Chillfactor Yogurt Lounge: First Self-Serve Fro-yo Shop in Downtown San Jose

Fro-yo girl here. It had to happen - downtown San Jose finally has a self-serve fro-yo shop. Chillfactor is a block away from SJSU in a row of businesses in converted Victorian homes (neighbors include Hydration Tea & Coffee and Iguanas). I met with the owner, Tony, to learn about his shop. I was impressed by the decor (it's pretty and clean - serene shades of blue and white, hanging white globes) and the thoughtful touches that make it a great spot to hang out (free wi-fi, iPod docks, two flatscreen TVs, bathroom, tons of seating, pretty cushions). Chillfactor offers 10 flavors of fro-yo a day for just 35 cents an ounce with plenty of toppings. The fro-yo is nice and creamy.


Flavors of the day:
* Watermelon sorbet
* Pumpkin
* Original tart
* Peanut butter
* Pomegranate raspberry tart
* Coconut
* Cookies n’ cream
* Sugar free wild strawberry
* Country vanilla
* Chocolate classic

The frequent buyer card and gift cards are on the way. They offer fundraising opportunities and 10% off for SJSU students.

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

Random Tuttimobile Sighting

Fro-yo girl here. I was driving around (lost actually) and I spotted a Tuttimobile parked outside of Safeway in San Jose. The address on the side was for a not yet open location in Santa Clara by the AMC Mercado 20 and Mission College. This is good news for my friend, Pearl Tea Boy (he works in the area). That part of town needed fro-yo.

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

* TUTTIMELON: 3139 Mission College Blvd., Santa Clara, CA

I Finally Have the New Yogurtland Spoons

Fro-yo girl here. I'm finally grateful for having all the limited edition Tokidoki loves Yogurtland spoons. As spoon fans know, the spoons were supposed to arrive on November 23 but for some reason, shipments to the Bay Area Yogurtland locations didn't contain the spoons till today. The Yogurtland SoCal locations did get the spoons on time. Hmm.



I found my spoons at Yogurtland San Jose on Prospect Rd. They weren't on display and most people didn't seem to know about them. You had to ask for the spoons (Donutella & Captain Coco). They did have a sign with a picture of the spoons and it said that they were sold out of the Mozzarella and Latte spoons.

My favorite spoon is the white Mozzarella one (she's the cutest), followed by Donutella.

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

* YOGURTLAND WESTGATE WEST: 5395 Prospect Rd., San Jose, CA

Happy Fro-yo Thanksgiving

Fro-yo girl here. I had planned on being grateful for the new batch (wave 2) of Tokidoki Loves Yogurtland spoons but I haven't been able to get my hands on the spoons yet (the Bay Area stores are waiting for their shipments to arrive). Sigh. Despite the frustration that I feel, I'm sure I'll have the spoons soon and I know that there are other things to be thankful for on Thanksgiving.

I'm thankful for the following:

1. Some fro-yo shops are open on Thanksgiving Day (Tuttimelon was last year, so I expect they'll be open again. Yogurtland San Ramon will be open and pumpkin fro-yo will be 10% off.)

2. Pumpkin fro-yo is everywhere (along with crushed graham crackers), this year was truly the year of pumpkin fro-yo.

3. Some fro-yo shops offer pre-ordered fro-yo pies. BerryLine in Boston recently announced that anyone who pre-ordered their fro-yo pie for Thanksgiving would receive them free (wow).

4. Though they aren't the newest Yogurtland loves Tokidoki spoons, I do have many Latte and Mozzarella spoons.

5. My ever expanding collection of fro-yo t-shirts

6. The fro-yo friendships I've made and the fro-yo people that I've met (people in the fro-yo business and fans)

Happy Thanksgiving!

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

I'm Grateful for My Twist T-Shirt

Fro-yo girl here. I wanted to express my gratitude to Twist Yogurt for hearing my cry for a fro-yo t-shirt and promptly sending me two of theirs (they included an extra one in a different size out of thoughtfulness). Thank you Twist! I love the shirt. It's so cheerful and cute (love the hand drawn cup of fro-yo topped with a strawberry). Please support Twist (they're obviously awesome, and they support local artists) if you're in the Princeton area.

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

* TWIST YOGURT: 84 Nassau Street, Princeton, NJ 08542

http://www.twist-yogurt.com/index.html
https://twitter.com/MrsTwist

Picture of Future Pinkberry at Stanford Shopping Center

Fro-yo girl here. I don't know when it will open but Pinkberry seems to be close to opening at the Stanford Shopping Center. The location faces El Camino and is close to Macy's for Men, Bloomingdale's, and La Belle Day Spa.

They put a help wanted ad on Craig's List three weeks ago, so expect an opening soon: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/fbh/1453131150.html

They aren't listed in the mall directory yet: http://www.simon.com/mall/malldirectory.aspx?id=841

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

Tuttimelon Stoneridge Grand Opening Celebration

Fro-yo girl here. I missed the Ohio State vs. Michigan football game for the first time in years...but Tuttimelon Bear could barely sleep last night and he had to be at the Tuttimelon Stoneridge grand opening today. Of course in Ohio, no one would have a grand opening on the day of the Big Game. The Buckeyes won (yay!!!!)


Back to fro-yo, we arrived a little before Roy (Mr. Tuttimelon) and watched the preparations for the grand opening (e.g., making labels, putting labels on, getting the small cups ready, turning on the flatscreen monitor with the menu, etc.) I even made the label for the vanilla fro-yo :-) but mainly I tried not to get in the way. Plus I spent time taking notes and admiring their illuminated wavy counter and the new orange stools. There was a cute, cozy nook and the pretty hanging white globes.


The first person in line was a guy in a Cal sweatshirt. The door prize for the first 50 people was really cute - pale blue I heart Tuttimelon t-shirts and camisoles. It's nice of them to use American Apparel vs. some crappy brand. They also handed out raffle tickets. I didn't stay till 1:30 PM when they announced the winners but the prizes included tickets to the Kelly Clarkson concert, Nintendo Wii, Apple iPod Touch and Sony PS3.


This was a polite crowd. Most people didn't take that much fro-yo. Probably many of them had never had Tuttimelon before. They had 8 fro-yo flavors (2 sweet, 6 tart), gelato and sorbet.

Roy swirled my fro-yo :-) and made it look pretty.

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