Worst Fro-yo Shops in the Bay Area

Fro-yo girl here. Now it’s 2013 and time to update my best and worst of the Bay Area lists.I’ll start with the worst shops in the Bay Area. Like their counterparts in 2008, the worst frozen yogurt shops feature fro-yo with horrible texture and flavor. Their toppings are worse than average too (including some stale toppings). 

I’ll sometimes receive a note from the owner saying that they were having machine problems on the day that I visited. Since I’m not inclined to revisit such places, things may have improved at the shops on this list (and I hope that they have).

Fro-yo texture problems are quite common. The shops that made the list are the worst offenders at the time of my visit. It’s important to take care of frozen yogurt machines. Even good mix can be ruined by a poorly maintained frozen yogurt machine.

* YOGURT NET (1445 Foxworthy Avenue, San Jose, CA): I encountered runny, too soft frozen yogurt and limited toppings.

* 1ST TREAT YOGURT (2124 1st St., Livermore, CA): The awful frozen yogurt was clumpy, gritty, soft and filmy, not sure how the texture can be that terrible but I don’t think I want to know. The fruit toppings did not look fresh.

* FRESHENS (inside the Golden Bear Cafe, Cesar Chavez Student Center, Berkeley, CA): Old school frozen yogurt that tastes like plastic

* YOLATEA (600 Main St. Suite F, Pleasanton, CA): I can’t eat fro-yo with texture this bad: soft, runny and fluffy

* TUTTI FRUTTI CONCORD (3375 Port Chicago Highway Suite A, Concord, CA): The worst TF location, it feels like no one is maintaining the machines. All the frozen yogurt is super icy. They didn’t even have any fresh fruit toppings. A few machines were out of order.

* RUBY FROZEN YOGURT (1160 N. Capitol Ave., San Jose, CA): The frozen yogurt has too much flavor syrup and it’s too soft

* POLAR ICE (96 E. San Salvador St., San Jose, CA): Machines were out of order and the fro-yo was very fluffy

* YOGURT WALK (6601 Dublin Blvd. Ste 1., Dublin, CA): Fluffy and clumpy fro-yo, yuck. Looking at some newer pictures, it looks like their frozen yogurt texture has improved.

I’ve noticed that the worst time to visit a frozen yogurt shop is right before they close. The texture seems to be the worst at that time. However I did not visit the shops that made this list late at night.

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

Best & Worst Fro-yo Shops of 2008: Where Are They Now?

Fro-yo girl here. Back in 2008, I named the best and worst fro-yo shops in the Bay Area. Ever wonder what happened to those businesses?

Of the 7 worst shops, all 7 have closed. The places with below average fro-yo have usually stayed open two years or less. Even large chains haven’t been able to make it in the Bay Area (e.g., Golden Spoon). There are plenty of average frozen yogurt shops. The worst ones had fro-yo with horrible texture and flavor.The toppings were often stale or rotten as well.

Of the 10 best shops in 2008, 5 are still open, though a few of those have moved (e.g., Harmony Yogurt, Tuttimelon) or changed ownership. Poco Cafe closed after being open for years because the owner decided to retire. The best frozen yogurt shops offered consistency, cleanliness, freshness and superior customer service. You could tell that the owners cared about offering quality frozen yogurt.

Out of curiosity I looked at my old frozen yogurt reviews, the first 300 frozen yogurt shops that I reviewed. These reviews were written between December 2007 and 2010. Of the 9 shops with a 1 star rating, all have closed. Of the five star shops, 50% are still open.

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