Saturday, January 10, 2009

Torrance is Hip...Sort Of

Four years after the original insane hype surrounding its LosAngeles stores, Pinkberry  has landed in Torrance. The store is located in the Albertson's shopping center at the intersection of Torrance and Hawthorne Boulevards. Remember the little bagel place next to the video store where Mary, the homeless lady hung out? That is now the Pinkberry location.
Pinkberry burst onto the scene in 2005 as a little frozen yogurt shop and developed this white-hot insane buzz that started parking wars, copy-cat competitors, and allegations that it wasn't yogurt at all! Turns out that it doesn't have the live cultures so technically it isn't yogurt. It is "swirly goodness"! Devotees called it crackberry. They have three flavors: plain, green tea and pomegranate and the optional toppings include fresh fruit, Cap'n Crunch and Cocoa Pebbles.
The shops are beautifully designed--all modern and looking like a "Design Out of Reach" showroom. The "swirly goodness", while good, it's not THAT good. It is pretty expensive too: two medium cups with one topping each is over nine bucks.

On the other end of the swirly goodness spectrum is Leon's Frozen Custard. The real deal. It doesn't get better than that.


9 comments:

goldenrail said...

Wow, you can feed a couple mini-vans of teenagers for $9 at Leon's. I'm back in WI. We will be stopping there before we leave again ;)

MaryRuth said...

GR--Dang! I'm so jealous. I'll have to wait until Feb to have some Leon's.

Miss Healthypants said...

I actually really like Culver's frozen custard--have you had that??

Unknown said...

Culver's is okay, but when you have Leon's or Kopp's Frozen Custard you understand the difference-They are superior. Mary-when you come home for your birthday, I'll get you some Leon's!!!

MaryRuth said...

MHP--I have had Culver's, but Leon's is the best. Not only is the custard awesome, it is the whole experience that makes it so special. You will have to make a detour next time you go to WI and check it out.
Andrea--whoohoo... best.birthday.ever.
Dad will be mad we don't go to Golden Gyros though. LOL

goldenrail said...

Culvers is ok if it's all you can get for custard. Not only is Leon's better taste-wise, it's also much cheaper. And yeah, like MR said, the whole experience.

Miss Healthypants said...

I guess I'll have to check out Leon's now! *smiles*

LA Farm Woman said...

See, for me, there's no chocolate flavor at Pinkberry so it does nothing for me. But, I know tons of people like it and its super close to my house.

By the way in case you didn't know, the Bagel Factory just moved across Torrance Boulevard to the side with BEV MO (yet another stupid name I don't get)

MaryRuth said...

Judi--I wasn't sure that was the same bagel place, now I know!