Frozen Yogurt at Pinkberry

Update Review #11, 2026 Visit

Poor Pinkberry.  New York City is going through a froyo obsession right now, but ... no one really cares about Pinkberry (or 16 Handles), the OG froyo places in town.  Everyone is standing in line for over an hour at all the new places spring up every week it seems (seriously, there are sooo many), all with fancy curated toppings, over the top branding and decor, and extremely high prices.  Pinkberry is half the price, and always vacant. 

So ... they joined in the social media craze and offered free froyo at all their NYC locations all afternoon long one day.  Free OG flavor, with your choice of toppings.  I was nearby, so I swung by, expecting the line to be ridiculous and I'd move on, but they were doing a remarkable job moving it along, so I waited a few mins and got my free froyo.

OG w/ Snow Caps & Yogut Chips.
(Small).

This was perfectly fine froyo.  Slightly tart, slightly sweet, very creamy.  Classic Pinkberry.  Not remarkable, but certainly not bad.  Considerably better than say 16 Handles.  It melted nicely, and never coated my mouth funny.  I liked it.  I'll also likely forget it again quickly ...

Their toppings haven't really modernized with all the trends of fancy sauces and crumbles, no Dubai inspired toppings, but I enjoyed my Sno-Caps and yogurt chips.  Again, I liked it, but I'll forget it.

3.5/5.

Update Review #10, 2024 Visit

Another year, another few visits to Pinkberry while in New York (since we no longer have any in SF).

Green Apple (Seasonal).

I tried a sample of the green apple, and I'm glad I tried just a sample, as I didn't care for it.  It did taste exactly like a granny Smith apple, or like creamy cider.  Which, I don't like all that much in apple form, and definitely is not what I want in my froyo.  Creaminess was good though, and it wasn't too sweet.  *+.

Pomegranate.

Pomegranate is regularly offered at Pinkberry, but I never seem to gravitate towards it.  This year, while trying to think through what might go well with peanut butter, I decided to give it a try, thinking maybe it would mesh well in a side-by-side with the peanut butter, a la pb & j.

I forgot what a sweet flavor this was.  Fruity, in a way that reminded me of black raspberry almost, but, very sweet.  It seemed almost too sweet for me, and I think I'd probably enjoy it best with the tart to contrast it.  Low ***.

Chocolate Hazelnut / Cookies & Cream.

I was in the mood for something chocolately, but couldn't quite remember which of the two chocolate-ish options was more chocolately.  It turns out, neither really are that chocolately.  

Chocolate Hazelnut: This is instantly recognizable as Nutella (I believe it is actually made with Nutella).  Creamy, rich, very, well, Nutella.  So not chocolatey exactly.  A sweeter flavor.  ***.

Cookies & Cream: More mild, less smooth and creamy, but not icy.  About equal sweetness.  Not very chocolately either.  ***.

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Peanut Butter:

I really thought I'd get the peanut butter, as I do often quite like it, but I just wasn't in the mood, which was obvious immediately after trying a sample.  It had good peanut butter flavor, but ... I'm not sure.  The peanut butter and slightly tart and slightly icy froyo nature of it turned me off, even though I normally really quite like it.  **+.

Vanilla:

I think this was my first time ever trying their vanilla!  I'm not sure why.  I don't feel like I was really missing out though, as this wasn't all that great.  Basically, just a bit sweeter of a froyo with a fairly plain flavor.  If I want vanilla, I really want soft serve ice cream, no froyo.  Froyo I go to for the other flavors, not vanilla.  I suspect best just to use in a side-by-side to balance out another sweet flavor, but not something I'd ever want to just get on its own.  ***.

Small Original.
w/ strawberries, mango popping boba, yogurt chips, mochi.

I finally took my own advice, and was entirely boring, and got the original as my flavor.  This felt like such a "waste", but, I keep being displeased when I pick others, so I did it.  I didn't even do a side-by-side with another.

The base was exactly as expected: slightly tart, a bit icy but not too bad, not too sweet.  It reminded me a lot of Eurotart, the tart flavor from YoCream (the folks who make the base for most froyo places that don't make their own).  I'm spoiled to have this in my office about one week a month, and so I think the lure of Pinkberry's base yogurt is just gone for me at this point.  It is fine, but pretty average to me these days.  ***.

For toppings, I went with one fresh fruit (strawberries), one juicy popping boba (mango), yogurt chips (for crunch and creaminess), and mochi (for soft texture).  The toppings were all good, fairly standard, but the fruit was super ripe and flavorful as always from Pinkberry (they really do source good fruity), the mochi was soft and not dried out, etc.  This set of 4 items really did combo pretty well.  I will note that they now restrict you to only 4 toppings (which has been true for a few years now), but I still slightly grumble at that, because they used to be unlimited.  Toppings: basics done well.  ****.

Overall, this was enjoyable, but not particularly special.  ***+.

Update Review #9, 2023 Visit

As part of my birthday freebie crawl, I visited Pinkberry while I was in Manhattan.  This was my first time getting my birthday Pinkberry in a few years, as we no longer have any locations open in San Francisco.

I was extremely pleased with my visit, and I'm glad I choose to prioritize this adventure, even in a city full of great soft serve options.

As always, I like to sample a few flavors before deciding on what to get, and this time, I really was met with complete indecision.   The Pinkberry location I visited had far more flavors than the ones I normally go to, so, many options were to be had, both tart, or sweet.  I couldn't even decide if I wanted sweet nor tart, let alone which flavors.

Spiced Autumn Cider (Fall Seasonal):

"The new Spiced Autumn Cider tart frozen yogurt is the perfect balance of crisp apple flavor and warm cider spice in a frozen sweet treat."

I didn't think this would be the flavor for me, but, it had just come out the day before, and I was curious.  The employee said it was really refreshing, and tasted more like cinnamon than anything else, and, as it was nearly 90*, refreshing sounded good to me, plus, really, I was just curious.  So I eagerly accepted the offer of a sample.

It was a tart flavor, and thus, yes, actually fairly refreshing.  I didn't really taste apple, but did taste some fall spices.  Basically, what she had said.  Not what I was in the mood for, but I do think it would be tasty in slightly cooler weather, and with the new seasonal pie toppings.  ***.

Cookies and Cream:

"A chocolaty yogurt made by blending real cookie pieces into the yogurt."

I'm always tempted by the sweet chocolatley flavors, and generally go for the chocolate hazelnut, but decided to try the cookies and cream just to mix it up.  It was more like a mild chocolate to me, which was fine, and it was nicely creamy and sweet.  I really wanted peanut butter as one of my flavors, and I think this would have gone really well with it, but, at least minute, I decided against it.  Good creamy texture and nice sweetness though.  ***+.

Side by Side w/ Toppings: Peanut Butter & Original Froyo
Dark Chocolate Crisps / Candied Pecans / Crumbole / Raspberries. $7.64.

In the end, I went for a side by side so I could get two flavors, and ... got one sweet, one tart.  I don't really recommend this, and I probably would have actually liked it better had I gone in one direction or another, but, I really wanted both the peanut butter (always a favorite there, a sweet one) and the original (it really is just quite good and refreshing), and so ... yeah, I did a side by side.  If I could have decided on just sweet, peanut butter with either vanilla or cookies & cream would be a great choice, or if just tart, original with either of the fruity tart ones, or even the fall cider one, but ... yeah, I wound up with this mismatched combo.

Pinkberry used to allow "unlimited" toppings, as in, as many as would fit if you opted for toppings (their model is toppings or not, no option to get just one, etc).  Now they limit you to 4, or you can pay more for additional.  I struggled just as much with my topping choices as I did the base froyo.  All the fresh fruit looked very vibrant.  Kiwi! Mango! Strawberries!  Blueberries!  And what about the popping boba or mochi in several flavors?  Or of course, all the candy and candy-adjacent things, the sauces ... limiting to 4 was quite hard.  In the end, I went for one fruit (uh, to be healthy?), one nut (uh, protein?), and two sweet toppings, because, really, I'm a kid at heart.

Peanut Butter Froyo (Sweet): 

"Light, refreshing, and completely satisfying, made with real peanut butter."

I always like the peanut butter froyo from Pinkberry.  It is one of their sweet flavors, and is quite creamy.  It doesn't taste healthy, it doesn't come out icy, mostly doesn't remind me of froyo.  Strong peanut butter flavor.  Really, at least to me, indistinguishable from soft serve ice cream.  A reliable favorite for me.  Best side by side with a chocolate sweet option (chocolate hazelnut or cookies and cream) or vanilla.  ****+.

Original Froyo (Tart):

"One-of-a-kind taste that is refreshing, light and craveable with the perfect balance of sweet and tart."

The original tart froyo is their signature flavor, and it too is a reliable favorite.  It is tart.  It is refreshing.  And generally very smooth, not icy.  Classic good froyo.  Great with fresh fruit.  ****.

Candied Pecans:

The candied pecans were good.  Nicely candied, nicely chopped into fairly large hunks.  They didn't quite go with my peanut butter flavor very well, and likely would be best with vanilla or a chocolate one.  But the nuts were good, and I liked the crunch they added.  ****.

Dark Chocolate Crisps:  

Ahh, crispearls.  Love these things.  Perfect with the peanut butter.  Because, chocolate and peanut butter.  Need I say more?  More great crunch.  Yay, crispearls.  ****+.

Crumbole (Moist vanilla cookie crumbles):

"Versatile, crunchy and delicious, sweet vanilla and almond flavor."

These I had to look up.  But, it looked like a crumble of some sort, and that sounded great to me.  And, it was very good.  Basically, well, a sweet, crunchy, vanilla crumble topping.  Likely great with the new autumn spice flavor, but very good with both my flavors too.  Super versatile, just as the manufacturer says.  ***+.

Raspberries:

Fresh.  Juicy.  But only 3?  A bit stingy, particularly compared to the other toppings.  Very nice to have a fresh fruit with the tart froyo.  ***+.

Update Review #8: 2019 Visits

I've learned my lesson at Pink Berry.  The only flavor I really should get is Original tart, I should load it with fruit, and perhaps some nuts and (if daytime) chocolate crunchy thing, accept that this is a healthier version of a frozen treat than I normally go for, and I should give up on everything else.

I know this, but still opted to try the Strawberry Pinkbees (since, Ice Cream > Frozen Yogurt, in my world).  It was icy for ice cream, and I don't even like strawberry ice cream in the first place.  So, big meh for me.

Mango & Original, Side By Side, Small
with Mango Popping Boba, Strawberries, Blueberries, Candied Pecans, Rainbow Sprinkles.

For my flavor, I did get a side by side instead of just Original, choosing to have Mango as well.  I tried a sample of the mango, and liked the fruity nature, although it was quite sweet.  I thought that having it with the Original would help tame it (really, I'd want them swirled, but they weren't on the same machine).  The mango ... well, it was still just too sweet, and I grew very "sweeted out" after a few bites.  Maybe a little would be nice, but, it was just too much sweet for me, which I know is odd, as I'm all about the sweets usually.

The Original was pretty standard Pink Berry - tart but still fairly sweet, kinda icy, definitely froyo and not ice cream, but, if you are wanting, and expecting, this style, it is good for what it is.

The fruit was the star as always, both the strawberries and blueberries were ripe, juicy, flavorful, and fresh.  Minus a bit of a point though for stems still being on the blueberries.

The mango boba added too much sweet given the sweet mango base, so that was a bit of a failure for me, and I wished they weren't so generously applied as a result.  Normally something I like, and I do always like the bursting quality, but, when I was already wanting less sweet, they certainly took away from the experience for me.

I liked the candied pecans for crunch, but they weren't anything particularly special.  Same with the sprinkles.

The small size was far bigger than I remembered, quite a generous serve, and was nicely loaded with toppings.  I'd get the tiny next time, actually.

Overall, it was fine, again, for a healthy tart creation.  I again tell my future self though: just get the Original.

Update Review #7: 2018 Visits

March 2018 Visit

Oh Pinkberry.  I just ... don't understand.  I've reviewed it many times before (see below) and, besides the peanut butter they had way back when they opened in SF in 2012, it just always fails to impress.  There really is such better froyo out there!

But, I'm still a member of their rewards program, and thus, I do sometimes get free ones.  I keep trying, just for those.  I've concluded something though.  Unless there is a flavor I actually like, the best move is just the original, loaded up with fruit.  The fruit always is actually good, and, while boring, and still not creamy, the original flavor is a decent base.  Not really my general style, which is why its taken me so long to conclude this, but, it really is what I should do.  Next time.

Small Side-by-Side with Toppings: Chocolate Pinkbees, Original Yogurt. $5.99.

As always at my location, the flavor selection was lackluster.

Tart original, pomegranate, and meyer lemon.  Mango sorbet.  Chocolate hazelnut froyo.  Chocolate Pinkbees (ice cream).

The chocolate Pinkbees was new to me, and, although I don't generally want chocolate ice cream, I tried it.  It was ... meh.  Better than the very icy chocolate froyo, but, not super creamy premium chocolate ice cream.  It is lowfat after all.  And I didn't end up caring for the chocolate flavor itself either.  Doh.

"Original: one-of-a-kind taste that is refreshing, light and craveable with the perfect balance of sweet and tart".

I also went with Original yogurt, done as a side by side, since I knew it wouldn't combine well, and since every other flavor was tart, I didn't really have a choice if I wanted to try the ice cream.  The Original was fine, slightly tart, slightly sweet.  Not very creamy though, clearly "froyo" in the sense that makes people look down on it.

For toppings on the Original side, I opted for fruit, finally taking my own advice to stop getting all the candy and things that looked good, and just get fruit which actually generally *is* good.  I went with kiwi and mango, as the strawberries looked a bit sad.  Both were, well, good.  Juicy, ripe, flavorful.  They went well with the Original flavor.  

So that side was a quasi-success.  Still not something I'd crave, but I was happy to finish it.

The other side was ... very sad.  I didn't care for the flavor of the ice cream, so that was one strike.  My toppings also weren't great.  I wanted nuts for crunch, so I went for pecans, that looked slightly caramelized.  I couldn't taste them, very, very masked by the strong chocolate flavor.  I'm willing to try them again on a more neutral flavor, but, they were lost here.

My other topping was horrible.  I asked what it was, and was told "cinnamon".  I said, "cinnamon granola?", as it looked granola-esque.  "No", was the curt reply, "that is granola" (pointing at the plain granola).  I tried again, "cinnamon crumble?"  "No, its just cinnamon".  Um ... ok?  It clearly wasn't just cinnamon.  So I got it.  I like crumble things?  It was some kind of cinnamon crumble, but it did not add the texture, nor flavor, I was looking for.  It was like sand throughout.  Gritty.  Horrible.  And the flavor wasn't good either.  It really ruined that side for me, and even as I tried to scrape it off, it infiltrated.

For my final topping, I asked what sauces they had.  "Caramel" was one of the answers, so I opted for that.  I was surprised when she picked up the squeeze bottle of "dulce de leche", and squeezed it on, clearly annoyed to be doing so, as it didn't exactly flow easily.  It was ... fine, but covered in the horrible sand-cinnamon.

Lesson learned.  Original with fruit.  Give up on the others!

August 2018 Visit - Logan Airport, Terminal C

I arrived off a flight, totally unsatisfied, and craving ... something, anything.  Except it was 9:30pm, and everywhere was closing.  I seem to have literally just missed them all by mere minutes.  Lights were being flicked off, staff were still there picking up, as I went running up to each and every place I picked out.

After my heart was broken at Wahlburgers, I rushed around the corner saying to myself, "Well, FINE, I'll just get a big huge froyo for dinner!", only to see the Pinkberry lights off, and the staff member walking away with all the serving tongs.

Nooooo ...  

I still approached, and said "You are closed, right?"  The staff member smiled, said nah, and asked what I wanted.  

My options were not exciting though, once I had a second to read the menu:  the standard lineup of Original, Pomegranate, and Chocolate Hazelnut, that every Pinkberry seems to always have, and none of which I really like.  No more Pinkbees real ice cream, and instead just the Coconut Milk Coconut that I never really like that much.  Green Tea Lemonade, caffeinated, so out cuz it was night.  And the seasonal special: banana bread.  Eh.

I asked to sample the seasonal flavor, and she didn't mind, even offering if I wanted to sample anything else.  And when I was indecisive about which flavors to order (since, to be honest, I didn't really like any of them, but I still wanted something), she even offered, not by my asking, to make me one with all three of my choices!  They normally only do side-by-side.  She said she'd never tried it before, but would totally do it.

She was kinda awesome, even if she led me astray with one of my topping choices, strongly encouraging me to get the cookie dough, her absolute favorite.

Small Side-by-Side-by-Side with Toppings: Original, Banana Bread, Coconut Milk Coconut, with Kiwi, Blueberries, Candied Pecans, Yogurt Chips, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

The three I went for were the Original (since I know that one is at least decent with fruit, but is a very tart flavor, and not the style of creamy froyo I prefer), the Banana Bread (it was the only non-tart option, and it wasn't awful, just, not great), and the Coconut Milk Coconut (always too much on its own, but I hoped it would balance with the others).  Basically, all mediocre choices, and I hoped they would combine together to be better.  Which, they sorta did.

The original was as it always is, tart, icier style, not that creamy.  And, good with fruit.  Exactly what I expected.

The banana bread I sampled first, and it was certainly a banana flavor, and you need to like banana flavor to like this, and was too much to imagine a full bowl of it, but, it was much creamier than the others, and sweeter, so it was nice to have in the bowl.  It went best with the non-fruit toppings.

And the coconut milk coconut, even more icy than the original, way too strong coconut, just too much on its own, best tempered with the original, but still not one I actually like.  Nice with the blueberries, but again, too strong.  I need to not get it again.

The fruit was all great as always, kiwi and blueberries, both very fresh, ripe, flavorful.  Pinkberry does a consistently good job with fruit.  Maybe I should have gotten strawberries and mangos too, but I wanted to mix it up.

The yogurt chips were fine, but I always wish they were white chocolate.  Nice from some texture.  Same with the candied nuts, good texture, and hey, protein, right?

The cookie dough I added really because she told me to, telling me about how it was her favorite, how she's on a diet but eats two balls of it per shift (as in, 2 tiny pieces), so, I got it.  They were the most unremarkable cookie dough bits ever!  Tiny, much smaller than most places, and I didn't really taste cookie dough, no butteriness, etc.  Eh.  Would not get these again.

So overall, it was all fine, decent choices given the options, and at least it was something to eat at 10pm, but, eh.

Other flavors sampled:

• Cookies & Cream (nonfat, sweet): "A chocolatey yogurt made by blending real cookie pieces into the yogurt." Tasting notes:  Meh.  Yes, chocolately but not chocolate, creamy but clearly not "ice cream".  Nothing very redeeming about it.
• Green Tea Lemonade (tart): "The vibrant new Green Tea Lemonade is a summertime sensation with its delicious taste and refreshing flavor that goes so well with fresh pineapple and mango, we're calling it A Perfect Matcha!"  Tasting notes: This is a limited summer special, and, it was listed on the sign as "A Perfect Matcha", so I expected, well, matcha.  I was pretty taken back when the yogurt sample was 1) not really green, 2) tart, and 3) tasted like lemon.  I looked up, confused.  "Oh yeah, its very lemonade flavored, right?", said the server.  I'm glad they changed the marketing on this to "Green Tea Lemonade" from "Matcha", because, I can't be the only one who was expecting something entirely different!  I can't really evaluate this one, as icy, tart, and fruity was not what I wanted ... I wanted bitter creamy matcha!
• Meyer Lemon: "A new, fresh squeezed flavor just in time for spring". Tasting Notes: This was almost good, but even though it was a tart yogurt, it was too sweet for me.  I know that is hard to explain really, but, it was too sweet somehow.  Also, icy/grainy.
• Pomegranate (tart): It had been a few years since I tried this, so I gave it a try to see if perhaps my taste had changed.  Nope.  Still way too tart and just not a flavor I enjoy in any way.

Toppings:

• Milk Chocolate Crunch (Luxe Topping, $0.50/scoop): I took one bite of this, and was instantly sad.  Hazelnut.  I tasted hazelnuts.  I know people love chocolate and hazelnut, but, I do not.  And this was called "milk chocolate crunch" ... not "chocolate hazelnut crunch"!  I thought that my brain might be just be playing tricks on me, but, alas, when I looked up the ingredients online later, it was confirmed.  Hazelnuts, and almonds, both in the ingredient list than cocoa even.  Sigh.  And, it probably doesn't need saying that this wasn't exactly great quality chocolate base, the first ingredient is vegetable oil, followed by sugar.  I'm really sad they do not carry the peanut butter nor lemon crunch any more, as I loved those, and only tried this one hoping it would be like those.
• Mochi: Very standard little mochi.  Soft, pliable, fresh, but just mochi.

Update Review #6: July & September 2017

My local Pinkberry has the lamest flavors. Always. They had peanut butter, and other good ones, back when they opened, but in the past few years, I've been really disappointed. Pinkberry makes good flavors, I just don't understand why my shop never has any of the sweet interesting flavors.

This year, I visited for my annual free birthday treat, and was met with yet another disappointing flavor lineup.  2 sweet, 2 tart, and 2 non-dairy: Tart Original and Pomegranate, sweetChocolate Hazelnut and Blueberry Muffin, and non-dairy Coconut Milk Coconut and Just Fruit Tropical Mango.

The first three they always have.  Original is just boring.  The pomegranate is always too tart.  The chocolate hazelnut always fails to impress.  Boo to those.

I tried the other three.  Meh to mango sorbet.  The "Blueberry Muffin" I had tried once before, but still gave it another try.  It did indeed taste somewhat like a muffin, but it was also too tart, and also icy.  The coconut milk based coconut flavor was ok, so I opted to do a side-by-side with the lackluster chocolate hazelnut.  They seemed like they would go together well.

My creation wasn't very good.

Chocolate Hazelnut & Coconut Side-by-Side. Almond Roca, Candied Pecans, Dark Chocolate Chips, Fresh Kiwi.  Small.  $5.25.

Chocolate Hazelnut
"Decadent and sweet chocolate with a hint of hazelnut from real Nutella"

I got the chocolate hazelnut mostly because I didn't like anything else.  This one at least is decently creamy, unlike every other flavor that is always icy.  But, I never really taste the hazelnut, and the chocolate isn't that intense.  Meh.

Coconut Milk Coconut
"Made with real coconut milk."

This was decent in a small sample cup, but, it was extremely overwhelming in a real portion.  Way too strong of coconut flavor.  I like coconut, but this I didn't like.  Even as it melted, even when combined with the chocolate, I just didn't like it.  Too intense, with a strange mouthfeel.  They do add "coconut flavor" to the coconut milk base, whatever that means ...

My toppings also weren't very successful.

On the chocolate side, I had almond roca and mini dark chocolate chips.  The crushed almond roca was even disappointing, and that is one I normally like.   It normally has bigger bits and this was kinda just powder.  The little dark chocolate chips weren't particularly flavorful, not nearly as deep a flavor as the dark chocolate curls they used to have a Pinkberry.

On the coconut side, I opted to try the candied pecans, which were sweet and crunchy, and actually good, and the fresh cut kiwi, which was the best part of my entire treat.  The kiwi really was ripe and tasty ... all 4.5 nibbles I had of it.

Note to self: just get the boring original and load it up with the fresh fruit.  The fruit really does seem to be the best thing at Pinkberry.

My treat was free as a birthday reward, but normally this is >$5, which seems crazy.

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Other Flavors

Blueberry Muffin Frozen Yogurt (Summer 2017 Seasonal)."Cool down without heating up the oven with our sweet new blueberry muffin favor."

For summer, Pinkberry introduced a new flavor, and new topping to go along with it, Blueberry Muffin froyo, with blueberry muffin crumbles.

I tried it, but, I wasn't impressed.  Why was it "Blueberry Muffin"?  It just tasted fruity and tart.  It was fine I guess, but not muffin-like, and not particularly interesting.

Just Fruit Tropical Mango (non-dairy).
"Real tropical mango and pineapple that tastes like sunshine."

I didn't taste the sunshine, sorry.  But it wasn't wasn't very mango-y, because of all the other tropical fruits mixed in.  It turned out to be a mix of mango, banana puree, white grape juice, pineapple juice, and pear juice, lots of fillers in addition to the mango.  I don't like sorbet, but tried it because I have liked the mango froyo before.  Sadly, no, this was just sorbet, very icy.

Review #5, August 2016

Pinkberry has expanded beyond basic tart and sweet frozen yogurt.  They now offer a number of dairy-free flavors, and, finally, soft serve ice cream.  For dairy free, you can pick from "Just Fruit" flavors (strawberry, peach passion, or tropical mango) or you can opt for a coconut milk base (available in regular coconut or salted caramel flavors).  Ice cream comes in only one flavor "milk", is low-fat, and not available in San Francisco.

In fact, the San Francisco shop flavors continue to disappoint me.  When I went to redeem my birthday freebie, I was again faced with no flavors I wanted.  My choices were the standard tart, pomegranate, blood orange, and chocolate hazelnut that they always have, plus peach and the plain coconut milk based one.  I tried 4 flavors before I settled on two, but, honestly, I didn't want any of these flavors.  Why does our store never carry the good ones anymore?

Pomegranate Froyo and Coconut Milk Coconut Side-By-Side, With Cookie Dough, Cheesecake, Almond Roca, and . Small.

Even though I didn't really like them, I opted for Pomegranate and Coconut Milk Coconut, because the others were just way too sweet.  The coconut milk flavor was dairy-free.  In retrospect, I really should have considered the Original flavor.  Oops.

The pomegranate was slightly fruity, and very sweet.  Rather icy and not very smooth.  I know people love Pinkberry, but, there is much creamier froyo out there (like Yoppi, or my favorite local Prima Cafe).  As it melted, it got even worse, it separated into liquid and ice.  Meh.

The coconut milk flavor was about the same consistency, but was very rich.  Extremely coconut flavored.  It was a bit much, really.  It was also sweet.  I had hoped this would tame the sweet pomegranate, but it didn't.  I don't think I'd get it again, as it as just too much coconut for me.

For toppings, I went a bit crazy.  I had to rule out all fruit toppings since they had watermelon, which was sad, since the mangos and blueberries looked great.  I couldn't risk it.

I decided to get a bunch of toppings that I'd never had before, just to really mix it up.  And since I was saddened by the froyo flavors themselves, I decided to go big on toppings, hoping they'd jazz up the lackluster flavors.

So, I started with the most decadent option: cheesecake cubes.  They were awful! Cubes of mushy warm cheesecake, coated in some graham crumbles.  I tried a few, and discarded the rest.  Would certainly never get again.

The cookie dough balls were better, but not remarkable.  At least they weren't gross like the Baskin-Robbins ones?

Next up came almond roca, standard chocolate toffee crumbles, sweet, crunchy, fine.

My final topping you can't see here, but it was little pink balls.  I honestly had no idea what it was, I think she said they were pomegranate blueberry crunch balls?  They added great crunch, but were otherwise flavorless.

So, overall, not really great.  My toppings, besides the cheesecake, were all fine, but I wouldn't really recommend any of them.  And I didn't really care for the froyo itself.

I also sampled a few others:

• Blood Orange: "Exquisite and succulent tart citrus with a zing".  Just like last year when I tried a sample, it was crazy sweet.  I honestly don't understand how they take a tart thing like citrus and make it so sweet.  I did not like this at all.
• Peach: "Everything Is Peachy! light and succulent taste of a fresh harvested peach".  This is a summer flavor, and, we'll, it too was too sweet.  The peach was lost in the sugar.

A few months prior, I was on the East Coast, and got to sample the ice milk ice cream, when Ojan's niece couldn't finish hers, and I couldn't let it go to waste.  It tasted … well, like milk.  I couldn’t decide if I liked it or not.  Better than the froyo, but, compared to other soft serve ice cream, not as good.

Review #4, August 2013 and 2014

Many businesses give out freebies for your birthday, but usually they are chain restaurants, or fast food joints, and aren't really things I want (although, I've of course checked out many of them!).  This year, when my birthday rolled around, there was one freebie I was really looking forward to: Pinkberry!

Since I've reviewed them several times already, I'll skip the general details, and focus only on my experience on this particular visit.

The staff was friendly enough, happy to let me sample a few flavors first (in fact, the first question I was asked wasn't "What would you like?", but instead, "Would you like to try any flavors?").  And the cashier even wished me a Happy Birthday (always a great touch!).  And it was a beautiful sunny day, and I enjoyed the fact that they had outside seating.

My froyo was great, and I'll certainly be back again.

August 2013

Peanut Butter Froyo topped with Dark Chocolate Curls and Almond Roca, Mango Froyo topped with Blueberries and Mochi.  Small.  $4.95.

For my flavors I decided on two that I have always loved: Peanut Butter and Mango.  Of course, those flavors do not go together at all, so I had them side by side rather than swirled, and ate them separately.  My last few bites did have a little bit of each in them, as they had melted somewhat at that point, and ... yeah, mango and peanut butter just do not go together :)  But, I honestly don't know how I'd pick just one, so side by side it is!  I love that Pinkberry lets you have any two flavors you want in this way.

Peanut butter is the most decadent of their flavors.  While some are low-fat or non-fat, the peanut butter is definitely not.  They use real peanuts, which, yup, contain fat.  I'm certain that using real nuts is what makes it so delicious.  It is creamy and just so peanut buttery.  Always one of my favorite peanut butter froyos anywhere.

I love a chocolate and peanut butter combo, so I wanted chocolate based toppings on that side.  I had many choices, including milk or dark chocolate shavings, chocolate crunch balls, brownie bites, crushed cookies, chocolate granola, mini chocolate chips, or almond roca.  I have gone with the almond roca on many other occasions, and liked it, so I went for it again.  This time however, I didn't love it.  It was ok, I mean, it is chocolate covered toffee and ground up almonds, totally delicious, but it actually just seemed a bit too sweet to me.  The real winner on my peanut butter froyo was the dark chocolate shavings.  I was shocked by how much I liked them.  The chocolate was actually really good, slightly bitter, and the size of the shavings made them really fun to eat, added a bit of a crunch, and were big enough to really taste against the peanut butter froyo.  I'd certainly get the chocolate shavings again.  Surprising how the most simple seeming topping can be the best!

Mango is another one of their froyo flavors that I've gotten many times, although I've usually paired it with something more appropriate, like lychee.  I knew it wouldn't go with the peanut butter, but I didn't care.   I wanted a fruity tart option too!  And it was.  Not as creamy as the peanut butter, but still fairly smooth, nicely tart, and with strong mango flavor.  It was a refreshing contrast to the richer peanut butter.

With the fruity froyo, I wanted a light, fruit topping.  I've had such mixed experiences with the Pinkberry fruit toppings, ranging from underripe mangos to amazingly delicious raspberries, but generally the fruit is good, although not remarkable.  It all looked ripe and fairly fresh, so I took a gamble and went for blueberries.  They were as expected - not mushy, ripe, but not extraordinary.  Good enough, and I'd get this again.

I was a bit stumped on what to pick for my final topping.  I could go for another fruit, as the strawberries and raspberries both looked good, and would pair nicely.  I could add something crunchy, as there were plentiful choices, ranging from all sorts of nuts (caramelized almonds, slivered almonds, mixed nuts) to several varieties of granola.  But instead my eyes were drawn to the mochi.  The last time I had mochi on my froyo, I said I wouldn't get it again.  But I really liked the flavor combination of the sliced fresh mango and mochi when I used them as toppings on the Greek yogurt, and since I was having mango froyo, I thought it would go well.  Like all other occasions, the mochi was good.  Soft, glutenous, a tiny bit sweet.  And like before, I liked the mango and rice flavors together, reminding me of mango sticky rice.  But ... I still don't think mochi is a very good froyo topping.  I'm not sure what it is about it, I just do not like the soft mochi with the soft froyo.  I mostly pushed the mochi aside, and ate them at the end, in a pool of mango flavored melty goodness.

I also sampled the green tea frozen yogurt.  It was very creamy, but didn't have a strong enough green tea taste for my liking.

I'm still always shocked by the price of Pinkberry.  With no toppings a small is $3.50; with toppings $4.95.  Their stuff is quality for sure, but it always seems steep.  Of course, this was my birthday freebie, so I'm not complaining.

August 2014

Another year, another free birthday froyo!  The very first warmish day in the month around my birthday I headed straight to Pinkberry to redeem my freebee.  I was really looking forward to this, and hoped to get peanut butter.  But alas, my choices were fairly lame: chocolate hazelnut, which I've never liked and pomegranate which I wasn't interested in, neither of which I even bothered to try.  The promising sounding Vanilla Latte had a decent coffee flavor, but was incredibly icy.  I'm glad I sampled it first, because I wouldn't have wanted a whole cup of it.  Strawberry Banana was another sweet and not tart option, and it had pretty good flavor ... except that I don't actually like strawberry froyo or ice cream.  Thus, I was left with only the two tart options: pineapple and original.  I considered coming back another day instead, but, it was sunny, and I wanted froyo!

Small Tart and Pineapple Tart Side By Side with Strawberries, Strawberry Popping Boba, White Chocolate Chips, Almonds.

The pineapple was tart yet sweet.  I liked the flavor, except that it was actually a bit too sweet.  Both the pineapple and the original froyo were fairly icy, not as bad as the vanilla latte one I sampled, but far icier and less creamy than I remembered.  The consistency was disappointing.

For a fruit topping, I went for strawberries.  I thought strawberries and pineapple sounded good together, and it looked like the most ripe option.  The berries were good, sweet, fresh, pretty good.  I decided to continue the strawberry theme and also added strawberry popping boba (the other option was mango flavored).  They were pretty standard, sweet.

I wanted some crunch, but didn't want granola, so my only choice was slivered almonds, the only nuts available.  They were unremarkable.  Still, good for a crunch.

The final topping I picked was white chocolate chips, mostly just to have something sweet and a bit creamy.  Which is exactly what they were.

Overall, this was fairly successful in terms of the ingredients I picked working well together, but it failed to impress.  I actually liked the plain tart better than the pineapple once I had the toppings involved, because the sweeter pineapple yogurt was too sweet with all the sweet toppings.  I wouldn't get this exact creation again.

Review #3, April 2014

You know I like frozen treats, particularly on a warm, sunny day.  And, although it is a chain, I do like Pinkberry.  Sure, it isn't my number one pick for froyo in San Francisco (that honor goes to Prima Cafe), but it is creamy, reliable, and they have a great selection of toppings.

Pinkberry always carries 6 flavors, and they rotate regularly.  I wasn't very excited when I saw the 6 flavor options of the day.  My absolute favorite, peanut butter, was not available.  For tart flavors, they had classic tart, pomegranate, key lime, and mango.  For sweet, only chocolate hazelnut and chocolate chip cookie.

Hmm.  I briefly considered not getting anything, but it was a beautiful day, and I really wanted froyo!

As always, the Pinkberry staff were more than happy to let me sample things.  Rather than asking what I'd like, the first thing I was asked was, "can I get some samples for you?"  I wasn't really in the mood for tart froyo, so I asked to try the chocolate chip cookie, and the key lime, just out of curiosity, even though I rarely like anything key lime.  As I pondered a moment, the helpful worker asked if I like Nutella.  I said, sure, who doesn't.  She eagerly brought me a sample of the chocolate hazelnut, saying it was much better than the chocolate chip in her opinion.  I'd had it before and didn't love it then, so I would have never asked to sample it, but humored her and tried it.

Both the chocolate chip cookie and the chocolate hazelnut are not fat free, and thus, are clearly creamier than the fat free counterparts.  The creaminess and consistency are perfect, but the chocolate hazelnut didn't have much flavor.  And the chocolate chip cookie I just really didn't like.  I can't say what it was exactly, but the flavor just wasn't good.  And reminded me nothing of a chocolate chip cookie.

So, even though I wasn't in the mood for it, I went tart flavors ... with toppings of course.

Small Key Lime and Mango Side By Side with Toppings.  $4.95.

Shockingly, after trying the sample, I decided to get key lime.  Definitely the first key lime thing I've enjoyed in a long time.  I also decided to get my old tart standby, mango.  The key lime and mango were on the same machine, so I was offered the choice of a swirl, or a side by side.  Just in case I decided that the key lime wasn't too my liking, or, if the mango turned out to not be delicious that day, I did them side by side, but I think they would be fine as a swirl too.

The mango was fruity and sweet, just a bit tart.  It actually was a bit too sweet for me, at least, given my topping choices (more on that in a minute).  The key lime however was really tart, and I liked it.

Neither of these were as creamy as the versions with fat, but they weren't icy, and are probably the creamiest of any fat free froyo I've tried.  Very good consistency.

And then, it was time for toppings.  Pinkberry has a rule that you can get as many toppings as fit in your container.  Always such an overwhelming offer for me!

Now, a reasonable adult would get their tart, fruity froyo topped with wholesome things like fresh fruit, granola, perhaps some sliced nuts.  And Pinkberry offers all of these things.  One can craft quite a healthy treat for themselves.  And the fruit did all look good, freshly sliced, and would pair perfectly with the tart yogurt.

But ... I didn't get for any of those things, and instead picked all the ridiculous ones.  I kinda laughed when I saw my completed froyo, as I'm sure it resembled one ordered more often by a child.

Toppings:

• Fruity Bears: I remembered loving these once before , so I made them my first pick.  They are rather hidden in the photo, peeking out below the boba.  I only received four of them.  As before, I loved them.  The flavor is just so intense, very fruity, and they are the perfect level of chewiness.  I wish I knew what brand they were, because I'd really love to eat more of these, just as gummy bears, sans froyo.  I don't particularly like gummy candy in my froyo, so I always let them fall to the side, and eat at the end.  It is kinda perfect, you have that moment of "oh man, it is my dessert gone already?  I want more!" and you then get to enjoy a pile of gummy candy as a second treat.  Perfect!
• Sugarpova Smitten Sour Mini: Speaking of gummy candy, Pinkberry just introduced several new types of gummy toppings, by Sugarpova.  The "Smitten Sour Mini" are little ribbons, which weren't nearly as sour as I wanted them to be.  I didn't get these on my froyo, but when I asked how sour they were, I was immediately given a sample.  I'm glad I didn't pick them.
• Sugarpova Flirty Mini: I did get the other Sugarpova offering, the "Flirty Mini".  These were little lips, in assorted flavors, two layers, with a cream bottom.  I didn't try them before I added them, but if I had, I wouldn't have ordered them.  They were too chewy for my liking.  The lemon flavor I really didn't like.  The strawberry was a nice flavor, and the cream bottom complimented it well in the strawberries-n-cream sort of way.  Like the bears, I received four of them, which you can see, cream side up, right near my spoon.
• Strawberry Popping Boba: For my "fruit" selection, I went for popping boba.  Sure, they aren't actually made with fruit, but they had sweet strawberry flavor, and were kinda fun to eat.  They were too sweet though, at least in the quantity given.  Unlike the gummy candies, my server was quite generous with the boba, and there was far more of it than I wanted. I probably wouldn't get these again.
• Yogurt Chips: I have no idea why I added yogurt chips.  Last time I had them, I thought they were useless.  I thought the same this time.  They added no flavor.  They are the perfect size though, and provide a good textural component, but, meh, no flavor.  Maybe I should try the mini chocolate chips next time.  I really don't want to get these again.
• Fruity Pebbles: And finally, I wanted something with crunch to it.  I mentioned this thought outloud, and the server making my creation helpfully suggested granola or sliced nuts.  Instead I got ... Fruity Pebbles.  Now, I've never had Fruity Pebbles in my life.  Not as cereal, certainly not as a froyo topping.  I think whenever I go to Pinkberry, I have a moment of total weirdness where I can't make up my mind, and just call out whichever topping I see next.  And in this case, it was Fruity Pebbles.  They did indeed add a great crunch.  And, the quantity given seemed right.  But ... soooooo sweet.  With the mango in particular, they were just too sweet.  I guess if I were really in the mood for sweet I'd get them again, as the crunch and size were perfect, but not really right for this creation.

So, I sorta failed on selecting my toppings.  I probably would have liked my froyo more with fresh fruit, like mango, strawberries, or blueberries.  Perhaps some mochi.  Coconut flakes would go well with the mango.  Nuts are always good.  And who doesn't want chocolate shavings?  But instead, I had a pile of candy and sugar.  I still liked it, don't get me wrong, but ... not ideal.  As always though, those fruity bears really impressed me.  Best gummy bears ever :)

Pinkberry does make incredibly creamy froyo, but their prices are what keep me away.  $4.95 for a small with toppings?  It wasn't THAT big.

Review #2, November 2012

A few weeks ago, I posted about Pinkberry, my second favorite froyo place in San Francisco.  I wasn't planning to go back so soon, but they just launched a new rewards app to replace their physical rewards cards, and to get everyone using it, they pre-load it with a free small with toppings!  You know I can't resist freebies, but particularly not at a place I know I like.  I also installed the Pinkberry app on Ojan's phone, and dragged him there with me a few days later to split another one.  So good.

It hadn't been that long since I'd last visited, but they already had several new flavors.  Of course I had to try them.  The staff were again very friendly, helpful, and eager.  Such a happy place to visit.

I still prefer self serve models, but I do appreciate that they let you pick two flavors even in a small, so you can be indecisive like me.  And the same with toppings, you can get 4-5 different ones, or as they say, "as many fit comfortably in the cup".

Lychee and Peanut Butter Yogurts with raspberries, mochi, chocolate covered pretzels, almond roca.  Small.  $4.95.

As always, I had a hard time making up my mind, so I went for my two favorite flavors, even though they totally didn't go together at all.  Which is fine, because they swirl them side by side.  I also wanted all the toppings, so narrowing down to four was hard.  They made it somewhat easier by not allowing any of the luxe toppings for the freebie.

Lychee was a new flavor for me, and I loved it.  It was sweet, but also quite tart, and just really tasty.  I'm not sure I would have known it was lychee, but I really liked the sweet and tart contrast.  On that side, I had mochi and raspberries.  The mochi was soft, not old or stale, but fairly unremarkable.  It was just plain mochi.  He gave a lot of it.  I probably wouldn't get it again.  The raspberries were the suggestion of the server, and seemed fresh, quality, and flavorful.  They were indeed a great pairing with the lychee.  But there were only 3 of them.  I would have certainly preferred more of them and less of the mochi!

The other flavor I picked was my old favorite: peanut butter.  Probably my all time favorite frozen yogurt flavor at most places, but Pinkberry does a particularly good job with making it creamy and flavorful.  On that side I had almond roca, which like before had a good crunch and went well with the peanut butter, and some tiny chocolate covered pretzels.  Like the raspberries, I only received 3 of them.  I guess that is the magic number for countable toppings.  They were a somewhat strange thing to put on frozen yogurt.  Tiny, but still a little big to eat comfortably.  And they did taste a little stale.  I liked the chocolate coating with the peanut butter yogurt though, and the salt and crunch from the pretzel were nice.  I probably wouldn't get them again though.

I certainly enjoyed my yogurt, but I couldn't help but think that $4.95 was a pretty hefty price for a fairly small yogurt.  Yes, it had toppings, but still.  I guess that is the going rate for froyo these days though.

[ Not Pictured ]

Mango and Lychee Swirl with Yogurt Chips, Raspberries, and a Waffle Cookie. 

This was a winning combination.  They were both very flavorful, tart yet sweet, and the two fruity flavors went together really well.  The lychee helped balance out the almost overwhelming mango.

Since I was impressed with the raspberries on my previous visit, I went for them again.  They were again fresh, slightly tart, and good, although ... one seemed frozen.  Do they actually use frozen fruit?

I also picked the yogurt chips, little tiny white chips that were a bit sweet, but mostly flavorless.  I would not get these again, as they added a little texture, but little else.

And at the last minute, I also had her add on a waffle cookie.  I think I got jealous when I saw the person next to me getting a waffle cone.  I'd had the waffle cookie on my first visit, and wasn't all that impressed with it, and felt the same way this time.  It really is just a little chunk of waffle cone, not stale exactly, but not fresh tasting.  I think I'd skip this in the future.

[ Not Pictured ]

Mango and Lychee Swirl with Raspberries, Organic Fruity Bears, and Chocolate Chips.

I again liked both of these flavors.  Tart, fruity, pretty good.  I think I would actually prefer to not have them swirled, as they are each very flavorful on their own, and swirling them somewhat cancelled out the flavors.

The raspberries were again about the same.  Better than you'd expect for out of season berries, but not particularly amazing.  The chocolate chips were semisweet chocolate, and added something good to crunch on.  The fruity bears were a big surprise, they were really good!  Perfectly chewy, really fruity and flavorful, quite good.  I don't actually like gummy candy in my froyo, and pushed them off to the side to enjoy at the end, and I'm glad I did.  I'd gladly just eat these on their own!

[ Not Pictured ]

• Cookies and Cream: Delicious!  Really creamy, and almost tasted like soy milk (in a good way).
• Gingerbread: Well, it tasted like gingerbread.  Which it turns out, I don't really want in my froyo.
• Mango: Such a strong mango flavor.  Very tart.  Tons of flavor here, I think a full cup of it would be too much, but a small portion was delicious.
• Pomegranate: This had a subtle pomegranate flavor, a good tartness.  I would consider getting it again, but I tend to like other flavors more.

Original Review, September 2012

I posted a few weeks ago about my favorite frozen yogurt in San Francisco: Prima Cafe.  They are a tiny, local place, not even known for their yogurt.  It seems strange, but my second favorite place falls on the far other side of the spectrum ... the nationwide chain, Pinkberry.

They only recently opened a Pinkberry in San Francisco, and I attended the big launch event, where they were sampling many flavors.  When I went back for a regular visit, the first thing they did was offer to let me try all of them (which I didn't do, I knew I wanted the peanut butter!).  They were still new at the time, perhaps that is why they were doing that?  It seemed very generous!  Again, perhaps because they are new, but the staff seem very friendly and enthusiastic.

Anyway, their frozen yogurt is particularly creamy, and they have a slew of interesting toppings.  I greatly prefer self-serve models where I can control the size of my creation and put the toppings on how I want them, but for a full serve place, they are my favorite.

As always, multiple tastings are denoted inside brackets.

Small peanut butter and original with peanut butter crunch, lemon cookie crunch, milk chocolate crunch, almond roca, and a waffle cookie.

Frozen Yogurt:

• Chocolate: Very intense chocolate, but not a style I like.  [ Very rich, very chocolatey, but I don’t like it.]
• Chocolate Hazelnut: Very creamy, nice hazelnut tones, tastes like nutella, pretty good.
• Coconut: Nicely tart, great coconut flavor, nice consistency. [ Some coconut flavor, good consistency, ok ]
• Hot Chocolate: Very creamy, not as intense in its chocolatey-ness.  Not sure what was hot chocolate about it, the picture had marshmallows?
• Mango: Very nicely tart, creamy, good mango flavor.  [ Great tartness and creamyness, really good ] [ Tart but sweet, good mango flavor, very good ] [ Very tart, creamy, good flavor ]
• Original: Nice tartness, fairly creamy, very good for this type of yogurt. [ Nice tart, nice creamy ] [ Nicely tart, pretty good for this type of flavor, slightly icy ]
• Peanut butter: Creamy, soo much peanut butter flavor, awesome.  [ Soo much peanut butter flavor, really good. ] [ Creamy, rich, decandent, really good ] [ Creamy, rich, good flavor ]
• Peppermint: Icy, decent flavor.
• Strawberry: Kinda sweet, creamy, not my favorite.  [ Sweet and creamy, but not very distinctly strawberry, meh ] [ Tart, ok strawberry flavor, not great. ]

Toppings:

• Lemon Cookie Crunch: One of the "luxe" toppings, a liquid with crunchy bits.  Very lemony, sweet, good with plain tart yogurt.
• Milk Chocolate Crunch: Another "luxe" topping, basically chocolate sauce with crunchy bits.  Sweet, with a light chocolate flavor, great with peanut butter yogurt.  Crunch was nice texture, but I didn’t care for the crunchy stuff itself that much.
• Peanut Butter Crunch: And another of the "luxe" toppings, a peanut butter sauce with crunchies.  It did not have much peanut butter flavor, but again had a nice crunch.
• Almond Roca: Great crunch, yum, great with pb flavor yogurt.
• Waffle Cookie.  Just a chunk of waffle cone, but kinda fun to dunk in the yogurt.

Read More...

Salt & Straw Ice Cream

Update Review, 2023-2026

Over the past few years, I've had a chance to try a few more unique flavors from Salt & Straw when I ordered pints for delivery, and a few more standard crowd pleasing flavors while flying on Alaska Airlines flights.  I remain relatively impressed.  It isn't ice cream I'll go out of my way for, but I certainly enjoyed it.

Thanksgiving Series.

Oh be still my heart!  I finally took the plunge and ordered a couple pints from Salt & Straw's always interesting Thanksgiving lineup.  I'm so glad I did.

Parker House Rolls w/ Salted Buttercream.

"What's a holiday feast without warm, fluffy rolls? We carb-load by gently folding buttered rolls topped with flaky sea salt into a salted butter ice cream to double down on the savory, making this simple side the most coveted. It’s rich, it’s decadent, and it’s as classic as it gets."

"Everyone loves a bread basket, and ours is brimming with warm, fluffy buttered rolls. Slightly sweet, lightly toasted, and finished with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt, these melt-in-your-mouth dinner rolls are gently folded into a rich, sweet-and-salty butter ice cream. Simple yet irresistible, this classic starter gets everyone excited for what’s to come."

Ok, this flavor I was seriously excited for.  I do love a good Parker House roll (which, I have actually had at *the* Parker House, in Boston, at a wedding), and I love buttercream, and, um, who doesn't love butter, so this sounded fascinating and awesome all at once.  I couldn't wait to dive in.

I was disappointed when I read the ingredients though and saw that they use  King's Hawaiian Rolls.  Now, don't get me wrong, I like King's Hawaiian Rolls, but, they are not the same thing as Parker House rolls, and, Salt & Straw usually prides themselves in making all the individual components of their ice cream (e.g. even the Halloween candy ones have homemade versions of Kit Kats, etc).  I decided to trust them that these worked better than anything they could do in-house, as they clearly aren't ones for being lazy with custom ingredients.  But it is worth noting that these aren't really Parker House Rolls.

I was a bit disappointed when I lifted the lid as well.  This wasn't a pint with good "curb appeal", if you know what I mean.  No inclusions visible, no swirl of magic sauce to draw you in, no hunks of cookie dough or rubble beckoning you to dig for them.  It looked ... like plain ice cream.

But one taste, and I was hooked.  I will admit that one bite in, I decided that 1) I needed to pop it in the microwave for a few seconds as I couldn't possibly wait for it to soften to perfect eating consistency, and 2) I absolutely was not bothering with getting a bowl to scoop it into.  No, this was a dangerous kind of pint, the kind you just absolutely cannot put down, and are glad to have all to yourself in the secrecy of your own home.  One taste, and I needed to devour the entire thing, stat.

Because it was everything I wanted it to be and then some.  The base ice cream was sweet and salty.  Yes, it was ... butter ice cream base.  Rich, salty, decadent, and unique.  Perhaps just a touch too sweet, but, that is a minor downside.  It melted really nicely.  High quality, premium, *butter*, ice cream.  A+.

Move on to the inclusions, which were there, once I got under the top surface.  So yes, minor ding for the fact that I did have to get a full and complete spoonful in order to get mix-ins, but, very minor point, given that they were well distributed throughout otherwise, and, well, were fantastic.

Hunks of toasted King's Hawaiian rolls.  Yes, it is strange.  Yes, I worried they'd be soggy.  But they weren't.  The toasting must really help.  They were sweet, they were doughy, I wanted to keep digging for these pieces.  Speaking of strange, yes, then there are the hunks of buttercream.  They were about the same size as the hunks of bread.  They were sweet, buttery, salty.  They didn't melt in the same as the ice cream, so you could tell what was bits of buttercream, and what was ice cream.  

Put it all together and you have a premium base, unique flavors (for ice cream that is, the brain has no problem with understanding the taste of Hawaiian rolls or buttercream after all), fun textures, and hunks integrated throughout that you want to just keep digging and digging for.  And thus, yes, you have me, pint and spoon in hand, standing in the middle of the kitchen, riveted, and not capable of putting it down until an embarrassingly large portion of the pint was suddenly "missing".  I call that success, although, ooph, I had a bit of stomach ache right after.  

4.5/5, highly recommend.

Roasted Peach & Sage Cornbread Stuffing.

"In this classic twist on stuffing, we ditch bread cubes for molasses-y, crumbly cornbread cookies and bring that classic herbiness by steeping sweet cream with fresh sage. Dollops of tart peach jam simmered with warm spices and honey balsamic vinegar brighten it all up for a balanced, woodsy ice cream."

For my second pint, I considered several of the other Thanksgiving option, but the one that I finally decided on was the Roasted Peach & Sage Cornbread Stuffing.  I adore stuffing, so although the roasted peach didn't seem that interesting (nor really that Thanksgiving inspired?), I hoped the stuffing would be compelling (of course, it is cornbread cookies, not actual bread hunks, in this one).  And yes, they do make their own jam, and cornbread cookies, for this.  The balsamic sounded fascinating too.

It was indeed a fascinating flavor.  Not necessarily delicious, but, fascinating.

The swirls of peach jam were generous, and intensely flavorful.  The peach jam was very, very sweet, but also incredibly spiced, and acidic.  Sweet and tart and spiced, all at once.  Huge punches of flavor.   I didn't quite care for the flavor, but I give them credit for the intensity, and the huge gobs of it.  

Then there were the gritty bits of cornbread cookie, that was supposed to remind me of stuffing.  I didn't really find hunks of cookie as I hoped, just this touch of grittiness throughout.  I liked the texture actually, but I wanted to actually taste the cornbread element more, and wanted bigger hunks to contrast against the so very sweet jam.  

I did love the sage that really came through on the finish.  Just as they say, very woodsy, but in an extremely pleasant way.

I found the journey of eating this unexpected, and it was certainly a unique flavor, but I never found myself wanting to go back an extra scoop of this.  The jam was just too much.  I'll give it a generous 3/5 for creativity and the sage, but otherwise, a letdown flavor for me.

Sea Salt w/ Caramel Ribbons.

"Our reimagination of the classic. We spike our cream with just enough Guatemalan fleur de sel to bring out its nuances, then drizzle in ribbons of our hand-burned caramel."

The first time I flew with Alaska Airlines, the flavor was Salt & Straw's most famous, sea salt with caramel ribbons, which I've had before, and loved.

It was served quite solid, so it took a while to become possible to eat it.  But once it softened, I dug right in.  It matched my memory of the flavor - nice quality base ice cream, and TONS of very gooey, very sweet, caramel.  I added my own fresh strawberries and sprinkles, and quite enjoyed.  And then I enjoyed an extra, which I volunteered to take off the flight attendants hands (so generous of me, right?).  She happily obliged, given how many extra there were.  4/5.

Strawberry Rhubarb w/ Cinnamon Crumble.
(Alaska Airlines).

On my next flight, I was quite happy to see that we had the strawberry rhubarb with cinnamon crumble flavor.  I don't think this is sold directly by Salt & Straw to consumers, I think it is a special collaboration with Alaska.  The ice cream featured swirls of strawberry rhubarb jam and cinnamon snickerdoodle cookie pieces.

It was served quite hard, but it did melt nicely eventually.  It was fabulous ice cream, smooth, rich, creamy, and the fruity swirls of jam were quite flavorful.  I liked the texture from the softened snickerdoodle bits.  It was a flavor I could enjoy on its own without adding too much to it (although, of course, I did add some fresh strawberries too).

4/5.

Pumpkin Spiced Latte Cake.
(Alaska Airlines).

My next Alaska flight was on Sept 1, and it just changed out to ... pumpkin spice latte cake.  Doh.  I'm sure this excited some folks, but August had pistachio with ricotta ripple that people raved about and sounded great to me, and I'm not really one for pumpkin spice.  But, still, I do like Salt & Straw, so of course I tried it.  This is a flavor made only for the airline I believe.

And ... yeah.  It was aggressively pumpkin spiced, which I think is probably great if you like those spices, no doubt, but for me it was waaaay too much nutmeg and things I don't generally like.  I didn't taste anything latte about it either, no coffee flavor at all (which was fine, but an odd name for a flavor if it's really just pumpkin spice cake ...).  The cake element was ... interesting.  It seemed like pulverized tiny bits of cake that basically just made it slightly soggy and sorta like sawdust?  But the flavor really was true to name in the cake part, you couldn't miss this texture.

It was served at a decent temperature, it still required a bit of time to soften nicely, but wasn't a total rock.  No freezer burn.  Good quality ice cream base.  But just not a flavor for me. 2/5 for the flavor, 3.5/5 for the quality.

Peppermint Cookies & Cream.
(Alaska Airlines).

Winter brought peppermint.  It was ... ok.  Mine wasn't properly sealed, and it was a bit freezer burnt.  I wanted more peppermint flavor.  I feel like a broken record here, but, I don't really like cookies & cream in general (really, I don't care for Oreos), so I wished it was something more like mint chip, but I think this is likely a crowd pleaser.  

Original Review, 2022

In 2017, something exciting happened in San Francisco.  A new ice cream shop came to town.  Not that San Francisco has a shortage of great ice cream, ranging from the always busy Bi-Rite, to daring flavors at Humphrey Slocombe, to liquid nitrogen darling Smitten Ice Cream, to my personal favs Mitchell's, Mr. & Mrs. Miscellaneous, and the now shuttered Shakedown ... Yes, San Francisco has plenty of great ice cream.  But a new place was coming, and, wow, it was surrounded by hype.

Salt & Straw was coming to town.  Those who had discovered it in other cities along the West Coast (mostly, Portland) raved about it.  I remember when I was in the LA area once a year or so before someone telling me I *had* to go there.  I remembered it due to the sorta odd name (which, isn't really odd, it turns out, it refers to the basics of old school ice cream making, where you use rock salt to lower the freezing point of water, and store ice cream in insulating straw).  Salt & Straw was known for their very interesting flavors. 

"We’re inspired by interesting ingredients. A local creamery’s habanero-laced goat cheese. Herbaceous and citrusy liqueur from a craft distillery. Wild nettles foraged  in Washington. Our Grandma Malek’s famous almond brittle. Every ingredient has a story; we’re trying to find the most intriguing angle."

Salt & Straw really means it when they say they are inspired by interesting ingredients.  The flavor line up at Salt & Straw is constantly changing, with new flavors monthly.  Yes, they have some classics that remain in all scoop shops, but otherwise, they are constantly trying out crazy combinations, some exclusive to particular locations.  The flavors always sound bold, unique, and, well, not things you'd normally think of putting into ice cream, like Duck Cracking with Cherry Preserves.  Ras el Hanout & Pickled Rose Petal Jam.  Roasted Beets & Humboldt Fog.  Some, I'm sure, are more successful than others.  Their tame, everyday flavors include Arbequina Olive Oil and Pear & Blue Cheese.

All the ice cream made by Salt & Straw is super premium, meaning, made with as high percent butterfat as they can get into it (using cream from Scott Brothers Dairy).  Of course they make all their own candies, caramels, etc that go into the pints, unless of course they are part of one of their many collaboration projects with local artisan bakeshops and the like.  The price is higher than many other brands, but, the quality and exclusiveness commands it.

Fillmore Storefront.

The first location in SF was on Fillmore Street, right in a prime shopping and strolling area.  And, yup, they were quite successful, now with multiple SF locations, including another in Hayes Valley.

If you don't want to visit a shop though, they deliver all over the city on every major food delivery platform, and ship nationwide.

Side note: Want some ice cream delivered? For free?  Here are some codes for free money!

• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]
  

My first visit was to the Fillmore St location, but I've since ordered pints for delivery.

Pints.

Because the flavors change every few weeks, Salt & Straw doesn't develop specific labels for any pints, rather, all pints come hand labelled, regardless if you get them at a shop, at a grocery store, or shipped nationwide.  The labels add a small batch, limited, exclusive feel to the ice cream.

Logo.

Each pint has the Salt & Straw logo on top, proudly proclaiming their Portland heritage.

Regular Flavors

Each Salt & Straw location has about a dozen standard flavors, always including 1-2 vegan options, and their signature flavors.  These are generally consistent across locations, but there are a few variations.

I've tried several from this lineup, and, wow, I see why they are fixtures on the menu.

Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons.

"Our signature flavor combines Guatemalan Fleur de Sel ice cream with ribbons of housemade, hand-burned caramel for a positively obsession-worthy blend of salty and sweet. We created this ice cream with Mark Bitterman, the ‘selmelier’ behind The Meadow, a family of world renowned salt shops in Portland and New York. He literally wrote the book on the subject—James Beard Award-winning cookbook Salted—and has aided many of our saltier ice cream experiments since 2011."

Oh, wow.

I saw "sea salt" and "caramel" in the name, and thought, "yup, another trendy salted caramel product".  I'm glad I didn't pay much attention to the full description, because the result is that I went in expecting simple vanilla ice cream with a caramel swirl that I'd inevitably review as "I didn't really detect the promised salt", like, well, most salted caramel products.

But not this.  Um, no.  This was, indeed, as named, "Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons".  The base ice cream is not vanilla.  It is salt.  Yes, salt ice cream.  It is a beautiful flavor, really quite unlike anything I've had before (including the salt ice cream from Alden & Harlow that wasn't remarkable).  Smooth, creamy, premium ice cream, amazing salt flavor.

And then there are the caramel ribbons.  Now, these ... these are just too sweet for me.  But the consistency is perfect, gooey in just the right way.  A little of the caramel was wonderful with the salt flavored base, but, the distribution was just a bit too high for me, resulting in a very salty product.

Still, wow, what a flavor.

****.

Chocolate Gooey Brownie.

"This one hits the spot when those extra-urgent chocolate desires kick in. An indulgent, almost hot-chocolatey chocolate ice cream lays the foundation for hearty chunks of chewy chocolate brownies made with homemade marshmallow fluff to keep them extra soft—even when frozen in ice cream. It’s the ultimate comfort food."

Next I went chocolately, opting for the very tempting sounding chocolate gooey brownie.

This was the least interesting of the ice creams I tried (even once I dug away from the freezer burn on top, doh!).

The chocolate base wasn't really indulgent at all, it was just mild milk chocolate, not nearly as intense as I wanted.  The brownies were well distributed throughout, good size chunks, and I did appreciate that they were soft and not icy, but there wasn't anything particularly special about them.

I just found this flavor boring and disappointing, and tried it several times, thinking I just wasn't in "the mood" originally, but, it never really delivered on what I was looking for.

***.

Collaborations

Salt & Straw is constantly doing collaborations with other merchants.  Sometimes they'll choose a bakery, and do flavors inspired by the signature cakes, and of course have chunks of cake from the inspiration bakery in them.   Other times it is a particular chef, and they team up to create unique flavors.  In the summer, it might be a farmer they pair with to create vegetable forward flavors.  Every month, a new theme or partnership, and more exciting flavors to explore (I'm still sad I missed out on the Mushroom Muddy Buddies made with a mix of different wild mushrooms!).

The Cookie Monster.

“Cookie and cream with 9 dips of cholttate and 6 dips of lavendr all over with cholttate eyes with whiped cream hair.” -by Corion from Ms. Coombs Class, Dr. William L Cobb Elementary

This flavor was done as part of a collaboration with local schools to design flavors, and the winners had their flavors actually made into ice cream.  This one was dubbed "The Cookie Monster"

The translation into a flavor by Salt & Straw was a blue colored ice cream (vanilla), with chunks of fudge and Oreo cookies.  This photo really didn't come out well, as it was fairly brilliant blue.

I'm not sure if it was my mind playing tricks on me, but I really, really thought the ice cream was frosting flavored.  It was super creamy, and tasted exactly like the blue frosting on a Carvel cake.  Hence, my concern that it was just my brain playing tricks on me.  It tasted ... blue!  Sweet and blue, and really quite enjoyable.  That couldn't be just vanilla ... could it?

I'm never one for Oreo or cookies and cream inspired things, as I generally don't care for the texture, but this didn't bother me too much.  I liked the fudge chunks more, and thought the chocolate was a nice compliment to the sweeter ice cream.  The chocolate here was more successful than in the brownies in the Chocolate Gooey Brownie pint.  Clearly quality chocolate.

Overall, I really did like this, and would happily have more.  Thank you, to this random elementary school kid for the inspiration.

****.

The Spooktacular Series: October 2018.

In October, the flavors all tend to take on a Halloween slant.  There is one with real bugs, one with blood pudding, and one loaded with candy. You know, all your typical Halloween features.   But I was drawn in by the "Essence of Ghost", even though the description didn't tell me anything about what it actually was.

 

Essence of Ghost (October Special):

"Do the wisps of ghouls spooking a foggy graveyard give you the chills? This frigid sherbet might just bring you back to that memorable moment of shivering pleasure. Jets of tasty gray pass through the deep foggy sherbet. Each bite of this sherbet delivers a shrill set of flavors that are bitter, sweet, and slightly smoky. This one is so creepy and delicious, it’ll give you chills.".

When I ordered it, I was warned, "it has scotch, that's ok, right?"  I was suddenly even *more* interested.  Of course that was ok!

The look of this ice cream was not exactly appealing, a shade of gray, not the color food normally is.  But the taste?  Wonderful.  All the smoky qualities of scotch, in an ice cream.  It was fairly savory, only a little sweet.  I loved the smokiness.

A unique flavor, and I really enjoyed it, but wished for some texture from chunks of ... something.  I'm still not sure what would pair well with it, but I wanted bits of something inside.

****.

Pots of Gold & Rainbows.

"For this legendary technicolor favorite, we hand-sort the luck from the charms, steeping the whole-grain cereal in cream for that bottom-of-the-bowl sweetened milk before stirring in mountains of rainbow ‘mallows."

I don't remember what the theme or collaboration was the month that brought about Pots of Gold & rainbows.  

This isn't a flavor I'd ever go out of my way to purchase a pint of.  It sounded like a "cereal milk" base, with, well, Lucky Charms.   I ... don't really like Lucky Charms.  This flavor is all about, well, Lucky Charms.  They even make it with real Lucky Charms cereal.  And yes, they do just use the now standard cereal milk technique to steep the milk in the cereal base (made famous by the original from Milk Bar in New York, which of course I've reviewed before).

That said, I do like cereal milk ice cream (sometimes, but not Ben & Jerry's Frozen Flakes™ version, and not the Frokzen Kuhsterd Cinnamon Toast Crunch), and so when a friend offered a pint in exchange for some protein mug muffins (she ordered a case of this online, I had a case of the muffins and they were far too healthy for me), it seemed like a winning trade.  So I gave it a try.

My first impression?  Like all of the other Salt & Straw ice cream I had before, it is clearly super premium high quality ice cream.  And, yes, wow, it tasted exactly like Lucky Charms! Which, I mean, it should, but wow!  The flavor was remarkable in that way.

And if you know Lucky Charms, then you know this means it is very sweet, marshmallowy, and slightly fruity.  Lucky Charms aren't my favorite thing, but this turned out to be a pretty fun, tasty,evolution of the "cereal milk" ice cream fad.  I enjoyed trying it, and certainly polished off the pint with no issue, but, I wouldn't get the flavor again.

***+.

[ No Photo ]

Mt Tam Cheese with Toasted Acme Bread

"Cowgirl Creamery makes some of the best artisan cheese in America, inspiring the perfect cheese plate in ice cream form to show it off. We blend their Mt Tam cheese—rind and all— into the base of this flavor to capture both the funky notes and creamier-than-creamy richness of this perfect cheese. We then swirl in homemade sour cherry and apricot jam and bits of famed Ferry Building bakery Acme Bread’s Fruit and Walnut Bread that we toast and candy so they stay crunchy in every scoop!"

When Salt & Straw partnered with two San Francisco Ferry Building staples, Acme Bread and Cowgirl Creamery, I was all in.  I knew both the base products very, very well, so this one sounded far to fascinating not to try.  

Cowgirl Creamery's Mt. Tam is one of my favorite cheeses (my first real introduction to the fact that triple creams were, in fact, not *all* just called brie, lol).  Acme Bread was a foundation of my life when I first moved to San Francisco.  And yup, I love sour cherry jam.  Basically, I love all the things in this flavor, but, uh, normally they come on a cheese plate, not an ice cream cone.

It was as strange and awesome as it sounded.  A savory flavor, salty, funky in all the right ways from the Mt. Tam.  I love that they included the rind in it.  It was what I expected the famed burrata ice cream from Dominque Ansel to taste like (but sadly, I didn't taste burrata in it at all!).  The sweet jam was a perfect pairing, and although you didn't find distinct chunks of bread, it added a texture much like a graham cracker swirl.

This was fairly awesome, and really something different.  For those times when you can't decide if you want a cheese platter or "real" dessert, turn to this!

****.

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