California Froyo Shop Openings and Closings of 2019

Fro-yo girl here. As 2019 comes to an end, it’s time to look at the froyo shop openings and closings of 2019 in California. I believe that California continues to have the most froyo shops. While the focus of this post is on froyo shops, i.e., shops that primarily serve frozen yogurt, I also tried to track froyo not served in froyo shops but served from a soft serve machine, including restaurants, convenience stores, vending machines, cafeterias, hospitals, frozen yogurt trucks and trailers.

It's always much easier to track openings since most frozen yogurt have a social media presence and Yelp listing. However, many shops close quietly, without making any announcement. Fortunately, helpful Yelpers are good about reporting closings.

Here’s my attempt to track froyo shop openings and closings in California this year.

Froyo Shop Openings (in alphabetical order): 

1. 21 Choices Pasadena (moved)
2. Blitzer’s Yogurt, Murrieta (replaced FroYoLand)
3. Cups and Cones, Pittsburg
4. Dolci Mango, Poway
5. Everest Yogurt, Sacramento
6. Fog City Yogurt, Pacifica
7. FROLO Frozen Yogurt, Manteca (moved)
8. Froyo Freeze, Harbor City
9. Frozen Land, Westwood, Los Angeles (replaced Yogurtland)
10. Jon & Bon's Yogurt Shoppe, Rocklin
11. Live Culture Café, Encinitas
12. Mangos Frozen Yogurt, Downey (replaced Wild Berry)
13. Menchie’s, Chula Vista
14. Menchie’s, Citrus Heights
15. Menchie’s, Pinole 
16. Menchie’s, Upland
17. Menchie’s Victory Plaza, Whittier (replaced Frugo’s)
18. Original Yogurt Shack, Carlsbad
19. Peachwave, Seal Beach
20. Swrlies, Los Angeles (pop-up)
21. Tiki Tiki Frozen Yogurt & Ice Cream, El Monte (replaced Green Apple Frozen Yogurt)
22. Tutti Frutti, Montrose (moved)
23. Yoga-urt, Echo Park, Los Angeles
24. Yogi Berry, Fresno (replaced Mickey’s Yogurt West)
25. Yogurt Factory, Temecula (2nd location)
26. Yogurt Time, Santa Rosa
27. Yogurt Now, El Sobrante
28. Yogurtland, Anaheim (Katella)
29. Yogurtland, La Habra
30. YOLO, San Anselmo

There were 30 openings this year, compared to 43 in 2018 and 64 in 2017. I've been to 8 of them so far. The number new openings has been on the decline since peaking in 2016. Five new Menchie's locations opened compared to two for Yogurtland. Several shops moved or replaced other froyo shops.

Froyo Shop Closures (in alphabetical order):

1. Berries, Rancho Cucamonga
2. Berrystar, Palmdale
3. Big Spoon, Sacramento
4. Big Spoon, Fair Oaks
5. Boardwalk Yogurt, Venice
6. Bougie’s Frozen Yogurt, Perris
7. Bravo! Frozen Yogurt, Salinas
8. California Yogurt, Yuba City
9. Cherry On Top, Pasadena
10. Cherry On Top, Garden Grove
11. Chillz Frozen Yogurt, Riverside 
12. Chillz Frozen Yogurt, Grand Terrace
13. Cones, Pittsburg (merged, now part of Nick’s Sandwiches, still offers froyo)
14. Corner Yogurt, Half Moon Bay
15. Crazy For Yogurt, Rancho Cordova
16. Exquisito, Anaheim
17. Fraiche, Palo Alto
18. Friza Frozen Yogurt, Torrance
19. FROLO Frozen Yogurt, Manteca (moved)
20. Froyo Delite, Hollister
21. FroYoLand, Murrieta (now Blitzer’s!)
22. Frugos, Whittier (taken over by Menchie’s)
23. Fusion Mix, Fremont
24. Go Bananaz, Tustin
25. Go Greek, Thousand Oaks
26. Go Greek, Glendale
27. Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt, Calabasas
28. Golden Spoon, La Costa, Carlsbad
29. Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt, Rancho Santa Margarita
30. Golden Spoon, Temecula (Ynez)
31. Golden Spoon, Temecula (Temecula Pkwy)
32. Golden Spoon, Wildomar
33. Great American Yogurt, Huntington Beach
34. Live Culture Cafe, Encinitas
35. Loving Cup, Hayes Valley, San Francisco
36. Major Brain Freeze, Loma Linda
37. Menchie’s Carmenita Rd., Whittier
38. Menchie’s, Compton
39. Menchie’s, Dublin
40. Mickey’s Yogurt West, Fresno
41. Miyo Yogurt, Los Altos
42. Moonlight Yogurt, Encinitas 
43. OMG! Dessert Lounge, Anaheim
44. Peachwave, Calabasas
45. Pinkberry Blossom Hill, San Jose
46. Pinkberry Hillcrest, San Diego
47. Pinkberry, La Canada Flintridge 
48. Pinkberry Little Tokyo, Los Angeles
49. Pinkberry, Newport Beach  
50. Pinkberry, San Francisco
51. Pinkberry, Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica
52. San Clemente Yogurt, San Clemente
53. Sweet Swirl, Claremont
54. sweetFrog, Camarillo
55. SweetXO, Agoura Hills
56. Swirls, Encinitas
57. Tutti Frutti, La Crescenta (moved to Montrose)
58. Tutti Frutti, Huntington Park
59. Tutti Frutti, National City
60. Twins Frozen Yogurt, Rancho Cucamonga
61. U Yogurt, Ventura
62. Wild Berry, Downey
63. Xtreme Frozen Yogurt, Carlsbad
64. Yo Place, Long Beach
65. Yogurt De Lite, Fremont
66. Yogurt Delight, Dublin
67. Yogurt Haven, Eagle Rock, Los Angeles
68. Yogurt Shack, Carlsbad
69. Yogurt Time, La Palma
70. Yogurt Zone, Vacaville
71. Yogurtland, Old Town Pasadena
72. Yogurtland, Little Tokyo, Los Angeles
73. Yogurtland, Poway
74. Yogurtland, Westwood, Los Angeles
75. Yogurtland, Colima & Fullerton, Rowland Heights
76. Yogurtland, Beverly Connection, Los Angeles
77. Yogurtlicious, Corona
78. Yumi Yogurt, Redwood City 

There were 78 froyo shop closures in 2019, compared to 68 in 2018 and 99 in 2017. There were more closures than openings, as in 2017 and 2018. Another batch of Pinkberry shops closed, seven in total. Three Menchie's locations closed and six Yogurtland locations. Some old school shops closed that seemed like they'd be around forever, including Yogurt De Lite in Fremont, Great American Yogurt in Huntington Beach, and Yumi Yogurt in Redwood City.

New Places Serving Froyo But Not a Froyo Shop: 

• Al’s Deli, San Francisco
• Apizza, San Francisco (Loving Cup)
• Coit Tower Café, San Francisco
• Eatery, Encino Freshii, Oakland
• Loop Neighborhood Market, Temecula
• Loop Neighborhood Market, Meridian, San Jose
• Souvla Marina, San Francisco
• N2 Lab, Monrovia, January 2019
• Nick the Greek, Morgan Hill
• Nick the Greek, San Carlos
• Nick the Greek, Santa Clara
• Nick the Greek, Santa Cruz
• Nick’s Sandwiches, Pittsburg (merged with Cones)
• Quarters Kitchen, Yorba Linda

Froyo is on the menu at the restaurants and convenience stores. Nick the Greek is a fast casual Greek chain that's currently in growth mode in the Bay Area. Loop Neighborhood Market continues to offer self-serve froyo.

Froyo Shop, Temporarily Closed:

• Golden Spoon, Long Beach

Golden Spoon Long Beach is expected to reopen in December. 21 Choices was closed in Claremont for months but it did reopen after remodeling.

Reopened in Same Spot After Remodeling:

• 21 Choices, Claremont

Not New, Not a Froyo Shop, Started Offering Froyo:

• Happy Days Café, Sherman Oaks

Had Froyo but No Longer Offers:

• Yalla Mediterranean locations (7)
• Walnut Creek, Burbank, Fremont, Seal Beach, Culver City, Dublin, Pleasant Hill

Closed, Not a Froyo Shop But Offered Froyo:

• Exquisito, Anaheim
• Mission Oaks Cafe, Camarillo
• Poki Yo, Yorba Linda
• Tea-nilicious, Hawaiian Gardens

New Management not a Froyo Shop:

• Health Habits, Valley Springs

New Ownership, Froyo Shop:

• Razzle Dazzle, Upland 
• Yogurt Creations, Arroyo Grande
• Yogurt Creations, Atascadero
• Yogurt Creations, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
• Yogurt Creations, Lompoc
• Yogurt Creations, Paso Robles
• Yogurt Creations, Santa Maria

Coming Soon:

• Apizza Belmont 
• Dolci Mango, Poway 
• Easy Breezy, Corte Madera 
• Fraiche, Stanford Hospital, Palo Alto
• Jon & Bon’s Yogurt Shoppe, Rocklin 
• Loop Neighborhood Market, Sacramento 
• Loop Neighborhood Market, Meridian – San Jose 
• Pinkberry Valley Fair, Santa Clara
• YogoFarm, Los Angeles
• Yogart, Grantville, San Diego
• Yogurt & Yogurt, Moreno Valley

There's a lot to keep track of! Expect to see Reis & Irvy's froyo robots in California, next year. I hope Pinkberry does open new locations because so many have closed. The only ones left in the Bay Area are in Palo Alto and Sunnyvale. I feel sad for all the people who want Pinkberry but don't live close to one. And while they now have a foodservice program that allows just about any business to serve Pinkberry, it's still hard to find. For example, the Eatery in Encino offered Pinkberry for a month but then they discontinued. Polkatots in Pasadena apparently had Pinkberry briefly, but every time I call about it, they say that they've run out???

Since I find out about openings and closings after publishing my post, I’ll keep updating this post. Did I miss any openings or closings in 2019? Let me know.

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.