Jubili Frozen Yogurt and Cereal

This froyo shop CLOSED in 2011, but Unilocal hadn’t updated their records until now. The location wasn’t ideal, not much foot traffic. Perhaps it would have survived inside Japantown center. This was the oldest froyo shop in SF.
Voted Best of the Bay and Best in SF in 2008, their video link is still active:

Pros:
Seemingly healthy froyo on Fillmore – a new trend that I hope sweeps the city and even the country. Granola and other ingredients definitely make it more interesting.
Cons:
When I went they were out of a few of the most interesting ingredients.
Fun:
Try on some weird hats in the hat store next door after you get your froyo!

Luckily there wasn’t a line when i came to Jubili because I had to try every flavour before I settled on original. It’s not super tart and I’d recommend that one if you’re unable to decide like me. I got strawberry and mochi toppings.
The store was clean and bright, though I imagine it could get fairly crowded if they were busy. I dont have anything to compare this to in SF as I was only in town for a few days, but I enjoyed coming and I would come back again.

They get one star for having decent tasting yogurt. All three flavors (original tart, peach, and strawberry) that my friends and I ordered tasted pretty good.
The negative stars come from:
1) Chick at the counter whose sole function (it seemed) was to watch the clock. She couldn’t even greet us properly as we came in, answered our questions with a blank stare… and promptly took off the moment 8pm rolled around. I’m sure countless others would love to have your position in this job market (who knows,
may be hiring).

2) Dude who prepared my order and couldn’t manage to extract toppings from a wide-​mouthed glass jar onto the yogurt with a spoon. Upon spilling said toppings on the countertop, he said, «oops, let’s get that on there (or something to that effect),» and proceeded to scoop the spilled toppings from the counter onto the yogurt. Are you kidding me???
Jubili gives me no cause for jubilation.

Fun place to stop off for a me mi or mo size of frozen yogurt with the typical selection of toppings. The endless pot of tea, means endless hot water, but obviously a single serving of tea leaves only goes so far.
It’s a cute little hang out joint, modern functional décor. The service is friendly.
I couldn’t help but notice the 59 cent milk tea drinks offered across the street though…

I’ve noticed a strange trend amongst Quicklys: they keep odd hours. The one on Clement and 23^rd closes at like 7 PM.
At 11 AM on a Wednesday, the one on Fillmore wasn’t open. With the small Starbucks across the street already packed, I had no choice but to move my casual work meeting (for real, it was an actual meeting) to Jubili, because we really just needed somewhere to sit and get away from the ridiculously hot weather.
I’m serous when I say Jubili serves cereal. Like the kind from a box. With milk. Pass. Note: they also serve oatmeal. What kind of place is this?!
But I decided on their chocolate chip cookie, which was big, thin, soft, and sweet. It’s a whole different class of cookie than Bumzy’s across the way, but it was pretty good for $ 2. They also have parfaits and froyo, with fresh fruit to add in as toppings.
The place itself is pretty roomy compared to other joints. It was also decorated like a typical froyo spot, with the clean, modern furniture and décor. The girl working behind the counter was nice, but she was the only one, so I can imagine a huge backup when people start coming in (we were the only ones in the shop).
Since becoming lactard, I TRY to stay away from yogurt and froyo, and because I wasn’t close to my home or office, I didn’t want to chance ingesting dairy and then expelling it immediately. It’s too bad, because the parfaits looked delicious (client had one with chocolate chips — yum!). But I would love to try their other desserts since I enjoyed the cookie. Thumbs up from CCG.

Great start to the morning! I had a yogurt parfait with mango, kiwi, and granola. Tasted really fresh. The yogurt was creamy (not runny or ice cream-​like) and wasn’t too tart.
Walked out with an overwhelming feeling of happiness and love for SF.
Clean. Free wi-​fi. TV.

I liked this place! They have a variety of yummy treats from frozen yogurt to cupcakes which is awesome if you want both =P
I liked the froyo here but it’s not super tart. The toppings are solid but prices start at .95 cents per topping.
They have a mini size for $ 2.40 a medium for $ 3.45 and a large for $ 4something.

WARNING DO NOT GET THE CUPCAKES THEY ARE TERRIBLE!
Chocolate with strawberry frosting tasted like an old stale brownie with strawberry frosting. AND it was $ 3!
–5 stars for that one but I’m giving 2 because the froyo is ok.

It’s been two years… Since I am on my «let’s cleanse restaurants away from douche bag…» I dragged my friend here after our dinner at Arang… since it was just across the street.
The place was dead… and I kinda got worried but it was a Tuesday night. Friend ordered a small original with strawberries and kiwi. I ordered a small with half chocolate and half original with choco chips and yogurt chips.
Total for the two: $ 8+
We sat and gossiped some more… I realized that I wasn’t a fan of their chocolate yogurt b/​c it was more tart than the original! Also, the choco chip was kinda funny tasting when eaten with the chocolate yogurt. I ended up picking my cup where the original and the yogurt chips were. Friend also complained that she wouldn’t order strawberries there anymore since it was fresh.
We left not feeling happy about what we ate… Thus, I probably won’t go back… for now?

While the yogurt here was good I probably won’t go back for a couple of reasons. One there isn’t a ton of choice in the flavor department. Two, I don’t like that I can’t make my serving myself. And three, how come I can only choose up to three toppings? What if I want a dash and a sprinkle of 4? Or all of them? I hate having to choose between blueberries and strawberries because I also want a type of cereal (also have to choose between Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Cap’n Crunch which is no bueno) and perhaps sprinkles or maybe nuts. Gah! I don’t want to decide!
So Jubilee, while you are close to me I’m afraid we’re going to have to see other people. Your variety just isn’t spicy enough for me.

Creamy froyo! I don’t know what Amy C. was talking about in her review. In fact, I think the flavor and texture of the froyo here was very similar to the «Clear Optometry» (yes, you read that right. OPTOMETRY) frozen yogurt in San Mateo, which she loves.
Not much to say other than that I thought it was pretty decent, and they have fresh fruits for toppings. The place is clean, and having free wi-​fi is always a plus. I guess there’s not much else to say about this place.
I don’t know if I would ever pay money to eat cereal here though! In fact… I think a co-​worker of mine imagined this very «cereal restaurant» concept a few years back and mentioned it to me. Sorry man, someone beat you to the punch.

Jubili has the type of frozen yogurt that when you first taste it you’re not quite sure you like it.
It has a milky aftertaste and the flavors are so muted you really can’t place them.
But each bite gets yummier and better until you’ve finished your dish and are trying to decide on seconds. I even have a distinct feeling that were I to live near this place it would become an addictive favourite.
The only negative I found was that they didn’t have many fruit toppings to choose from which would have given it that extra kick of flavor that was missing.

YUM! The selection of froyo is limited here (peach, strawberry sorbet and original tart). But what they do have is quite tasty. You have a choice of 9 dry toppings (PHOTO:
) and and 12 fruit toppings (PHOTO:
).
We had the peach and strawberry twist with blueberries (great combo-​a must-​try) and another cup of original with mango and blueberry.
Photo:
The original has the right amount of tart and sweetness to it. It’s also thick yet light. Very refreshing!
Too bad it’s deep in the Japantown/​Fillmore area, it’s not the most convenient location. =/

I like the concept of this place: froyo and cereal. It makes Jubili just slightly different from other froyo shops. And a big plus of the place is that they have plenty of comfortable seating.
I came here today after eating lunch at Doobu on Osaka Way aka Buchanan; was curious about Jubili since Lolia S. had said to me before that it’s a good froyo place.
The cashier was helpful in answering my question about the wheatgrass shot (which I ended up not ordering…); I got a small original tart with two toppings: mochi and chocolate chips. For some reason, I had thought I ordered one fruit topping but I realized I was mistaken when I took the first bite from my froyo. Oops.
Froyo was not as firm as YoCup or Tuttimelon, but I still liked it. In the end, I think I liked the décor/​atmosphere/​spaciousness a lot more. Free wi-​fi here; hmm, I can see myself camping out here if I lived in the neighborhood.
They also had tea boxes/​cookies/​treats for sale in front. Overall, I’ll probably swing by Jubili again in the future; will try a smoothie or a parfait next time.

3.5 Stars
I am going to be brutally honest here.
What is the difference between Jubili and all other fro yo places in SF!!! Am I missing something?
SF’s fro yo places:
1. Same white décor.
2. Same plastic chairs.
3. Same toppings — mochi, fruits and etc.
4. Same fro yo flavors (some places are more tart than other).
???
I don’t get it. However, I do think Jubili deserves 3.5 stars for cleanness and good customer service.
I still don’t get it…:)

Is the cereal here stale? It should be. Why? Because they charge you up the butt for it, and anyone in their right mind would know to run over to Safeway to pick up a box of cereal for the same price of a tiny bowl here. I’ve NEVER had the cereal here, and I do not plan to. EVER.
The frozen yogurt, on the other hand, is decent. Not too tart but also not very sweet. The toppings are good. I usually get the mochi and strawberries because I’m predictable and boring like that. They also serve sorbet, which is perfect when the boyfriend is not really into frozen yogurt, but loves sorbet.
In any case, it’s a pricey treat that I have been indulging in less these days. You know, since the economy’s gone down the tubes.
While the store appears clean, shiny, and bright, they leave the door open, and sometimes they have some not-​so-​clean, shiny, or bright visitors — pigeons. Ick. See Donna’s review here:

Eh.

After struggling through the crowds in Japantown, I found myself wanting to punch children and babies. 75 degrees, the Cherry Blossom Festival, my gym bag and too many strollers and slow walkers I was fixing to kill.
Taking a reprieve with my friend Setch at the Starbucks across the way from brokedown Safeway, we sat outside while he sipped his Frappuccino. I spotted several people walking by with little white cups of delicious froyo and we left to go investigate.
Who knew we had passed Jubili? What WAS Jubili? Why was it so horribly mispelled? I walked in and my brow raised in concern over the small menu and only 3 flavors.
I ordered an original frozen yogurt with strawberries and chocolate chips and it was the most delectable treat Setch and I took actual pictures of the wonderful creation.
I wished it was closer to home because I would be here everyday. I’m down with the frozen yogurt that actually tastes like real yogurt.

Jublili Frozen Yogurt… and Cereal?
Pay someone to pour cereal in a bowl for me? I don’t think so. Too Seinfeld-​ish. Perhaps I can pay someone to spray Cheese Whiz in my mouth. That’ll be a sad day. Oh wait, I did pay someone to do that. Uhh… never mind.
But I did come for the fro-​yo. They bill it as Italian-​style. What does that mean? C’mon, we all know it’s Japanese. My peeps love their dairy. I think it’s that feeling of living on the edge with their lactose intolerance. But me… I embrace my inner dairy queen. I came here with my friend Carlos looking for something sweet.
It’s one of those modern spaces heavy on the white. I mean the walls and floors, not the customers. No, the customers yesterday were well-​dressed Asian youths, mostly Japanese speaking the mother tongue. Or in this ‘hood…the mutha tongue. What’s rather amusing though in a «Crash”-kinda way is that we just took a quick walk down the block from the Fillmore Street Café where the crowd is decidedly mixed. No such melting pot here. Carlos was afraid someone was going to leave him their dirty cups to bus.
They have three sizes — mi, my, mo. I’m serious… no, it ain’t a pig-​nip dialect… it’s like «eeny-​MInee-​MYnee-​MO». You have to say it with a straight face when you order, so I ordered a «mi» of the peach yogurt with fresh mango bits on top. Good, not so sweet. Carlos had the original yogurt covered with toffee chunks. We were both kinda meh on the original flavor… it was just too damn natural for me with that tart flavor skinny vegans must like. But toffee is a no-​brainer. Our total bill came to less than $ 8.
I’m no fro-​yo expert. I fro-​up when I have bad fro-​yo. But this is good fresh stuff. I’ve been to Pinkberry just once since I am so not into LA, but this seems like an appropriate knock-​off. And I don’t want to come back for the cereal. Just leave me in peace with my bowl of Rice Chex. At least my bowl has Winnie the Pooh on the bottom.
FRO-​YO — 4 stars… good, fresh stuff there… and blessedly not too sweet
AMBIANCE — 4 stars… like being in Tokyo by way of Knot’s Landing… am I really in the Fillmore?
SERVICE — 4 stars… she knew what flavor combos worked and stuffed that cup over the rim
TOTAL — 4 stars… fro-​yo fans can stop wasting my time trying spoonlet samples at Bi-​Rite now