Yogaberry: Mandarin

Yogaberry is the pioneer, behind-the-counter fro-yo shop in Jacksonville. Two years ago, Yogaberry opened at the St. Johns Town Center, turning me on to another food obsession. I'm guessing the popularity of self-serve shops and the added competition of having Mochi less than a mile away eventually led the owners to change this location to a Yobe.

The stand-alone location on San Jose Blvd. still serves their yogurt behind the counter (or via the convenient drive-thru). Yogurt is available in five sizes at set price points. The cost of toppings is 95 cents for one topping or $1.50 for three. Ahh... limitations. The good thing is that they load up your cup with yogurt and toppings for a predetermined price -- no holding your breath when you put your cup on the scale. The bad part is that I'm the type of person who likes to try a little of a lot of things, and this pricing system doesn't lend itself easily to that.

The yogurt and toppings are of the same high quality as Yobe. Instead of eight available flavors, however, there were only six. My one complaint from Yobe -- melty banana yogurt -- was not a problem at this location. The banana and taro were the perfect consistency and held up for a brief car ride. (I had a hair appointment and didn't want to be late. And no, I had no shame in eating the second half of my yogurt in the waiting area of the salon.)

The best part? The drive thru is open until 9:30 pm Mon-Thurs and 10:30 pm on Fri and Sat. Goodbye, insatiable cravings!

Yogaberry gets a B+ from me.

What I ate:

Yogurt -- banana, taro

Toppings -- blueberries, strawberries, mochi perfection

Yobe: Orange Park

So, I just got back from another awesome Yobe experience. I honestly don't know how I missed this location. I pass by it twice everyday, wait 3 minutes in front of it every morning. Today, however, was a different day. On my way home from work the warm glow of the green and purple neon lights caught my eye. I found out online that it has been open for over a month now, yet I still had trouble finding the number. I gave up several times in my search thinking that it must still be "coming soon." But then the thought occurred to me (OK, my mom might've come up with the suggestion) to call 411. EUREKA!

In my search I also found that every Tuesday is College Day - you show your college ID and you get 50% off; add this to their list of perks. The girl working was super friendly and happily gave us our requested samples while sharing her opinions with us. They had these little toppings dispensers that really made the place cute, but also kind of intimidated me. I was worried about operating them improperly. Rightly so.


I turn the knob ever so slightly, careful to only get the light sprinkle I desired. To my surprise, it was coming out just the way I wanted! When I decided I had enough, I turn the knob the other way, a little harder than when I poured it on. Mistake. "Ok, must be the other way then." Another mistake. "Maybe I'm not turning it hard enough." OH NO. Needless to say, my cup was filled with granola. I showed the clerk and luckily she let me dump it out, reassuring me I was not the only one it had happened to. As I make my way to the remaining toppings, I see all of the toppings in these dispensers in the counter as they normally are. If only I knew.

This location was serving up peanut butter, chocolate, coconut, passion fruit, mango, strawberry, taro and original. All very tasty, all slightly melty. I wonder if it has anything to do with the ingredients.

When it came time to pay, I asked about College Day. She didn't seem to know what in the world I was talking about. When I explained the special pricing, she said she would ask her manager about it and let me know for next time. As the other employee (this happened to be his first day) started to ring me up, she apparated and gave me the discounted price. Score! Talk about customer service! My mom also picked up a loyalty card for herself since I absentmindedly left mine at home. We were also given a coupon for our next visit. I'll definitely be back! Just for kicks, I let my mom fill out a rubric.

She gave Yobe at Orange Park an awesome A.


What my mom ate:
Yogurt – taro, mango, passion fruit, strawberry
Toppings – mango, strawberries, granola, Cap'n Crunch, mochi


What I ate:
Yogurt – passion fruit, mango, original
Toppings – loads of granola, white chocolate chips, Cap'n Crunch, blackberry, raspberries, kiwi 

Yobe: St. Johns Town Center

Know Yo’ FroYo. Ha. Catchy, right? I’d like to take credit, but that was all Allie. I, on the other hand, came up with the ingenious idea to create a rubric. Creating rubrics comes naturally to teachers. Rubrics set the criteria to be evaluated. Rubrics establish the fairest possible playing field for an otherwise subjective assessment. Rubrics give food junkies like me an excuse to eat frozen yogurt. It used to be a guilty pleasure. Now it’s just research.

Yobe, the self-serve version of the Yogaberry that closed right across from its current location in the St. Johns Town Center, is a large, clean, mod-looking shop that plays cool music. Well, I just remember they played some Florence and the Machine. Definite brownie points. When we went in, however, we weren’t greeted or offered sample cups. Yoink! (The sound of me taking my brownie points back.)

Judging the yogurt is where it gets subjective, but I’m here to offer my two cents. All of the toppings were fresh and delicious without a doubt – I’m talkin’ chewy-yet-gummy mochi (very important to me, btw), crispy cereals, and pieces of fruit that you might see in Good Housekeeping or Martha Stewart’s backyard. The yogurt had good flavor – the perfect balance between tartness and sweetness. O-M-G. Lemon fro-yo. Try it. You will die, go to heaven, and then come back just to have more. It’s lemony without being overpowering. The consistency was perfect in two of the three flavors I tried. It was firm and held up while I took breaks to complete my (awesome) rubric. The banana yogurt, though quite tasty, melted horribly.

Overall, Yobe gets a B+ from me too.

What I ate:
Yogurt – banana, lemon, taro
Toppings – coconut, mochi, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, kiwi

Yobe: St. Johns Town Center

After discovering our love for frozen yogurt, my sister Sarah and I found ourselves at a new shop (what seemed like) every week. What started as casual conversation about what we liked and disliked about each location and their goods, developed into an in-depth score sheet complete with blog entry. Don't get us wrong, we're not trying to diminish the reputations of the places we're talking about. On the contrary, we're merely sharing our opinions of a common love -- cultured goodness with toppings.

First up, Yobe at the St. Johns Town Center.

The first draft of our rubric.

Upon entry, we were greeted with modern design: white seating (high, swivel chairs; circular, butt-grooved pods; cushiony, booth seats; normal, patio chairs) and tables, hanging lamps, green walls and macro images of various fresh fruit. There was also a flatscreen on the wall with indie pop music videos on rotation. Pretty neat.

When we got to the yogurt station, the sample cups were carefully tucked away by the toppings, as if not meant to be seen. After we snuck some away, I found the flavors to be fantastic! But I suppose that's to be expected when you use real organic fat free dairy. What I really like about this place is that they offer "original" -- surprisingly hard to find at most other places we've been to. Two other unique flavors they were offering on our visit were lemon and blueberry. Yobe's flavors were accurate without being too overwhelming. I happily poured those two into my cup as well.

At the topping station are your standard fare: candies, cereals, syrups and fruit. Though there was nothing out of the ordinary, the quality is top-notch. I found my Capt'n Crunch a little crunchier and my fruit a little sweeter. Correct me if I'm wrong, but we were also speculating that their fruits are organic, too. At 49 cent an ounce, you really get your money's worth.

Overall, I found the tastiness of Yobe's flavors to be above average and the perfect balance between creamy and icy. Although I was a little disappointed that the yogurt started to melt on me a little too soon, I think the tartness and originality of their flavors makes up for it.

I give Yobe at the St. Johns Town Center a B+.

Check them out at MyYobe.com