The return of froyo!
In the '80s, the frozen yogurt game belonged to a bunch of little establishments (like the local and still-thriving Yogurt Delight at Coldwater and Magnolia, and Humphrey Yogart, ha ha, yeah, it took me years to get the pun and my only comfort was that Steven didn't get it either) and the big game in town: Penguin's.
And then all the Penguin's in the Valley closed as low-fat high sugar everything was villainized and the Atkins diet took over.
And now it's back, and how.
Of course, Pinkberry started all this nonsense, making tart-as-hell, it's-good-for-you-if-you-forget-the-propylene-glycol frozen yogurt and serving it in an anime setting (in West Hollywood, with no parking). As a result of their resounding success (and expansion), some of the newcomers serve yogurt in spaces that resemble the set of THX 1138 and blare ambient music.
All of these places (and a few more where we stopped, we looked, we tasted and we ran) have opened recently:
Purenaked yogurt, actual frozen yogurt (Alta Dena dairy) and fruit. Refreshing, touts lots of tidbits about how good yogurt is for you but really, they should be touting the fact that they let you pile on a couple of portions of fresh fruit because you're more likely to get health benefits from that.
Yogurtland: Something like 12-15 flavors, self serve, 30 cents an ounce. The yogurt is good, they have odd stuff like green tea and taro flavors but their vanilla is smokin'; they have a topping bar (cereal, caramel, chocolate, brownies, etc), and cups that start at the size of a small bucket. As a result your first yogurt there usually weighs in at just under the fighting weight of a small cat. And I watched, it wasn't just me. Although, dingetydang it, I always thought the peanut butter cups used for toppings looked dry and unappetizing and uh, they're pretty much like crumbled crack. Big downside: the place reeks of cleaning fluid (white floors, yet mysteriously, not that clean!).
More, including a nutrition tidbit after the jump!
Menchies: Everyone doing online reviews loves it. So we went there yesterday. The place is laid out brilliantly, as though someone actually thought about the utility of the place. It's round with the cashier in the middle, and you follow and arc from the cups (hey, they have a small sized cup! Wonder how much will fit in here?!) to the yogurt to the toppings to the finish line very nicely. Clean and no cleaning-fluid smell! It's 39 cents an ounce, 10-12 flavors and every one of them good (we took tasting cups and availed ourselves before weighing out the mandatory first-visit 10 oz (?!) yogurt mountain (Small cup, tall froyo. Leave it to me). The kid liked the strawberry tart flavor. With tiny peanut butter cup candy. Very good stuff. But Yogurt Delight has the same stuff and though not very fancy, it's a little cheaper and they give us a little punchy card where the 11th one is free. Remember those?! You have to ask for them. It's like a secret froyo-society thing.
Yozen Frogurt: Ridiculous name, out in yenenzvelt (okay, West Hills), but it has among the very best froyo in all of L.A. and the name has caused my Dad (who has visited 2 times in a day more than once) no end of trouble (he finally, after a succession of HILARIOUS names, settled on Yogurt Frogurt). Decorated like a cute little place instead of a space ship. They should open one near us. And they have punch cards too.
Humphrey Yogart is at 4574 Van Nuys Blvd Sherman Oaks, CA 91403 (Phone: (818) 906-2490). An old standby, they whip up yogurt with fruit, chocolate, etc. and they'll do it with soy vanilla, regular or tart. A good place.
Yogurt Delight is at 12910 Magnolia Blvd., (818) 766-2570. Also in Reseda and Woodland Hills.
A little nutrition tidbit, yogurt fans: about 3 ounces of the stuff, depending on what kind you've chosen, weighs in at about 100 calories, 0-3 grams of fat, 3 grams of protein and upward of 20 grams of sugar (hey sports fans, that's roughly FIVE teaspoons of sugar). Not the end of the world, as long as you don't go overboard (yeah, pot, kettle, black: learn from my temporary insanity!).
I did eventually come to my senses and ask for nutrition information. And then made a delicate swirl in the center of the cup, though it's very tempting indeed to fill cups to the top, so be careful out there (e.g., no tapping the cup on the counter to get the air out!!! and enjoy all the cool while it's so hot).
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