Finding ‘Fro-yo' in the Fillmore

Awhile back, I got so caught up reading about the Pinkberry craze in Los Angeles that I considered booking a ticket south for a day just to try one of its frozen yogurt. Yes, I am just that crazy about new food.

Luckily, my brain (and pocketbook) got the better of me and I nixed the LA trip. But the nice thing about living in the San Francisco Bay Area is that food trends eventually find their way here.

Now, I still haven’t spotted a Pinkberry (although there’s rumor of one planned for Silicon Valley), but several frozen yogurt shops are trying to stake an early claim on the frozen yogurt (or “fro-yo” as EaterSF pegged it) wars.

One of the early entrants is Jubili on Fillmore just south of Geary Boulevard and a few yards from Starbucks. This gleaming new shrine to yogurt (and cereal) opened last month and benefits from the old and new Fillmore.The old Fillmore has a strong concentration of Korean immigrants and Korean-Americans. (The latest fro-yo craze has been credited to the popularity of the tart frozen yogurt from Korea. Pinkberry’s founders are Korean-Americans and a large Korean chain known as Red Mango has opened a U.S. counterpart.) The new Fillmore is this huge building known as the Fillmore Heritage Center, which will feature several notable food spots such as a large Yoshi’s and the new 1300 restaurant.

So smart positioning from the people behind Jubili.

Jubili serves three types of frozen yogurt flavors: original, peach and strawberry sorbet. And they serve it in interestingly named sizes: “mi,” “my” and “mo.” (I guess they wanted to create their on vente vocabulary.) With your yogurt, you can top them with a variety of fresh ingredients such as raspberries, strawberries or mango.

When I visited on a recent Saturday afternoon, I decided to try a “my” (medium) sized peach-flavor yogurt with fresh mango toppings. I paid close to $4 for this nice-sized cup of yogurt.

The peach flavor had a slight tang to it with a subtle nectarine flavor instead of peach. I know, you’re thinking how can I tell? I just can. It was more nectarine than peach. (To me, peach as a more subtle flavor while nectarines hit you hard with sweet flavor.)

The fresh mango bits made my cup of yogurt prettier but the mango wasn’t fully ripen, so it didn’t add anything to my yogurt-eating experience.

The Jubili location is contemporary and clean, very Swedish or Danish in design sense. It wasn’t very crowded when I was there, just one other family enjoying their yogurt and another one coming in as I left.

It’s kind of hard to figure out frozen yogurt. Is it trying to be gelato or is it more a healthy snack? Yogurt is generally considered healthier for you because of the live cultures in it, but there’s been some debate on whether these Korean-inspired frozen yogurt (often made from powder) can make the same yogurt claims.

My most favorite frozen yogurt was found in Hawaii at yogurt stand at the Ala Moana Shopping Center. I forgot their name, but they had this wonderful original flavor yogurt that wasn’t very tart. And I’d top them with fresh cut strawberries that was just heaven. Unfortunately, the big mainland chain known as TCBY invaded the islands and this frozen yogurt shop closed down.

Anywho, my memories of frozen yogurt in Hawaii is my standard for good frozen yogurt. So how does Jubili stand up to that? Not really there because it’s a bit more tart than I’d like, but I like its creaminess. It’s an enjoyable treat when I’m in the neighborhood.

Jubili Frozen Yogurt and Cereal, 1515 Fillmore St. Open Mon.–Wed., 7 a.m.–10 p.m.; Thu.–Fri., 7 a.m.–11 p.m.; and Sat. and Sun., 8 a.m.–11 p.m. Web site.