Fro-yo girl here. SWRLIES recently launched a fancier trailer. They started with a cart back in 2019. The new froyo/ice cream trailer parks in Highland Park on Fridays and Saturdays and in Toluca Lake on Thursdays and Sundays.
I do find it troubling that they parked a few steps from Magpies in Highland Park. But I was also curious to see how the froyo was since I haven’t had it since 2019.
Choose your base (vanilla ice cream, tart froyo made in-house, or vegan), choose your mix in (strawberry, peach, mango, pineapple), choose your toppings (Oreos, sprinkles, granola, etc.), and choose a drizzle. They also have some signature creations. Your base and mix-in are mixed together using a drill. The fruit is organic.
Strawberry froyo with granola ($8): This was better than what I had in 2019. It was creamier and tarter than I remembered. And it tasted fresher and less processed than your average yogurt. It was thick and not as smooth as your typical yogurt. The granola was fine but nothing special.
I wish there were more fruit and toppings options. There were more options in 2019, including two sizes and a wider variety of fruit. The waffle cones are not made in-house.
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
* SWRLIES, 5132 York Blvd, Los Angeles (Highland Park), CA 90042
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 finally made it to apizza, the new concept from the founder of La Boulangerie and new owner of Loving Cup. The idea is to make high quality pizza and froyo that’s fast, eco-friendly, and affordable. It’s not a new concept but apizza puts its own spin on it and offers Loving Cup froyo too. The toppings are more chef-driven and creative than say Blaze Pizza, Pieology and the build your own individual pizza competitors. There are fewer options though. You don’t build your own pizza but they have options that you can customize with an egg, potato stix, fried onions and coming soon, CBD oil. They use organic dough and organic tomato sauce.
I was surprised by how cheap the froyo was. It’s smaller than the serving you’d get at a full-fledged Loving Cup. There are fewer choices as well. Choose your base (nonfat vanilla, nonfat chocolate, non-dairy vanilla made with coconut milk) and pick a swirl (achocolate, my favorite, thinner mint, guilty-ish pleasure, all good). You can add a chocolate chip cookie, sprinkles or additional mix ins or toppings. The froyo is mixed to order.
* My favorite (vanilla froyo base mixed with Heath and peanut butter), $3.75. It was a good size portion for a snack or dessert – not too large and not too small. The froyo was very creamy but most of the flavor came from the mix-ins.
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
* APIZZA: 2043 Fillmore St., San Francisco (Pacific Heights), CA 94115
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. After enduring a grueling ten-month building renovation in late 2016-April 2017, 21 Choices reopened at its original location in Old Town Pasadena. And then it closed again at the end of last year!!! This time, the closure was accompanied by a move to the new food hall on Union Street. Pasadena froyo eaters, 21 Choices is back open! The soft opening started on Friday, October 4 and it continues this weekend. They were giving out free froyo on Friday night. And they're giving out free froyo (one small per person) today, Saturday, October 5. No mix-ins are available yet, but they'll be ready for mix-ins on Sunday.
The opening flavors are:
- French vanilla
- Belgian chocolate
- Baby Oreo
- Pumpkin spice
- (Non-Dairy) Build Me Up Buttercup
- (Non-Dairy) Strawberry Mango:
The new space is nice. You can’t miss it if you’re driving down Union or Fair Oaks. I spotted two marble slabs for mixing froyo with add-ins, soft serve machines and new vertical batch freezers. Yes, they have a new product called Crunchy Choices. It will feature a yogurt base with larger pieces of cookies, cake, and other add-ins. During my visit they didn’t have the toppings out. I wonder where all the toppings will go.
Soft serve prices: Small $4.25/ Medium $5.25/ Large $6.25
Welcome back, 21 Choices!
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
* 21 CHOICES: 44 N Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena, CA 91105
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. On November 28, the news broke that La Boulangerie’s owners had invested in San Francisco based Loving Cup, with the goal of franchising and opening 100 locations in the next few years. Loving Cup has opened a pop-up inside the Financial District’s La Boulangerie (222 Sutter St., San Francisco, CA) with more locations expected inside other La Boulangerie locations.
According to Loving Cup’s Facebook post,
“Loving Cup ❤️ La Boulangerie. So much so that we've decided to partner with them to bring you all the deliciousness of Loving Cup and the scrumptiousness of La Boulangerie under one roof! We're moving into a few of their existing locations and growing with them as we open new locations together. First up: FiDi!”
The November 28 announcement says,
“The La Boulangerie team is helping Loving Cup with menu items like a brownie option and a chocolate sea salt cookie that will be incorporated into the menu, as well as sold retail. Some of the sauces the shop makes will also be sold retail, (co-owner Liz) Fielder said.”
I’ve been going to Loving Cup since the days when they had just one location on Polk St. It’s different from other froyo shops because the froyo is mix in style and it’s not self-serve. You choose size, a base (chocolate, vanilla or non-dairy) and your mix-ins and they hand churn everything together using a machine. With mix-in style custom blended yogurt, you design your own flavor.
While a custom blended frozen yogurt can be tasty as it distributes the toppings so that there are toppings in every bite, it does change the flavor of the frozen yogurt (which can be good or bad). Sauces and candy are good mix ins. If you want a tangy yogurt, add berries. Some toppings don’t taste as good when they’re blended – for example, graham cracker crumbs become gritty when blended into the frozen yogurt, and mochi isn’t transformed, it just becomes smaller.
I visited the Loving Cup pop-up at Sutter St. La Boulangerie to see how it compared to the other four Loving Cup locations (it’s the first “mini” Loving Cup location). I’ve been to all the SF locations now but not the one in Marin. The Sutter St. pop-up is not that different from the other Loving Cup locations. You can get their rice puddings there and the yogurt offering is essentially the same (same prices, same mix ins, same bases as the Union St. location).
However, I did notice that the Sutter location had housemade brownies, green tea matcha latte froyo and pumpkin 5 spice froyo. I’m not sure if the other Loving Cup locations offer these new additions. The new flavors sound more sophisticated and complex, so I see them as a good sign of things to come.
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. The old Pacific Puffs location on Union Street is the home of the fourth location of Loving Cup, the SF based rice pudding and hand churned froyo specialist. They opened on July 29, 2017. The new location is directly across the street from Michaelis Wine & Spirit, which also sells frozen yogurt. It’s interesting that years ago, Union Street Coffee Roastery had froyo too, so three of the four shops on the corner of Union and Fillmore had froyo at one point in time.
Each cup of froyo is hand churned to order with the customer’s choice of mix ins to create a truly custom flavor. First you choose the base (vanilla, chocolate or vegan) and pick your mix ins (fruit, candy, sauces, almond butter, peanut butter, cookies, Nutella, sprinkles, nuts, cookie dough) or opt for one of their preselected favorite combinations (e.g., Brian Boitano, Dirty Hipster, The Dude Abides). The frozen yogurt is all natural, probiotic and nonfat. It’s made with grassfed milk. The vegan base is made with bananas. The machine combines your frozen yogurt with your mix ins.
Prices: Small $4/ Medium $5/ Large $6/ Pint $8, add a cone or waffle bowl for $1.25. The first mix-in is free, extras are 75 cents each. The cones and bowls looked housemade.
The shop is cute and small with white tiles and benches by the window. It’s a to go/takeaway kind of place. They no longer have the paper loyalty cards but they still do have a loyalty program. Most people seem to go there for froyo, but they also have their rice puddings.
If you’re a flavorista, submit your favorite froyo flavor creation on Instagram, @lovingcupsf #MyLovingCup. A new winner will be chosen every month and every time someone orders your flavor from the Union Street location, you’ll get 50 cents.
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
* LOVING CUP: 2201 Union St., San Francisco, CA 94123
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. The old Pacific Puffs location on Union Street is the home of the fourth location of Loving Cup, the SF based rice pudding and hand churned froyo specialist. Each cup of froyo is hand churned to order with the customer’s choice of mix ins to create a truly custom flavor. The froyo comes out thick, rich and indulgent – though it’s still lowfat. They have non-dairy options too.
The doors open at noon on Saturday, July 29 and swirls are just $1 between 2 – 3 PM.
* LOVING CUP: 2201 Union St., San Francisco, CA 94123
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. If you’re wondering whether N Gelato has frozen yogurt, of course it does. It has much more than gelato. N Gelato has customizable liquid nitrogen frozen desserts where you choose the base and the mix ins. The dessert is then blended together. Or, you can get soft serve froyo, gelato, and sorbet with or without mix-ins. You can also add toppings like cereal, candy, fruit, sauces, nuts, cookies and cheesecake bites.
N Gelato opened in late April, across the street from Azusa Pacific University and very close to Yogurtland. They took over the old Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt space. Tutti Frutti had different froyo machines and furniture, so N Gelato actually remodeled the place and bought their own Stoelting yogurt machines.
I haven’t tried it yet because I was full from lunch and I thought it was just a gelato place.
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
* N GELATO: 992 E Alosta Ave., Azusa, CA 91702
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’ve been to a couple of Yogen Fruz locations since they first opened in the Bay Area in 2008. I remember being at the grand opening of the San Francisco Embarcadero location, a location which just closed this year. They were different from other froyo shops because they had the Mix It custom blended frozen yogurt creations. This blended creation was developed by Yogen Fruz and featured its probiotic proprietary frozen yogurt.
Mix It allowed the customer to choose the base frozen yogurt (lowfat vanilla, lowfat chocolate, nonfat vanilla or nonfat tart frozen yogurt base) and fruit. The fruit and bar of frozen yogurt would then be blended together in the Yogen Fruz machine. The end result was thick and creamy with fruit chunks and seeds (for fruit with seeds). The mixing process wasn’t thorough, normally you’d see some unmixed froyo in your cup. The Mix It style was popular in Canada, where Yogen Fruz got its start in 1986.
Yogen Fruz also offered Top It, which wasn’t a custom blended frozen yogurt product but was similar to the other soft serve style frozen yogurt products found at most froyo shops.
It wasn’t clear whether the mix in style frozen yogurt would catch on in the US. In an interesting turn of events, Yogen Fruz entered a licensing agreement with Jamba Juice which provided Jamba Juice with the right to use the Yogen Fruz operating system and registered trademarks in 2011. Jamba Juice’s Whirl’ns frozen yogurt was a mix in style frozen yogurt. It was offered for a few years but phased out in 2013. Mix In style frozen yogurt has caught on elsewhere though – “Today, Yogen Früz has grown to more than 1400 locations operating in over 46 countries around the world.“
In 2010, Yogen Fruz opened its first self-serve location; their self-serve offering is called U Serve. I don’t recall hearing about any U Serve locations in the Bay Area but it is available in Los Angeles. The first Yogen Fruz location in LA (Tarzana, opened in 2008) added U Serve about a year ago. They also kept the Mix It froyo option.
U Serve is similar to your usual self-serve froyo. Grab a cup, choose from 10 self-serve froyo flavors, and add toppings. It’s 49 cents an ounce. The toppings were typical: fruit, mochi, syrups, popping boba, candy, cookies, chips, nuts, rainbow sprinkles, graham cracker crumbs. The froyo flavors were similar to ones you’d find at most froyo shops.
Froyo flavors of the day:
- Greek style: more flavorful than the tart, smooth, has an interesting taste, maybe honey, light texture
- Passionfruit
- Espresso
- Pistachio
- Red velvet
- Strawberry fields
- Mangolicious sorbet
- Tart: light, smooth, not that tart (on the sweet side)
- Vanilla
- Chocolate
U serve froyo tastes a lot different than the Mix It style yogurt. It’s much lighter. Granted, it is of course a different style of froyo but I was still expecting some similiarities. I’m not sure how U Serve's frozen yogurt differs from Yogurty’s which is a Canadian self-serve froyo chain owned by International Franchise Corp. (the same company owns Yogen Fruz).
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. Tucked in an older strip mall in the San Fernando Valley you’ll find a blast from the froyo past; Humphrey Yogart has been serving up froyo and staying true to the low carb / yog-art lifestyle since 1984 (it turned 30 this year). It’s not self-serve and it’s not your usual soft serve froyo with toppings. Sure the toppings are similar (popping boba, fruit, candy, sprinkles, chocolate chips, cereal, brownies, cookies, mochi) but Humphrey Yogart specializes in super creamy, thick blended or mix in style froyo.
At Humphrey Yogart, yogurt is yog-art. You’re invited to create your own frozen yogurt flavor by choosing a base (tart vanilla, sweet vanilla, chocolate, soy, organic tart or their low carb froyo flavors), choosing your blend ins and/or toppings (fruit, candy, cookies, cream cheese, nuts), and choosing your size. Your froyo & blend ins are mixed together in a blending machine. You can get your froyo in a cup or cone and top it with hot fudge or whipped cream. Portions are generous.I tried the organic tart base which was icier and less flavorful than their tart vanilla.
Froyo prices: Child ($2.55) + 30 cents each blend in, Regular ($3.35) + 40 cents each blend in, Large ($4.25) + 50 cents each blend in, X-Large ($6.65) + 90 cents each blend in.
Interesting blend ins include pumpkin, espresso, malt powder, butterscotch, pistachios, peanut butter, and cinnamon. Recommended combinations include Raspberry Cream Cheese, GramCracker Pumpkin, and Chocolate Coconut Almond. It’s like Yogen Fruz but with many more options.
Almost everyone who stops in gets the froyo but they also have Cascade Glacier ice cream, coffee, shakes, smoothies, soups, salads and sandwiches. Also, the shop carries low carb health food items like low carb bread, cookies, chips, etc. And there’s free wi-fi.
The low carb froyo flavor calendar is accessible on their website: http://www.humphreyyogart.com/calendar
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
* HUMPHREY YOGART: 4574 Van Nuys Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
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. Loving Cup’s second location replaces the serene Asian tea room, Taste. Back in March the expected opening date was April 15. The interior is far from finished and the Loving Cup sign has yet to appear. Loving Cup 2 will offer rice pudding and hand churned frozen yogurt like the original location on Polk. The new location will also offer housemade ice cream and cookies.
Loving Cup is one of the few places you can get hand-churned mix in style frozen yogurt. You choose the base (vanilla or chocolate) and pick your mix ins (fruit, candy, almond butter, peanut butter, cookies, Nutella, sprinkles, nuts, cookie dough). The frozen yogurt is all natural, probiotic and nonfat. It’s churned to order. The machine combines your frozen yogurt with your mix ins.
* Vanilla frozen yogurt mixed with almond butter and crunchy granola: The froyo was extra thick, dense and creamy (thicker and denser than average). A small size was quite generous. The texture was the best part of the froyo. It felt satisfying and filling. The flavor was pleasant but the vanilla flavor was very mild and there wasn’t much almond butter flavor either.
I wonder if the new location will offer froyo pies?
You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.
* LOVING CUP: 535 Octavia St., San Francisco, CA 94102
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.
