Friday, May 28, 2021

Yomie’s Rice x Yogurt Finally Opens in Arcadia, San Gabriel Next



Fro-yo girl here. Yomie’s Yogurt opened in Rowland Heights in April 2021, becoming the first dedicated purple rice yogurt drink shop in the Los Angeles area. I drove over there a few weeks ago to try it and the shop was closed for maintenance that day. Very disappointing. According to the reviewers, it’s not an authentic Yomie location but a knockoff. The name is certainly very similar to the Australian chain that started the purple rice yogurt craze in Sydney’s Chinatown in late 2018: Yomie’s Yogurt vs. Yomie’s Rice x Yogurt.

The real Yomie’s Rice x Yogurt expanded into multiple countries and just opened branches in California this year. The first US location was in Bellevue, Washington. The California shops are in Arcadia, Millbrae, and San Leandro with locations opening soon in San Gabriel, Westfield Valley Fair (Santa Clara, CA), and Portland, Oregon

They say that they make the yogurt fresh in the store. I noticed there was a big refrigerator that seemed to be being used as a yogurt maker. The other places I had purple rice yogurt did not make their own yogurt.

Yomie’s Rice x Yogurt opened in Westfield Santa Anita on Friday, May 28. They took over the old Matcha Matcha space. Thought they just arrived in SoCal, they were already swamped with orders. They're known for the purple rice x yogurt drinks but also have fresh fruit tea and other yogurt drinks with durian, red bean, oats, jujube, salted egg, avocado, etc. The drinks come in one size and you can specify normal or less sugar.

Purple rice x yogurt ($6.15, less sweet): The sweet purple rice is nice and chewy and the yogurt lightly tangy. I like how the rice wasn't in tiny bits or clumped together. There was also a lot of rice, so every sip had yogurt and rice. The yogurt was a bit mild for me though (like mine tangier). It wasn't an icy slushy, so I liked that too. While I liked the drink, I wouldn't wait an hour for one and it feels a little overpriced. I'd rather have a froyo. But I'll be back to try a few more drinks.

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

* YOMIE’S RICE X YOGURT: 400 S Baldwin Ave, Space 2203, Arcadia, CA 91007

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.

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