Coming Soon: Restaurants

An Outback Steakhouse will be opening in the former Bennigan's space next to the Mann 4. Not my cup of tea, but probably a step up from Bennigan's. The massive, awkwardly configured former Tower Records/CompUSA space is still conspicuously vacant. Perhaps the space could be used as a supermarket to serve the residents of the Americana and City Center II.


A Cuban restaurant is opening up in the former Maurizio's space. Presumably they've pledged to be on their best behavior after Maurizio's lost their lease, which I assume had something to do with the dozen patrol cars that would have be called to Maurizio's every Friday night.

If you can't get enough plain yogurt, you will soon be able to have your yogurt cravings satisfied at Frutti. Or Dolci Mango two doors down. Or Da Juice Bar, one block up. Or Rosegreen two blocks north. Or Pinkberry, which is opening across the street. Between those, I'd choose...a cookie from Porto's.

Actually, Rosegreen is pretty good.

This sign has been up for at least six months, so my guess is that the owner is scrambling to get out of this place before it opens, after seeing the perpetual emptiness at Dolci Mango, which spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on an uncomfortable, overly designed interior. Dolci Mango actually has an article pinned up from earlier this year (which I can't find online) about the Glendale yogurt wars, where the owner is quoted saying that he's terrified that his business will fail because of all the competition--not the usual food review boilerplate. For months, Dolci Mango had an employee standing on the sidewalk begging people to come in. That employee has apparently been replaced by a sign.

I will soon be putting up a big post about the Americana, but here are the restaurants listed on the official website. Nothing interesting so far. For now it's a bunch of overpriced mediocre chains...supplanting other slightly less overpriced, mediocre chains. But I guess that's to be expected.

Americana restaurants are in bold. Supplanted nearby restaurants are italicized.

Katsuya: Octopus/Ichiban/Sushi Tako
Frida Mexican Cuisine: Don Cuco's/Chuy's
The Cheesecake Factory: BJ's
Pinkberry: see above
Jamba Juice: Jamba Juice (literally across the street)

What's Going On With Dolci Mango and Twinkles?

Are the major combatants in the mid-Brand froyo wars dead? Dolci Mango and Twinkles both "took a break for the holidays", but are still closed well after their supposed reopening dates. Here are the signs in their windows as of January 19th.

Between the two, I'm partial to Dolci Mango - better fruit. Twinkles is (was?) more candy bar oriented.

Dolci Mango Frozen Yogurt Now Priced By Weight

Dolci Mango, which recently re-opened under new ownership, has gone to a self-serve weight-based pricing structure. You grab a cup, put as much yogurt as you want into it, load up as many toppings as you want, and pay 37 cents an ounce for the result. It's pretty good! If, like me, you like to sample various toppings and flavors its a much better deal than Pinkberry. They also have about 11 flavors available.


Amazingly, the storefront two or three spaces south of Dolci Mango is getting ready to open...as another frozen yogurt shop! Note confused bystanders.

The Great FroYo War of 2008

I'll never forget the mid-Brand "Cold War" of 2008: Rosegreen, Twinkles, and Dolci Mango. We were young then, and thought the good times of pay-by-the-ounce frozen yogurt piled high with fruit and candy bars in a uncomfortably hyperdesigned atmosphere would never end. And we laughed, oh, how we laughed at the inevitable brainfreeze!

One cruel weekend our youthful innocence was shattered. The ambitious proprietor of Twinkles realized he had accidentally created a gay bar instead of a frozen yogurt spot, complete with thumping techno and embarrassed Armenian teenage boys in sailor uniforms offering "free samples" on the sidewalk, and either fled to Korea or committed suicide. Dolci Mango, reeling from the shock of unseasonably cold 71 degree temperatures in December, closed the same weekend, with Rosegreen following just a few weeks later. We now have the overpriced Pinkberry at the Americana to console us, but somehow it fails to capture the yogurty essence of that more innocent time.

Uh, what I MEANT to say is one of the very cool new GATE Projects featuring the work of local artists in vacant storefronts is coming to the long-empty Dolci Mango space. Sorry, sometimes I get "Cold War" flashbacks.

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New Front In Yogurt Wars: Price

New downtown yogurt shop Twinkles, which is opening next week on Brand, just installed some window signs. Like Dolci Mango, they are going with a weight-based pricing structure and design-y interior. While Dolci Mango is currently priced at 37 cents an ounce (without a half off coupon), the new Twinkles signage announces that their yogurt will be priced at a mere 30 cents an ounce. They'll also be open until midnight.

Dolci Mango Re-Opens!

The Dolci Mango frozen yogurt shop on Brand has re-opened! It briefly closed last week for a change in ownership.

Dolci Mango Closes

The perpetually empty Dolci Mango yogurt place on Brand is finally calling it quits. The sign on the door says "Temporarily closed due to change in ownership", but I will be shocked if it reopens as a froyo shop. I'm guessing the opening of Pinkberry across the street at the Americana finally pushed it over the edge.

*Update: I stand corrected! It has re-opened with a snazzy new weight-based pricing system.

The Exchange Claims Another Victim: Mashti Malone's

This week I noticed that the front of Mashti Malone's was covered in paper, so I took a look inside.


Everything has been ripped out. The depopulation of The Exchange continues. In related news, Dolci Mango has a sign up saying they are "Temporary Closed for Renovation - Remodeling". Hmm. There is no sign of life at Twinkles.

Workers are tearing up the inside of the Famima space, although For Lease signs were still up in the windows. None of the workers could tell me if anything specific was going in. It looks like they were just tearing out everything Famima related.

Also: what's going to happen to the life-size great white shark above the bar at Chuy's? I'm thinking it would make a bold statement in my one bedroom apartment...

Twinkles Finally Opens Downtown

Downtown yogurt shop Twinkles has finally opened on Brand Boulevard, on the same block as Dolci Mango. The interior is over the top, with pulsing lights, costumed employees, LCD screens, and obnoxious thumping techno music.

While the decor left me yearning for the simple comforts of a couch and a newspaper, Twinkles is now the least expensive of the downtown froyo shops at $0.30 cents an ounce with unlimited toppings. They also have a 18 or so flavors available that rotate on a daily basis. In addition to the industry standard plain flavor, a specifically "tart" yogurt option is offered, which I prefer.