Top This! Yogurt Bar (San Ramon, CA)

Hannah writing

I've been to Top This! countless times already, and I decided to finally make a review on it. The first time we heard about Top This! was when we were driving by the plaza where it's in and we saw the sign. It looked promising, and I was super excited when it finally opened!

Of course the first thing I searched for when we first went inside was if they had non-dairy. They

did and I instantly started to like this place. We met the owners (it was their grand opening) and it was an older white couple. They seemed, no offense, kind of clueless about the yogurt biz, but eager to learn. At least they had mochi unlike Yogurt Shack (except they spelled it wrong, "mochie" instead of "mochi", lol).

Alright, onto the review!

atmosphere:

Top This! is not as cool and modern looking as the other yogurt places, its like a mixture of modernish yogurt feel mixed with just a regular orange-y white atmosphere. It's hard to explain lol. Other than that, its a pretty nice place. Clean, and it has a bathroom. The yogurt bar is hard to get stuff because your head always bangs into the glass overhead, so you have to lean down and get your hair in all the stuff. Kind of gross. But their dispensers for cereal/candy is very cool. It gives you the same amount of cereal/candy every time. Its like a new thing I think.

Yogurt:

Okay so Top This! yogurt isn't the best. I mean their non-dairy is okay to me, but it can be really watery or soft at times. Their non-dairy dispenser breaks a lot so sometimes when I go there I can't even get anything because they only have one non-dairy dispenser. Brittany has only tried the regular yogurt flavors once or twice, but she said it's only okay. There's usually only 1 or 2 tart flavors available like plain tart or mango tart. The rest are these typical yogurt flavors like birthday cake or chocolate. Most people only go there because they're desperate, or they just don't know good yogurt, lol.

Like I said before their toppings are pretty good. Lots of asian/typical toppings. Except their mochi is kind of weird sometimes. They have multi-colored mochi or sometimes flavored mochi like melon, strawberry, or apple. Its good but it clashes with the yogurt sometimes. The mochi is also pretty soft, so if you don't like soft mochi, you wouldn't like their mochi.

The fruit is sometimes good, but apparently they are sometimes frozen so they aren't as good. It's a hit and miss for Top This!.

Price:

Their yogurt is 45 cents per ounce. Brittany says is ridiculously expensive, but it's probably because where they are the rent is high.

Overall rating:

All in all, I would give Top This! 3 out of 5 mochis. It's not the best, but it isn't the worst either. It has some potential. (Yes, we're going to do mochi (instead of stars) ratings for these yogurt places now)

Tutti frutti (La Jolla, CA)

Brittany writing.

I've been meaning to review Tutti frutti for the longest time but finally got around to doing it. I've been to this place about 4-5 times since it's really close to school and it's not that bad.

Tutti frutti is another chain yogurt shop that is almost everywhere around the world. They have shoppes in the Phili

ppines, Mexico, Brazil and more! Their yogurt is self-serve and th

ey usually have about 8 flavors available as well that rotate depending on when you go. They have your usual flavors like original, mango, peace, green tea, pomegranate and their signature flavor is Tutti Frutti which is a mix of fruity flavors like berry and tropical flavors, it's pretty good.

Their yogurt is only 35cents which is cheaper than most places and another thing they offer are smoothies and waffle bowls! Instead of using a traditional yogurt cup you can use a waffle bowl, I've never tried it but it looks good. Their toppings are also pretty extensive with many asian toppings as well as the fruit, cereals, and gummies.

Yogurt - Their yogurt tends to be on the watery side no matter which one you get which is a negative. They also have only about two tart flavors and most of their flavors are creamy. On their website they call their flavors tart but in reality they aren't tart at all. I usually get original, tuttifrutti and mango with mochi, strawberries, fruity pebbles and sometimes mangoes. The thing with their fruit is sometimes it's not that fresh. Their mango looks very dry and pale and sometimes their strawberries look mushed. Their mochi also tends to be very floury and hard or sometimes the opposite and too soft.

Atmosphere - The place is fairly small and long so there are the yogurt machines on one side and then the seating area on the other side with about 3 tables and two chairs on each. The tables can actually fold out so more people can sit down but it takes a lot of work. You don't really get the feeling that you want to stay and enjoy your yogurt and it could easily become crowded if a lot of people are there. Other than that the place is very cozy with your typical yogurt decor and lots of posters and very bright inside.

Overall this place isn't bad if you want to get yogurt around the La Jolla area but I'd much rather go to yogurtworld on campus than come here. Their yogurt is too creamy and watery and their toppings aren't that amazing. The atmosphere is nice but in reality much too small to really enjoy yogurt here with a lot of friends.

Tuttimelon (Pleasanton, CA)

Brittany writing.

So if you've been to the Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton, CA lately you'll notice that Sanrio has been replaced with a yogurt place! It's about time that the mall got an asian yogurt place, I've been waiting for the opening forever now.

Tuttimelon is actually a chain of yogurt shoppes that offer nonfat frozen yogurt and it's self-serve! They had about 8 flavors when I went which ranged from original, mango, pomegranate, chocolate, blueberry, green tea, peach, and grapefruit. They had a lot of toppings like mochi and fruits with cereals but no asian toppings like lychee or jellies. One unique thing is that they also offer gelato, but I didn't get a chance to try that. The yogurt costs 38cents per ounce which isn't bad for this area but still not as cheap as yogurtland.

Onto the review:

Yogurt - So I got the original which is basically plain tart and at first it was REALLY watery. You know I like my yogurt firm and icy but this was pretty watery when it came out of the dispenser. I then got some Mango which I thought was going to be tart but it turns out it wasn't. That was kind of disappointing because the only tart flavor was their original. But, the mango was much firmer than the original but not that icy. Overall I'd say the yogurt is similar to that of your typical yogurt place with no non-dairy flavors. Fairly firm and creamy. The original was pretty refreshing though and fairly icy, if only it was firmer. Their toppings were pretty good though, the mango was REALLY fresh which is always a plus. And their mochi was firm but chewy, just the way I like it.

Atmosphere - The atmosphere was really nice. They had some couches and chairs and this bar in the middle where there were about 5 stools for people to sit on. They played top 20 hits and the decor was very modern and clean. It definitely made us want to sit down and enjoy our yogurt rather than just get it and go. The area inside is also very open so you don't feel cramped.

Overall I would have to say for self-serve this place isn't bad but they don't offer that many tart flavors. Their yogurt is more on the creamy side and for 38cents I'd rather go to Yogurtland. But if you're looking to get yogurt at the mall while shopping this isn't a bad alternative.