Double Rainbow Tart Fro-yo Review

Fro-yo girl here. I found Double Rainbow tart fro-yo at Rainbow Foods. Double Rainbow was founded in San Francisco in 1976.

Rainbow Food had all three flavors, pint size: Strawberry, Plain, Pomegranate Blueberry (regular price $2.89, on sale for $2.29). The fro-yo is non-fat, rBST-free and has live and active cultures and probiotics. The tagline is "refreshingly tart." They also sell a bulk size of the plain and strawberry flavors.

* Plain: very firm and creamy, like ice cream, quite tart, has too much citric acid (overpowers the natural yogurt flavor) but it's better than Trader Joe's plain tart, it's sweeter than TJ's version (has cane sugar and corn syrup).
* Strawberry: I liked this better than the plain because strawberry puree mellowed the citric acid, it was firm and creamy, a lot like a good strawberry sorbet meets strawberry ice cream with a nice tartness. It's a pretty pink, smooth and velvety in texture. It could use a stronger strawberry flavor...but still it's my favorite supermarket tart fro-yo. The Cefiore one is too airy.

4 stars out of 5

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

* RAINBOW GROCERY: 1745 Folsom St., San Francisco, CA
http://www.doublerainbow.com/dr/products/yogurt

Meet the Owner of Menchie's Peppertree Plaza

Fro-yo girl here. I had the chance to sit down and chat with Bob Lillard, owner of Menchie's Peppertree Plaza and resident of San Ramon. This is Bob's first fro-yo shop and the first northern California location of Menchie's.

How he wound up owning a Menchie's store. Bob's previous experiences include managing food and clothing stores and more recently, owning an IT business. On his annual trip to Yosemite with friends, he reconnected with a brother of a friend (Larry) who happened to be the owner of two Menchie's locations in SoCal. Bob already liked fro-yo, particularly the self-serve concept, and after talking to Larry, he was intrigued by the idea of owning his own Menchie's store. After he met the founders, he was convinced that Menchie's was the right opportunity for him.

What happens at the Menchie's new owner training. New owners go through a 1 week training session. They learn about how to operate the store, how to break down the fro-yo machines, how to fill the machines, how to troubleshoot the machines, etc. They also work in Menchie's stores to get hands on experience in all aspects of running the shop, from working the cash register, to cutting the fruit and beyond.

What makes Menchie's different. Customer service, being part of the community and the fun of making your own mix. He received over 250 job applications and so he was able to pick and choose people who were friendly and welcoming. He expects employees to greet each customer. New customers are given a quick explanation of how things work. He's arranged to offer free fro-yo to several elementary schools in the area. Some customers go there once, even twice a day and he's received many compliments about the fro-yo and the customer service.

Does he have good swirling skills? He says yes.

Does he eat fro-yo every day? Yes. And he's only tried 25 of the 100 or so Menchie's flavors, so he's still got plenty of flavors to try.

What's his favorite Menchie's mix? Red velvet fro-yo with fresh raspberries and cheesecake bits

What you didn't know about Menchie's Peppertree Plaza. The opening date was selected after consulting the Chinese calendar for a lucky day and the store has good feng shui. You may spot a lucky cat on the premises.

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

* MENCHIE'S PEPPERTREE PLAZA: 973 E. Stanley Blvd., Livermore, CA

Getting to Know Menchie Better

Fro-yo girl here. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get to know Menchie better during my visit to the new Livermore Menchie's. Menchie was and remains a mysterious but friendly character, one that doesn't speak.

Q: Is Menchie a boy or a girl?
A: Neither...or Menchie is one or the other only it's not known which.

Q: Does Menchie have friends?
A: There's only the Menchie character at this time. Menchie's non-human friends are unknown.

Q: What are Menchie's hobbies?
A: Spreading fro-yo joy and smiles

Okay, I didn't learn much but it's hard when Menchie doesn't speak and I didn't want to distract Menchie from greeting guests.

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

Menchie's Peppertree Plaza Grand Opening Coverage

Fro-yo girl here. Menchie's Livermore turned 2 weeks old today and this weekend they're sharing the fro-yo love with a grand opening celebration. It started today at 11 AM...people lined up early hoping to be one of the first 25. The first 25 customers received a Menchie's gift bag. I'm looking at mine now and I have pictures to share.

* Signature bag with a picture of Menchie, Menchie's mix master magnet, Menchie's balloons (one pink, one green - their signature colors), a Menchie's wrist watch, Menchie's temporary tattoos, Menchie's round stickers, Menchie's button, Menchie's pencil that says what's your mix, white & black cotton t-shirt that you can color to make it look like your favorite mix, buy one get one free coupons. Yes, all that was in one gift bag.



Menchie came out from time to time to wave at customers and pose for pictures. There was also a life-size inflatable Menchie's doll out front. They were handing out free kids t-shirts and they had markers out front to color them in.

If you live close by, you may have been lucky enough to get a Menchie's doorhanger style coupon (it's a buy one get one free deal). They also had an ad in the Independent.



I'll have more about my visit in the next few days. I'll tell you what I learned about Menchie and share an interview with the owner of the Livermore Menchie's location.

If you get a chance, you should check out Menchie's grand opening celebration tomorrow. The first 25 customers will get a gift bag and Menchie will be there again! Also the pre-packed fro-yo quarts are buy one get one free; such a good deal!

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

* MENCHIE'S PEPPERTREE PLAZA: 973 E. Stanley Blvd., Livermore, CA

National Frozen Yogurt Day Pictures

Fro-yo girl here. As promised, I did have fro-yo for lunch today. I even ran into a fro-yo person at the shop (someone in the fro-yo biz). Here's my photographic contribution to National Frozen Yogurt Day. I'm sure you can tell which cup was swirled by me and which one was swirled by a fro-yo professional. Hope you are out there enjoying fro-yo. If you haven't had a cup yet today, go get some.

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

Meet Menchie! Livermore Peppertree Plaza Grand Opening

Fro-yo girl here. I'm really excited about meeting Menchie in person this weekend. I've already prepared a list of interview questions. Menchie will be at the Peppertree Plaza grand opening celebration from 11 AM - 3 PM this Saturday and Sunday (June 5 & 6). On both days, the first 25 customers will receive a special gift bag (3 of them will contain iPod Shuffles). See the grand opening flyer here: http://twitpic.com/1td4b

I'm also excited about checking out all the super cute Menchie's gear, like the t-shirts, Menchie dolls and whatever else they have....and sampling their 14 flavors of fro-yo too (of course).

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

* MENCHIE'S PEPPERTREE PLAZA: 973 E. Stanley Blvd., Livermore, CA

Future Fro-yo Shop Pictures: Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt in Belmont

Fro-yo girl here. Golden Spoon Belmont looks ready to open at any moment. The red & white tiles are in place, the signs are up and the black chairs are stacked inside. They're taking over the old Baskin Robbins space near Peet's Coffee. I jotted down the prices: $2.25 child, $3.25 regular, $4.25 large, $6.75 quart.

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

* GOLDEN SPOON FROZEN YOGURT: 1200 El Camino Real Unit A3, Belmont, CA
www.goldenspoon.com