Fro-yo at the Mall -- CLOSED

UPDATE (1/02/10): Walked by the mall today and noticed Cefiore papered up. Not sure when it closed, but it's definitely donesky.

You’re probably like me, hitting the malls trying to get some of your Christmas shopping done early. When your feet gets tired and you’re so done elbowing your way into the stacks of half-off sweaters, it may be time for a fro-yo break.

I discovered last month that a new frozen yogurt store has made its way into the San Francisco Westfield Shopping Centre on Market Street. I don’t know why it took so long because a mall seems like the most logical place for fro-yo.

With a fancy logo and an Italian-sounding name, Céfiore is a pretty tiny shop. In fact, there’s no seating inside except for a small round-top table near the wall for standing-room only. Awhile back, I went to check out the store to see how Céfiore stacked up in my continued search for the best fro-yo in town.

Céfiore offers a wide variety of flavors in addition to the original. It also has green tea, raspberry and pomegranate. But what caught my eye was the acaiberry flavor. Some of you may have heard of this flavor, which has been getting a bit of controversy in the food world on whether it really is as healthy as it claims.

I decided to give it a try, ordering a mini cup (which I guess is the kid’s portion because there’s also a small size) topped with strawberries. (The specialty flavors are a bit more expensive than the original flavor. The mini cost $3.25 and 75 cents for each topping. The original cost only $2.75 for the mini.)

My acaiberry wasn’t what I expected. First off, it had this really weird light purple-grey color to it. And then when I tasted it, it didn’t taste good. It was really sour and I didn’t really enjoy it, although the texture was fine (and not icy).

I felt kind of bad going off my usual taste-testing with original fro-yo, so I gave Céfiore a second chance, this time returning to try the original flavor. This time I got a mini original with cantaloupe topping.

The original tasted just as sour as the acaiberry, but without the weird color. It’s not the same slight tart flavor that can be addictive if done right. This was just plain sour, almost like spoiled milk.

Céfiore had a really nice look and feel and the service is friendly enough (although on both visits they weren’t able to really put a nice swirl to the fro-yo) but I just can’t get used to the sourness of the yogurt. It’s too bad because Céfiore has prime real estate being at the Westfield. But convenience can’t be the only criteria when looking for the best fro-yo in town.

Single Guy's Fro-yo Rankings:

1. Red Mango, Palo Alto
2. Pinkberry, Southern California
3. Tuttimelon, San Francisco
4. YoCup, San Francisco
5. Fraiche, Palo Alto
6. Icebee, San Francisco
7. Jubili, San Francisco
8. SoGreen, San Francisco
9. Yogurt Harmony, Berkeley
10. Yogen Früz, San Francisco
11. Céfiore, San Francisco

Céfiore, 745 Market St. (second floor of the Westfield Shopping Centre). (A second location is also near the Financial District at 59 New Montgomery St.) PH: 415.987.8017. www.cefiore.com

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