Does Pinkberry live up to the hype?

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Apparently it's all the rage in LA. Someone told me celebrities are photographed in US Weekly coming out of there all the time. And I've read articles about how each store rakes in $250,000/month. FROM YOGURT.

I've never had it. What's so great about it?

Wookie Rookie, Friday, 3 August 2007 19:49 (seventeen years ago) link

ITS SOUR AND YUMMY.

chaki, Friday, 3 August 2007 19:50 (seventeen years ago) link

thats about it. the hype is pretty ghey.

chaki, Friday, 3 August 2007 19:50 (seventeen years ago) link

aren't there a bunch of knockoff places too?

carne asada, Friday, 3 August 2007 19:52 (seventeen years ago) link

I keep thinking this is a euphemism for "clitoris".

HI DERE, Friday, 3 August 2007 19:53 (seventeen years ago) link

if that were the case the answer would be yes

carne asada, Friday, 3 August 2007 19:55 (seventeen years ago) link

yes there are. the ones around me at the moment are 'peachberry', 'limelite', and 'snowberry.' apparently pinkberry itself is a knockoff of some place in asia.

chaki, Friday, 3 August 2007 19:55 (seventeen years ago) link

It is totally awesome.

Also, Kiwiberry.

luna, Friday, 3 August 2007 19:56 (seventeen years ago) link

Snozberry

carne asada, Friday, 3 August 2007 19:57 (seventeen years ago) link

There needs to be some kind of scale or measurement system that factors in not only how divergent a thread gets from the initial topic but how quickly it happens. E.g. Yogurt --> Clitoris in 4 posts should rate 8.5 out of 10 on this scale.

j/k....the yogurt is sour? Like, sour candy sour? That sounds awful.

Wookie Rookie, Friday, 3 August 2007 19:58 (seventeen years ago) link

wasn't there some trouble with their ingredients? as in: they weren't telling anyone what was in there & verifying that it was indeed yogurt?

sweet tater, Friday, 3 August 2007 19:59 (seventeen years ago) link

Oh it's been a story and a half...

Ned Raggett, Friday, 3 August 2007 20:00 (seventeen years ago) link

Amuse yourself with the identity of the photographer. Overall list of Pinkberry stories via that site here:

http://la.eater.com/search.php?blogs=11&query=yogurt

Ned Raggett, Friday, 3 August 2007 20:02 (seventeen years ago) link

Pinkberry is the most frighteningly in-your-face hip and trendy establishment I have ever experienced...

Stevie D, Friday, 3 August 2007 20:02 (seventeen years ago) link

The controversy is that it doesn't have live cultures so it isn't actually yogurt, right?

Alex in SF, Friday, 3 August 2007 20:08 (seventeen years ago) link

thestuff.jpg

HI DERE, Friday, 3 August 2007 20:17 (seventeen years ago) link

Haha yeah it's got that whole feel to it.

Alex in SF, Friday, 3 August 2007 20:18 (seventeen years ago) link

It's calqued on some Korean street food, right?

Michael White, Friday, 3 August 2007 20:18 (seventeen years ago) link

doucheberry

carne asada, Friday, 3 August 2007 20:19 (seventeen years ago) link

supposedly there is a knockofff in some food court here in seattle. donut was saying how great it was the other day

jergïns, Friday, 3 August 2007 20:25 (seventeen years ago) link

Just skimmed through Ned's links...I must be really late to the bandwagon...there are already yogurt WARS?! The thing is, I don't even live that far away - I'm just up in the bay area and I haven't heard anything about this. I wonder how long before the craze seeps up here...

Wookie Rookie, Friday, 3 August 2007 20:27 (seventeen years ago) link

I hadn't heard about it until I went to LA this summer.

Alex in SF, Friday, 3 August 2007 20:28 (seventeen years ago) link

It's not sour sour, it's more like they used actual plain yogurt to make it than whatever they do for regular frozen yogurt.

luna, Friday, 3 August 2007 20:32 (seventeen years ago) link

hmm. never had this, but i actually really like plain yogurt. although i'd say the yogurt taste is more 'bitter' because yogurt, like any dairy product, does go sour when it spoils.

elmo argonaut, Friday, 3 August 2007 20:43 (seventeen years ago) link

So this is like froyo? I hate everything that isn't huckleberry ice cream. Not just in the realm of frozen treats, but everything everything. Gonna get some "Death Becomes Her" shit going on. I don't understand California, America's butt (home of one Disney theme park, bridging the nation's taint to America's wang, Florida, home of other Disney park).

Abbott, Friday, 3 August 2007 20:47 (seventeen years ago) link

it's more like they used actual plain yogurt

It's funny 'cause I use yogurt for savory as much as anything these days but even with fruit, I can't take the pre-sweetened kind anymore.

Michael White, Friday, 3 August 2007 20:51 (seventeen years ago) link

Is Northern California the small of the nation's back?

Alex in SF, Friday, 3 August 2007 20:56 (seventeen years ago) link

and massachusetts is America's funny, upturned nose?

elmo argonaut, Friday, 3 August 2007 20:58 (seventeen years ago) link

By George, I think you've got it!

Maine is like its pompadour.

Abbott, Friday, 3 August 2007 21:01 (seventeen years ago) link

America: Freakish Hominid Land-Roaming Mammal

elmo argonaut, Friday, 3 August 2007 21:04 (seventeen years ago) link

With no feet and a really prominent wang.

Abbott, Friday, 3 August 2007 21:08 (seventeen years ago) link

i had pinkberry today! at the los feliz pinkberry, which is actually a thousand times more sickeningly trendy-looking than the OG west hollywood pinkberry. it's all orange and plastic and space-age.

pinkberry is delicious but i feel like it's been "over" here for a year or so; even with all the knockoffs out there, the hype has definitely died down.

get bent, Friday, 3 August 2007 23:36 (seventeen years ago) link

yah its just like jamba juice or coldstone or something.

chaki, Friday, 3 August 2007 23:38 (seventeen years ago) link

ie: just a place you take yr date after dinner before getting her drunk.

chaki, Friday, 3 August 2007 23:38 (seventeen years ago) link

Jesus, this idea of trendy new snackaterias/restaurants is so foreign to me. Then again, I live in a town that still has Mission style Taco Bells.

Abbott, Friday, 3 August 2007 23:39 (seventeen years ago) link

i really want some lee's sandwiches type business to go nationwide and make banh mi (vietnamese baguette sandwiches) the hip new thing for "adventurous" foodie yuppies.

get bent, Friday, 3 August 2007 23:42 (seventeen years ago) link

I'd be all for that.

Ned Raggett, Friday, 3 August 2007 23:43 (seventeen years ago) link

is america ready to embrace the vietnamese yet?

get bent, Friday, 3 August 2007 23:43 (seventeen years ago) link

Won't be here until it reaches some peak when Wendy's introduces it, ie chipotle or ciabatta. ADVENTURE.

Abbott, Friday, 3 August 2007 23:43 (seventeen years ago) link

here=Las Cruces...the thing I miss most about Boise is tons of yumnum Vietnamese restaurants where you could get a bowl of pho bigger than your head for $4.

Abbott, Friday, 3 August 2007 23:44 (seventeen years ago) link

dude you are sposed to get her drunk AT dinner. it's more cost-effective.xpost to chaki

tehresa, Friday, 3 August 2007 23:44 (seventeen years ago) link

no one's mentioned the song yet!

wanko ergo sum, Friday, 3 August 2007 23:46 (seventeen years ago) link

That's what that's from! I heard some people calling it 'The KBE' like a month ago

robertwolf8080, Saturday, 4 August 2007 03:33 (seventeen years ago) link

They were pretty much douchebags

robertwolf8080, Saturday, 4 August 2007 03:33 (seventeen years ago) link

catchiest song EVAH

StanM, Saturday, 4 August 2007 05:34 (seventeen years ago) link

There needs to be some kind of scale or measurement system that factors in not only how divergent a thread gets from the initial topic but how quickly it happens. E.g. Yogurt --> Clitoris in 4 posts should rate 8.5 out of 10 on this scale.

Depends on how quickly Dan jumps on the thread. :-)

I noticed teh existence of PBs last year since I'm a sucker for gossip websites. :-( It doesn't really appeal to me, but then it's the design and, although I can understand it's aptness in a sunny place, I live in a medieval town. It would look... freaky here. Also, even though I'm a yogoholic, I don't like it frozen.

nathalie, Saturday, 4 August 2007 07:37 (seventeen years ago) link

I remember they tried to introduce frozen yoghurt here the first time round, and everyone kind of went "this is not ice cream! This is not a treat!" and it tanked. Are we likely to get it again?

accentmonkey, Saturday, 4 August 2007 08:36 (seventeen years ago) link

this product can eat a dick until it comes to flyover country like i✧✧✧@pinkbe✧✧✧.c✧✧ promised me it would last year

A B C, Saturday, 4 August 2007 08:45 (seventeen years ago) link

whoa

A B C, Saturday, 4 August 2007 08:45 (seventeen years ago) link

You really can't throw a rock in LA now without hitting a PInkberry or a knockoff.

What were all these spaces between their candle-and-pillow phase and their Yogurtberry phase, anyway?

anyhoo, it's totally good. I like mine with kiwi, mango, and strawberry.

rogermexico., Saturday, 4 August 2007 16:01 (seventeen years ago) link

yesterday i had mine with kiwi, blackberry, and strawberry.

get bent, Saturday, 4 August 2007 16:54 (seventeen years ago) link

i have not tried this yet, but i do love blackberries!

tehresa, Saturday, 4 August 2007 16:54 (seventeen years ago) link

pb is in new york now, tehresa. go try it and report back to us.

get bent, Saturday, 4 August 2007 16:57 (seventeen years ago) link

my favorite part of the pinkberry theme song is the trans-style vocoder. can we get neil young to cover this?

get bent, Saturday, 4 August 2007 17:05 (seventeen years ago) link

There are many of them in Manhattan already.

An upstart has sprung up in the last few weeks in Williamsburg called /eks/. (WTF with idiotic typological name?) It actually tastes a little better than PB, but the store is kind of hidden (or at least easy to walk right past without noticing it), the service is sorta lame, and it's way too expensive.

Jon Lewis, Saturday, 4 August 2007 17:30 (seventeen years ago) link

how expensive is it? i don't think pb's $4.95 for a medium regular with 3 toppings is that bad; it's enough to fill me up for lunch if i just want something light.

get bent, Saturday, 4 August 2007 17:54 (seventeen years ago) link

I've been to a knockoff it seems, but I don't think I've ever seen an actual Pinkberry. It was good, but it was also relatively expensive for a large bowl ($6) and it left me wondering how such a simple, expensive yogurt store replaced a Dairy Queen.

Cunga, Saturday, 4 August 2007 18:38 (seventeen years ago) link

blueberry, raspberry and strawberry
strawberry, raspberry, blackberry
raspberry, blueberry, kiwi
coconut, banana, pineapple (sort of eh)

I am both fascinated and repulsed that Cap'n Crunch is a topping.

luna, Sunday, 5 August 2007 06:59 (seventeen years ago) link

apparently pinkberry itself is a knockoff of some place in asia.

there's a place called "rosegreen" or something like that ("rosegrass" maybe?) in glendale; the rumor is that its the original (well, the original one in the US) owned by two korean families who had a falling out, and one left and started pinkberry (apparently before it was rosegreen it was roseberry)--its exactly the same, down to the lame scandinavian quirky-modernist furniture

max, Sunday, 5 August 2007 07:07 (seventeen years ago) link

red mango was the original korean chain that pinkberry knocked off, but red mango itself is apparently a ripoff of an italian recipe.

get bent, Sunday, 5 August 2007 07:14 (seventeen years ago) link

they all ripped off the time i put yoplait in a popsicle mold when i was in 4th grade

max, Sunday, 5 August 2007 07:19 (seventeen years ago) link

yoplaitberry

get bent, Sunday, 5 August 2007 07:23 (seventeen years ago) link

All I know is they have the greatest jingle or themesong or whatever in the history of time.

I know, right?, Sunday, 5 August 2007 15:11 (seventeen years ago) link

i have seen the ny ones but not been yet. jon lewis where is the wburg knockoff you speak of?

tehresa, Sunday, 5 August 2007 15:11 (seventeen years ago) link

The same bldg that Buffalo Exchange is in. What is that on, Driggs?

Jon Lewis, Sunday, 5 August 2007 15:21 (seventeen years ago) link

lol u mean butthole xchange

chaki, Monday, 6 August 2007 08:04 (seventeen years ago) link

eight months pass...

It is totally awesome.

Also, Kiwiberry.

-- luna, Friday, August 3, 2007 3:56 PM (Friday, August 3, 2007 3:56 PM) Bookmark Link

http://nymag.com/daily/food/2008/04/punkd_by_pinkberry.html

gabbneb, Monday, 28 April 2008 02:16 (sixteen years ago) link

i like pinkberry. there's a red mango near my office, now i wanna go compare.

tipsy mothra, Monday, 28 April 2008 02:52 (sixteen years ago) link

those were kind of the dumbest questions i've ever seen posed to people.

tehresa, Monday, 28 April 2008 02:58 (sixteen years ago) link

yeah, but my heart sorta goes out to anyone asked to go get man-on-the-street pinkberry comments.

tipsy mothra, Monday, 28 April 2008 03:19 (sixteen years ago) link

one month passes...

Just tried the pb today first time delish peeps yum.

libcrypt, Wednesday, 4 June 2008 02:17 (sixteen years ago) link

captain crunch + raspberries yum

Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Wednesday, 4 June 2008 02:57 (sixteen years ago) link

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/1432/4533403832aa458e5d8lk1.th.jpg

libcrypt, Wednesday, 4 June 2008 03:29 (sixteen years ago) link

one year passes...

Huh:

The site at which the international scramble for Pinkberry began in WeHo five years ago comes full circle when the Huntley Avenue at Santa Monica Boulevard Pinkberry store stops swirling today.

The location will serve as a new “Pinkberry Support Center,”

"...and when did you first realize you were a Pinkberry addict?"

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 29 April 2010 20:28 (fourteen years ago) link

eight months pass...

6 of these have closed in LA this year. rip

buzza, Wednesday, 29 December 2010 02:04 (fourteen years ago) link

Definitely hasn't penetrated the heartland. Nobody here ever knows what I mean. ("Frozen yogurt that tastes like ... you know, yogurt!") Maybe sour is still a hard sell.

something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 29 December 2010 02:11 (fourteen years ago) link

Plastic spoons are too sharp around the edges.

calstars, Wednesday, 29 December 2010 02:17 (fourteen years ago) link

we go about once a month cause my gf likes it but this place has ridiculous prices

iatee, Wednesday, 29 December 2010 02:22 (fourteen years ago) link

I mean it's like nearly $12 for two cups of yogurt w/ stuff in it?

iatee, Wednesday, 29 December 2010 02:23 (fourteen years ago) link

you can't afford to eat in the posh chains of nyc because it's become increasingly appealing to eat there.

buzza, Wednesday, 29 December 2010 02:27 (fourteen years ago) link

that's a zing that not very many people are gonna get

iatee, Wednesday, 29 December 2010 02:28 (fourteen years ago) link

maybe you should reference them

iatee, Wednesday, 29 December 2010 02:29 (fourteen years ago) link

one year passes...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/01/pinkberry-founder-homeless-beating-tire-iron.html


One of the founders of the popular Pinkberry yogurt chain is accused by police of chasing down a homeless man and beating him with a tire iron.

The incident took place in June 2011 on an off-ramp of the Hollywood Freeway at Vermont Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Young Lee was stopped at a light when he was approached by a transient seeking money, police said.

Words were exchanged, and Lee and another man in the car chased the homeless man and "beat him down" with the tire iron, police Capt. Paul Vernon said.

"This case is emblematic of how the homeless are among the most vulnerable in our society," said Vernon, commanding officer of the Central Detective Division. The extent of the homeless man's injuries hasn't been disclosed.

Detectives spent several months probing the case against Lee, who was in South Korea for part of that time.

Lee, 47, was taken into custody at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday night by the LAX Fugitive Task Force, which includes LAPD officers and FBI agents. He was booked at the LAPD's Pacific Division station, according to online Sheriff's Department booking records. Bail was set at $60,000 but the records do not indicate whether Lee was released.

i couldn't adjust the food knobs (Phil D.), Tuesday, 17 January 2012 23:16 (thirteen years ago) link

I pinkberryed him to death with a tire iron!

the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Wednesday, 18 January 2012 00:50 (thirteen years ago) link


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