Mr. Green Bubble Fro-yo Ranking

Lime green is one of my favorite colors, for some reason. It just seems bright and cheery (and it’s a nice contrast to brown, one of my other favorite colors). So when I noticed a new shop in my neighborhood called Mr. Green Bubble, I had to check it out.

Turns out, it’s another frozen yogurt shop, opened for about a month now. But it’s more than just fro-yo. It’s one of those Asian-influenced dessert shops that also sells the popular (in Asia) bubble tea, smoothies, Satura (Japanese brand) cakes and (the horror) a lot of home-made deep-fried finger foods.

The shop itself looks like a great place to hang out (I have yet to find the time to bring my laptop and hang) with its green-and-white décor, fresh flowers and contemporary lighting to set the mood.

For the frozen yogurt, they offer up three flavors: original tart, chocolate, and a special flavor that either changes every day, week, or month, depending on what they have on stock I guess. (It’s so new I can’t really tell.) When I visited, they were offering peach, which is what I ended up trying with fresh strawberries for topping.

The fro-yo is created from a mix, but there must be something patented in the shop’s mixer or frozen dispenser because the texture of the fro-yo was amazing. It was a cross between ice cream and mousse, somewhat airy but thick and dense at the same time. It was the most excited I’ve been about fro-yo in a long time.

The fro-yo prices at Mr. Green Bubble are small, $2.95, medium, $4.25, and large, $5.50. Toppings are 98 cents each, which can kind of add up.

There have been so many fro-yo shops opening in the last few years, and some have come and gone. Many of the recent ones I’ve tried have been sad imitations of Pinkberry, but lacking the depth and substance to make it worth the trip. But Mr. Green Bubble gives me hope — at least with this first cup — because the texture is different and interesting. Which in the fro-yo world is essentially refreshing.

Single Guy’s Fro-yo Rankings:

1. Red Mango, Palo Alto
2. Pinkberry, Southern California and San Jose
3. Fraiche, Palo Alto and San Francisco
4. Mr. Green Bubble, Oakland
5. Tuttimelon, San Francisco
6. YoCup, San Francisco
7. Icebee, San Francisco
8. Yoppi, San Francisco
9. Jubili, San Francisco
10. Tutti Frutti, Oakland
11. SoGreen, San Francisco
12. Yogurt Harmony, Berkeley
13. Creations, Berkeley
14. Cultivé Frozen Yogurt, San Francisco
15. Yogen Früz, San Francisco


Mr. Green Bubble, 4299B Piedmont Ave. (corner of Piedmont and John), Oakland. PH: 510.788.4160. Open daily.