Souvla’s – and I love Souvla’s. There’s one flavor, plain, and the texture is amazing – it’s thick and smooth, it’s not icy or too creamy either. It tastes fresh and mildly tangy, with a clean finish. They make it with Greek yogurt. The baklava was fresh and soft. If I lived closer, I’d come for the froyo all the time. It's amazing.
Oh, the owners plan to open a Greek donut (loukoumades) shop next, at 9232 Lakewood Blvd. in Downey. They won't have froyo at the donut shop. Greek froyo with fresh loukoumades sounds divine, doesn't it?
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.
Fro-yo girl here. When another restaurant starts offering its own housemade frozen yogurt with housemade baklava, I find it newsworthy. Kentro, a casual Greek restaurant, has been open in downtown Fullerton for several years. I learned that they recently invested in a Taylor froyo machine and started offering frozen Greek yogurt topped with housemade baklava. At the moment that’s the only froyo option they offer – one flavor with baklava and honey citrus syrup.
Kentro uses the same cup, only offers one flavor/plain and has baklava and honey as a toppings combination, so it does feel like they were inspired by Souvla, the Greek eatery in San Francisco. Being inspired by Souvla is a good thing.
* Baklava frozen Greek yogurt ($7): At Kentro, when you order the baklava frozen Greek yogurt, you get a cup of plain Greek frozen yogurt with honey citrus syrup drizzled on top and housemade crumbled baklava. It’s their own froyo recipe. I heard that they strain their own yogurt too. It wasn’t overly sweet but had a bit of sourness and tang. The frozen yogurt was good because it tasted closer to yogurt and less processed. The texture was icier and not as smooth as Souvla’s. The baklava was soft and very sweet. It must have had nuts, but I didn’t see or taste any. It tasted mostly of cinnamon. Souvla gives you more baklava and their baklava is better…but they’re in SF, so I can’t go there too often.
The restaurant is large and has an attractive, modern look. There’s a bar area where you can sit and dine. There was a lot of natural light inside. Service was very friendly. In case you’re curious, the menu includes appetizers (calamari, spanakopita, etc.), spreads (served with bread), soups, salads, flatbreads, pita sandwiches, entrees (moussaka souvlaki, brizola, etc.), sides, Greek wines, Greek coffee and desserts. Order at the counter and grab a number. They’ll bring your food and frozen yogurt to you.
P.S. Mr. Froyo recommends their dolmades. He says their the best that he’s ever had.
* KENTRO GREEK KITCHEN: 100 S Harbor Blvd. #A, Fullerton, CA 92832
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.
