UpMarket @ Walgreens

What is the first thing you see when you enter the flagship Walgreens in San Francisco?  

It might be the baristas making chai lattes.  Or the folks freshly squeezing fruit and veggies for juices and smoothies.  Or maybe you notice the sushi, the bread from Acme bread, or the baked goods from Cafe Madeline. 

Latte, sample size.

To promote the opening, they had a bus driving around offering up samples of their juices, smoothies, froyo, and coffee drinks.  The latte wasn't bad, but Walgreens is definitely not where I'd ever go for a latte.  The coffee was decent, not burnt tasting or anything, but fairly unremarkable.  The froth was nicely done.

But I wasn't all that interested in the coffee.  I was there to check out something else.  The FROYO!  Yes, self-serve froyo bar with rotating flavors and tons of toppings.

Yes, at Walgreens.

Self-serve froyo.

The froyo station has 6 rotating flavors, including classic chocolate and vanilla, low-fat and non-fat options, and a sorbet.  I've tried several, but sadly, wasn't very impressed.

• Birthday Cake: Just sweet, no real flavor, not very creamy, meh.
• Cookies N Cream: Again just sweet, no real flavor, not very creamy, meh.
• Strawberry Sensation: Not the best strawberry flavor, a bit fake and medicinal tasting, not creamy.
• Tahitian Vanilla: Not much vanilla flavor, but creamy and great swirled with chocolate.  A regular choice for me, but sometimes it comes out icy.
• Triple Chocolate: Decent chocolate flavor, nice swirled with vanilla.  Pretty creamy. Another regular pick for me, but, like the vanilla, is sometimes icy.
• Tropical Sorbet: Icy, a bit tart, not bad, but clearly sorbet. 

And of course toppings.

The toppings bar is not huge, but sufficient.  

Dry toppings, fresh fruits, all fairly standard offerings.