Finally, Dedicated Purple Rice Yogurt Shops Are Opening in the Los Angeles Area

Fro-yo girl here. Last year, I searched high and low for purple rice yogurt drinks in Los Angeles. I finally found some at The Alley and also Gotcha Tea House in Rosemead. A few places have purple rice milk tea drinks but not purple rice yogurt. I knew of a purple rice yogurt drink place that was supposed to open in Arcadia but then the pandemic struck. I don’t think the shop ever opened. But Yomie's (the Australian purple rice yogurt chain) is coming to Westfield Santa Anita in Arcadia and San Gabriel too. They've already opened in the Bay Area, in Millbrae and in SoCal (Rowland Heights). The Rowland Heights location opened this week!

On a recent froyo run, I noticed a sign for From Yogurt in the same strip mall as Yogurtland Alhambra. From Yogurt’s sign mentions fruit, yogurt, and purple rice. Of course, the first word I saw was yogurt and my first thought was frozen yogurt. They’re taking over the Mr. Matcha space. Since they mentioned WeChat, I assume it’s Chinese-owned.

I’ll report back once it opens. We're getting multiple purple rice yogurt shops!

For a history of purple rice yogurt drinks and health benefits, see IFYA’s post, Now Trending: Purple Rice Yogurt Drinks.

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

FROM YOGURT: 29 Valley Blvd, Alhambra, CA 91801

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.

Long Remodel Completed at Menchie’s Burbank

Fro-yo girl here. The scaffolding that surrounded the exterior of Menchie’s is gone and the renovation of Menchie’s has been completed. It looks like the whole shopping center was remodeled and renamed The Ranch @ Hollywood & Verdugo. The renovations began in 2019.

They renovated the interior of Menchie’s too and it looks cleaner now. And there's a new outdoor patio too.

FYI, Menchie’s Burbank is currently offering full service. You can find today’s flavors on the Menchie’s app and Menchie’s website.

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

MENCHIE’S BURBANK: 3800 W Verdugo Ave, Burbank, CA 91505

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.

Menchie’s South Pasadena Expands Hours

Fro-yo girl here. For many months now, Menchie’s South Pasadena and Glendale, CA have been full service and only open Friday-Sunday. Very limited hours. Also, they only offer a few froyo flavors. The last time I looked, they only had 6 flavors. They’re still doing flat rate cups.

But, things are looking up. They’ve expanded their hours recently and are open daily again. They haven’t posted an update about it on Instagram or Facebook and the Menchie’s website doesn’t have the up-to-date hours (Menchie’s website still says the location is closed Monday-Thursday). However, the hours have been updated on Google and Yelp. The hours on Google and Yelp do not match and neither match the hours they posted on the door of the shop. Hmm. The place has definitely gone downhill.

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

MENCHIE’S SOUTH PASADENA: 1040 Mission St, South Pasadena, CA 91030

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.

New Featured Flavor at Menchie’s, Vegan Strawberry Sorbet

 

Fro-yo girl here. Menchie’s featured flavor of the month for April is a new one, Vegan Strawberry Sorbet. Made with real strawberries, the new flavor is gluten-free, dairy-free, and is made with no high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors or artificial flavors.

Wait, didn’t Menchie’s have a strawberry sorbet flavor before?? Kinda. They’ve had Strawberry smoothie sorbet, Strawberry kiwi twist sorbet, and Freshly squeezed strawberry lemonade sorbet.

I found Vegan Strawberry Sorbet at the newly remodeled Menchie’s in Burbank. It’s still full service there.

Vegan Strawberry Sorbet: It was smooth and not overly icy. While I could taste strawberries, the flavor seemed bland, like they used strawberries that didn’t have a strong enough flavor or not enough strawberries? Not terrible though. Recommended toppings: Popping boba, fresh fruit.

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.

Yogurtland Revamps Real Rewards Program

 

Fro-yo girl here. I remember when Yogurtland first launched Real Rewards in 2013 (I signed up just as soon as I could). The program stayed pretty much the same for years. There were three levels: green, raspberry, and platinum. You earned one point for every ounce you purchased, free froyo every 36 points and a birthday reward.

The Real Rewards program just changed. Now, you earn two points for every dollar spent at Yogurtland. After you earn 100 points, you’l get a $5 reward for a future purchase. There are still three levels but they’re different now. The new levels are Signature, Premium, and Ultimate. The higher the level, the better the rewards (e.g., bigger birthday reward, exclusive rewards like the half birthday reward and quarterly bonus points. Two hundred points moves you up from the Signature to the Premium level.

Get 50 free points just for registering.

What’s different? Rewards and points are based on dollars now, not ounces. The Platinum card is gone. And the Ultimate Cup reward is no more. I know…that was the best reward ever!

P.S. I've been having problems with Real Rewards for about a year. Even though I provided my phone number, I wasn't getting my points. Hopefully, they fixed whatever the issue was. 

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.

Haitai Black Sugar Bubble Tea Ice Cream Review

Fro-yo girl here. Haitai is a Korean brand whose products include black sugar bubble tea bars and scoopable ice cream. I haven’t seen their boba ice bars yet, but H Mart did have the scoopable version. The ice cream is imported from Korea. One 600ml tub was $5.99 regular price at H Mart in Arcadia, CA.

Black Sugar Bubble Tea Ice Cream: Unlike Little Jasmine’s boba ice cream, Haitai’s was infused with brown bubble syrup throughout. The ice cream was brown in color with a few streaks of black sugar. The bubbles were smaller, harder and not as chewy as Little Jasmine’s. Haitai’s ice cream also seemed a bit icier. But if you love brown sugar flavor, it has the most by far. And it smells very nice, like brown sugar. It’s made with black tea but the brown sugar flavor is much stronger than the tea flavor.

One serving is 100ml, 125 calories, 3.5g total fat, 22g total carbs, 17g total sugars, and 2g protein.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

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

HMART: 1101 W Huntington Dr., Arcadia, CA 91007

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.

Partial Self-Serve Returns, Indoor Mall Locations Reopen, Other Shops May Not Reopen?

Menchie's, Ocean Park, Santa Monica

Fro-yo girl here. On April 5, Los Angeles moved to the orange tier for COVID-19 restrictions. Under the orange tier, restaurants can offer 50% capacity for indoor dining. What does that mean for LA’s froyo shops? I’ve seen a few froyo shops in Los Angeles that were full service begin to offer partial self-serve again but technically, self-serve froyo is still not allowed in California. 

At most froyo places that I've been to that allow self-serve, gloves are provided. You can serve your own froyo but an employee adds the toppings. I was able to serve my own froyo and toppings at a few shops even during the height of the pandemic but most froyo shops adhered to the public health department's guidelines of not offering any self-serve. 

With so many froyo shops now offering partial self-serve, I thought it was allowed but it actually isn't yet. I have been cautious throughout the pandemic, but I would feel comfortable with self-serve froyo if customers and employees wore masks and gloves and hand sanitizer were provided. It doesn't feel fair that customers can dine indoors but they still can't serve their own froyo while wearing masks.

I haven’t seen a froyo shop that allows for indoor dining yet. But I got used to eating froyo in my car. You can eat inside a mall again, so froyo shops in indoor malls like Yogurtland Montebello and Yogurtland Century City have reopened. Yogurtand Cerritos is still “temporarily closed.” Will it ever reopen? Menchie’s on Ocean Park in Santa Monica looks like it just closed but it hasn’t been open for months. All the equipment is still inside and the signs are still up.

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.