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Category: Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt [Edit]
Neighborhoods: UC Campus Area, Telegraph AveMon-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.
Sun. 11:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
I really want this place to do better. I mean, financially/businesswise. I really do. I see them as the local froyo joint who is fighting against the monster chain that Yogurtland has become.
The guy who works here is strangely quiet but very nice. The toppings are good. The selection is a bit smaller than at Yogurtland, but just as good. Too bad the location isn't as good, as I think they would get an instant boost of customers if they weren't in such an out of sight place.
Note: Their bathroom door is retardedly hard to open. Seriously. After inserting the key, you have to engage in an epic battle of sorts in order to get to the facilities inside. Which is hilarious when you watch other people struggle with it. But not as funny when you're asked immediately after for help and are shamed as well.
I really like this place. Their selection though less than Yogurtland is good enough for me. I still like the peach but from my last experience I really loved the tart strawberry mixed with strawberry mochi. Talk about cute and delicious.
Stand out feature: great customer service @ only 30 cents per ounce.
OMG SO CHEAP.
$1.80 for a good cup of frozen yogurt + lychee + strawberries + mango.
I tried as many…
Read more »
Same owner, new face. Papamingo, with the addition of being self-serve, is also now 30 cents an ounce. What does this mean? Unlimited yogurt, toppings, and no ridiculous line out the door! The same great tart and creamy yogurt is now available with all the fruit/mochi/assorted toppings you could ever want. Unfortunately, the flavors don't change much, and they haven't had mango (which is what got me hooked) since early summer.
This would have been 5 stars, but I'm taking half for lack of flavor rotation.
Pricey (compared to Yogurt Park) but comparing the styles would be like comparing apples and… Read more »
Bright & Colorful environment and friendly staff as well. This place is my back up spot when I'm in serious need of green tea yogurt. That's about it when it comes to yogurt flavors. I'm not really a big fan of the menu. But they always seem to have my green tea. What can I say, they never fail me ;)
Shut the fuck up! 25¢ Mondays? That's like the cheapest self-serve froyo ever!
My late night GRE sessions at the Princeton Review have kept me coming to this place to reward myself for my hard earned studying. "good job katie, good job" meanwhile my ass is expanding cuz the selection is just amazing and the prices are rock bottom.
I'm in love with the classic tart flavor (although they've got chocolate, taro, tahitian vanilla and a ton others). I pile it high with fresh strawberries, deliciously soft melt in your mouth cheese cake bits, mini chocolate kisses and sometimes throw in a little mochi to spice it up. The combination is a sweet treat overload and the texture is to die for.
Inside, Papamingo is super clean, has plenty of chairs and tables for all of your friends and is quickly becoming a casual hang out spot. And can I add that the owner is a total sweetheart? He's super attentive, quick to serve and even let me use his own cell phone when mine died! Best of all, NO CREDIT CARD MINIMUM!
It was so expensive when I ate here last year. I didn't their pomegranate flavor at all. Now they just copied Yogurtland with 30 cents an ounce.
And I never see anybody in their store.
I know Papamingo's yogurt is good. But they used to be expensive. So I haven't gone there for a long time.
Then my friend told me it's self-serve now, 30cent per oz. Just like Yogurtland... but cleaner place and with tables and chairs to sit down and hang out and enjoy the yogurt. Yay...
Fantastic self-serve, sorbet and frozen yogurt.
Watery? You obviously went to a machine that was still freezing the goods -- common sense, oh poor, starving students.
Expensive? Well apparently the self-serve is new. 30 cents / ounce. There's a summer Mondays 25 cents / ounce special as well. If you're a starving student, how about no iTunes downloads and no dessert?
This was a pleasant surprise when we were showing a college-scouting teenage relative around the Cal campus and its surrounding. Right in the student corridor of the hood across from a student services building.
Verrrrry clean venue, especially for this area of Berkeley. And great, refreshingly different toppings. And sweet management as well!
Papamingo really deserves all five stars! I have become somewhat of a regular because when a place is good, I'm a loyal customer all the way.
Although it's tucked away in an awkward and less trafficked location than Yogurtland on Bancroft, Papamingo's quality of yogurt is just as good, and some of it even better than its neighboring competition. My personal favorite flavors are the strawberry and original tart; both have the right texture, creaminess, and tartness!
They also have three different types of mochi: regular, coconut, and this green colored one (apple?). MmMmmmmm
And on Monday nights they offer an unbeatable special: all of the yogurt is only .25 cents an ounce! INSANELY AWESOME!
Come to Papamingo because the owner is super nice, the yogurt is delicious, and it's self-serve!
At thirty cents an ounce, it's trying to compete with Yogurtland, which is trying to take over the world like the next Starbucks. I would say Yogurtland has the edge in that they rotate their flavors more often and a wider variety of toppings and flavors. However, I would choose Papamingo any day. It's fairly good quality self-serve fro-yo. Plain tart is delicious and that's really all I need with mochi topping and coconut flakes.
Yogurtland always has a ridiculously long line, and I'm not the type of person who likes waiting. I'd much rather walk two blocks down for Papamingo, and see the owner smile because no one is in the store. He's always really nice and accommodating.
CHEAPEST SELF SERVE IN BERKELEY
30 cent / ounce
you heard right....................................
THEY'VE CHANGED THE SYSTEM
NOW SELF SERVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
now, they also have:
-more than 4 flavors of frozen yogurt
-more than 1 flavor of mochi bits
-more chairs & stools
Papamingo is smart and Papamingo remains my favorite tart frozen yogurt joint.
I don't think one can compare rich frozen yogurt (Yogurt Park) with tart frozen yogurt (Papamingo,… Read more »
Bad froyo. Why would you go here when there is yogurtland? The tart isn't tart.
Papamingo's definitely my place to go on Monday when I'm craving frozen yogurt. Why? Because it's ONLY 25 cents per ounce on Mondays.
Here's the scoop about their quality: people are saying that it's icier compared to other places. Well, since it's relatively warm or hot most days in Berkeley, I don't have a problem with that. In fact, I think their plain frozen yogurt is a good balance between creamy and tart.
Currently, the two flavors I have been getting are plain and mango. I usually top it with one kind of fruit and mochi. I'm pretty sure all the frozen yogurt places get their mochi from the same vendor because one time Papamingo and Yogurtland both had rainbow mochi instead of white mochi. Sometimes if you're lucky, there will be green apple or melon flavored mochi! It was there two weeks ago I think.
GOOD: Self serve, 25 cents/oz on Monday, super nice Korean owner, four different cup sizes to choose from
BAD: Only six flavors to choose from, and it's been like that for almost 4 months.
It's a shame that Papamingo isn't frequented more by Cal students. If all the people who went to Yogurtland during the day and night tried Papamingo, they'd know better.
-they have flavor of the day so it's nice to try it out
-yogurt is not the best in the bay
-if they are having specials for berkeley students they will go stingy on portions
-tell them ur from berkeley and automatic 10% off
This was my favorite yogurt place in Berkeley before it was self-serve. I came back today to check out how it held up after the change.
They had six flavors when I came in: original tart, mango, strawberry, green tea, chocolate, and vanilla. Two cup sizes! But I was let down when the yogurt actually flowed out of the nozzle. Verrrrry runny. The green tea came out like liquid. The flavor wasn't bad though and the fruit toppings were actually good. Liked the different mochi balls. Great price too!
Summary: 3/5 stars
+Fresh fruit toppings
+30 cents/oz! CHEAP
+The owner is sooo nice
-Consistency of the yogurt
-Only 6 flavors
Maybe I am spoiled by all the great south bay korean froyo places, but the froyo here is watery, too soft and not that great in terms of flavors..
note: this is cheaper at $.30/oz compared to $.38 @ Tartini and $.32 @ Yogurtland...
We only got a few spoonfuls because we need to use the restroom here.. definitely not that popular of a hangout place it seems.
THEY'RE NOW SELF-SERVE!!
Before they changed to self serve, I had only gone there twice because it was quite expensive. I got a large once with 3 toppings on pomegranate froyo and it was almost $10!!
Now, the place is 30 cents/oz., same as Yogurtland.
I really like their Taro flavor. It's quite rich. However, sometimes, the froyo can't be a little bit watery. There isn't as large of selection as Yogurtland, but they usually have the good flavors.
The toppings are ok. They have movie and some fruit selection, but the fruits are not as fresh sometimes.
Overall, I like the place because it's 30 cents for self serve and the manager is very friendly.
Please do not enter
A sad moment in froyo time
Pricey and
A major disappointment
Meh. Dislike the $3 froyo taste
Inside seems dead and unclean
N is for needs to improve
Gosh, and what does their name mean?
Oh, why did I even bother coming?
This place is just A-OK but MEH, I've experienced better. Seriously.
I got the pomegranate yogurt and it didn't taste like pom. It just tasted a bit more sweet than their original and to me, it really wasn't wow-ing. A single flavor comes with 3 toppings so I just got it split between fresh mangoes and strawberries. The fruits were ripened so that was good.
This totaled to $5. REALLY?
Good thing I lied and said I was a student.
Dropped it down to $4 aka 20% off.
Papamingo is super pricey...! If I want to pay almost $5 for yogurt, it better be self-serve.
Sunday, 4:40PM.
Interesting name for a yo-yo place, eh? I like the bright colors, seems modern.
Yogurt was disappointing though! Even though I side with un-tarted fro-yo, the ones here were lagging behind Harmony, Yo-Pa, and Yogurt Land.
I had the green tea fro-yo; it was all tart, too dry and fluid.
The staff here was friendly though!
Final Call:
Papamingo faces stiff comp in a war zone of frozen yogurt in Berkeley. There's too much good fro-yo elsewhere for me to return.
Papamingo? What kind of name is that, if this place didn't have a Frozen Yogurt sign outside i wouldn't have even known what this place was serving. I usually don't like to hate on a spot too hard for trying, but this place was weaksauce.
Everything about the place I wasn't feeling. 1pm in the afternoon no open sign on, when i walked in they just mopped the floor so all i could smell was pinesol. That really ruined my froyo taste. The guy that works here was really slow. Everything didn't look fresh at all. And for a low budget spot like this, the froyo was way over priced. I paid $4.00 dollars for a small original with some really old wrinkly blueberries. The blueberries were so old even the blueberries they sell at the .99 cents store looked more fresh. And the original tart flavor was lacking flavor, it tasted like bland sour milk if that made any sense.This place really reminds me of that nasty froyo spot in Hayward, zuckersuss. Pure filth.
http://static.px.yelp....
Well that will be my first and last time trying out this weaksauce spot.
2 Stars for papamingo in Berkeley
Tart Yogurt was all the rage a few years ago, especially in SoCal (pinkberry) and so when a place opened up next to my office, I was curious. I really like yogurt, and I like the tartness of it, so what was I waiting for? Instant addiction.
The only thing I am not crazy about are the frozen fruit toppings. I am sure some of them are fresh, but I have suffered through some tasteless berries as well. I have seen them cutting up fresh banana and mango though. Over all, this place is pretty clean, reasonably priced (discounts if you work at Cal or are a student), and the plain is quite delicious.
I like you because your name is cool -- it sounds like a pizza place.
You now have 20% discounts for students.
You have music.
You are tied for creamiest yogurt* in Berkeley.
*Are people comparing Yogurt Park with the tart yogurt/fruit places?
That's absurd. It's like comparing ice cream and gelato, but less so.
Man..WAY too stingy..
SERIously stingy and dirty..
last time I saw them cut strawberries and put them in these huge white buckets..but the thing with strawberries is that they start getting clear and starts gettings mushy...
My favorite topping definately stopped being good after this.. -.-
At least they have pineapple but even that is a canned fruit..
The plain yogurt is good but the blueberry seems too sweet and the green tea is a bit darker.
Not so sure if i would come here again..even when i love yogurt..
I would give this place less than one star but Yelp doesn't allow it.
Berkeley being the haven of all things healthy and environmentally aware would allow a place like this to stay up and running.
As an avid dessert eater I find Papamingo to be a joke.
Who the hell wants to get a frozen yogurt treat that tastes exactly the same as Safeway brand plain yogurt... But wait, its frozen! Oh yeah and there's fruit!
Ugh, I want this place to leave.
Long Live Yogurt Park
would not have warranted a five from me until the conversion to self-serve.
now, i'd say that this is the best place to get tart frozen yogurt in berkeley.
they don't offer as many toppings as, say, yogurtland but the texture of their tart is unparalleled. it's not icy like most other places. it's perfect.
they have, though, expanded their selection of topping since the conversion (cheesecake, banana chips, etc.)
plus, no insane yogurtland lines.
:)
when i entered papamingo, i noticed the open sign wasn't on and workers were busy painting the walls. the green and light orange walls with a white celling seem freshly painted., no one was buying or eating froyo here.
flavors available:
-green tea: pretty nice, icy & smooth
-blueberry tart: couldn't taste this
-taihitian vanilla
-original tart
-chocolate
-taro: nice subltle taste.
pricing: self serve, 30 cents ounce/froyo & toppings 12 dry toppings, 9 fruit toppings, 3 kinds of mini mochis:coconut, lime, & plain.
music: soul music
drips:
-no aftertaste
-taylor machines. cashier monitored yogurt dispensing to assure no malfunctions.
-yogurt firm, icy and smooth.
-papamingo uses natural ingredients, same froyo as before when it wasn't self serve.
-server friendly.
--lots of comfy stools available.
With all these pay-by-the-pound, make-it-yourself fro-yo shops popping up, the prices at Papamingo just seem exorbitant by comparison. $2.50 for a small. $.95 for ONE SINGLE TOPPING. You can put together a pretty impressive cup for that amount of money at one of those $.39/lbs places.
The plain yogurt here is a bit tart on the tartness scale, but still tasty. They just need to bring down the prices!
Pomegranite yogurt is the best here!
The guys who works here is 40, he looks 25.
I heart(Yelp doesn't allow greater than sign and 3, how disappointing) this frozen yogurt style that… Read more »
You have to be Asian to get Yogurt here. Yeah, I said it. [I'm half Asian, so I can.]
I used to grab yogurt here, but I have tasted much better since and can't bring myself to go here anymore.
The portions can be stingy for the prices and more than once the yogurt has tasted "off" and been watery.
People tell me Ryno's [on Telegraph] is better...
It's not that papamingo's is terrible, it's just not that great, and it's overpriced
What they kinda have going for them is the modern, pinkberry-esque interior, but it's always sadly empty and kinda out of the way. They have okay flavors, but their tart is tooo creamy and sweet for me. I'm very specific about how i like my tart froyo, and theirs just isn't tart enough. They do have good fresh fruit toppings, but so does everywhere else that serves tart froyo. they have other good tart flavors, like they have tart pomegranite and tart blueberry, but these are also too creamy and too sweet for me.
i'm also pretty sure that papamingo's is more expensive than michelle's, rhyno's, and blondies.
Rhyno's tart kinda taste the same as papamingo's, but michelle's "mangoberry" which is what they call the tart, taste 340843094809 better than the tart from papamingo's and it's cheaper.
both times i've been to papamingo's the people who've worked there have been kinda wierd, like they weren't totally rude, but they weren't nice either.
papamingo's isn't terrible, but it's nothing special, it's overpriced, and there are other places in berkeley such as michelle's and yogurt harmony that have better tasting tart froyo for the same price or cheaper
Used to love taking Berkeley trips for some Papamingos but I feel like I have to save up for these trips now! I have no complaints about the yogurt or toppings or stingyness of this place but I haven't been to a million yogurt shops so I guess my judgment is a little off. I'll have to update this when I've been to a couple more.
It's a pretty chill place to hang out and chat though so I enjoy coming here. Plus, the guy always assumes I'm a student @ Berkeley so I always get my 10% or so off =)
Like others have said, this place is not cheap. I went here A LOT my senior year because that's when they gave out buy 1 get 1 free coupons to the students (and that made it all worth it).
I've had quite a few places to compare this place to: Pinkberry, Red Mango, Ryno's, Michelle's Sweets, Yogurt Harmony, Yogurtland, IceBee...
In terms of quality of yogurt, Papamingo's has a good standing chance against my other top favorites: Pinkberry and Red Mango. I'd have to try them all within the same period of time to figure out which is best. Nothing that I've tried up in Northern California besides Papamingo's has yogurt to my liking. Fruit quality is also good but not always the best.
I do have one major complaint besides the price: THE FREAKING OWNER. I am positive it's this Asian dude with glasses who is the owner, and every time I walk into that place I give a disgusted look to my friends that I take there because he is STINGY AS HELL. At least when you're picking out fruit to put on top, don't make it LOOK like you're being stingy!!! (The only thing that keeps bringing me back is because I can't find another place nearby that has decent tasting yogurt.)
After walking around Telegraph Avenue my friend and I decided we were in the mood for some Fro-yo. Somehow we stumbled upon Papamingos and decided to check it out. The place is small, clean and kitschy. A great place to grab fro-yo. I wasn't really expecting much because it was Asian owned. Boy was I wrong!
They had 3 flavors pomegranate, plain, and green tea. I decided on the pomegranate with fresh pomegranates as my topping. The guy behind the counter was very generous with the toppings. My friend got green tea with blueberries and almonds. My friend tipped a dollar because she couldn't believe how generous he was with the toppings.
The pomegranate fro-yo was tart, yet had hints of sweetness. Delightfully refreshing! The toppings looked extra fresh straight from the market.
Papamingos was a delightfully refreshing way to end our day trip in Berkeley. Highly recommended!!!
It's not pinkberry but it's good.
Need I say more?
Me: "Can I have a green tea yogurt with mango, mochi and kiwi for toppings."
Man: "We're out of kiwi."
Me: "What do you're out of kiwi?"
Man: "We don't have any cut up."
Me: "There's a kiwi right there. Can't you cut it up?"
Man *grumbles and cuts up kiwi*
This is an example of a standard trip to Papamingo.
The fruit isn't exactly fresh and the workers grumble when you make them do a little bit extra that they're supposed to get paid to do in the first place. Is it too much to ask that you chop up a fruit for me when you advertise fresh fruit toppings? I think not.
The green tea yogurt is very tasty and refreshing but the plain never seems to be completely frozen. They don't cover their toppings appropriately behind the bar (which freaks me out a little) and the mochi is too chewy... almost overcooked.
It's not really worth the money unless you have a "guide to the good life 2 for 1 coupon" but be warned... they will put that infamous yogurt hole in the middle if you purchase with one.
Not really worth the time or money.
Fro-yo girl here. Papamingo has the cutest name in the East Bay (for a fro-yo shop). They used to offer "yogurt balls" which sounded like cream puffs but with fro-yo inside. Mmmm, that sounds amazing - but they no longer have this innovative treat. They sell smoothies as well.
It's a shame that the yogurt balls are gone because everything about the shop seems average and unremarkable. The interior is bright and citrusy (orange, yellow, green). Ample seating. The toppings are a little hard to see but they have the usual suspects - fruit, cereal, nuts, mochi, etc. They have four flavors of tart fro-yo per day: plain, green tea, pomegranate and a special flavor. During my visit it was blueberry.
The plain is $2.50 for a small, the special flavor is $3 and pomegranate and green tea = $3.50. One topping is 95 cents. I tried the blueberry and pomegranate - both seemed icy with a bitter aftertaste. I wouldn't order either. The plain tart was better - creamy though not as creamy (or tasty) as Yogurt Harmony's or Ryno's. The cup wasn't that full and there was a large hole in the middle. Boo.
This is my least favorite tart fro-yo shop in Berkeley but I'd still be willing to try a yogurt ball if they ever bring them back.
You know you love me. XO XO, fro-yo girl.
It's not Pinkberry, but it's almost an acceptable substitution. They have the same spate of delicious toppings as Pinkberry, though, and although they offer a few "special" flavors, I've always stuck with the basics: green tea and plain. These two flavors are the tart type of frozen yogurt that is closer in taste to real yogurt.
As some others have noted, they have buy-one-get-one coupons in this year's Guide to the Good Life. However, the coupon only applies to the yogurt, I've never been able to get the toppings comped. It's sort of disappointing, but the coupon still makes the yogurt a little closer to the price I think the yogurt here is worth. I probably wouldn't come in without a coupon (and a friend).
Papamingo's was our LAST stop for fro-yo for the day. Thank goodness cuz I think I was all fro-yoed out! The place is also pretty cheap
Original
SM $2.50
MD $3.50
LG $6.00
Single topping $0.95
three toppings $1.50
Toppings included strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, banana, peach, pineapple, kiwi, mango, almonds, walnut, coconut, granola, cap'n crunch, cocoa pebbles, chocolate sprinkles, MOCHii, and cookies and cream.
We were so tired of trying fro-yo shops one after the other, they really didn't wanna come here but since we parked across the street, we just came here.
We shared the SM with just mangoes. The owner was cutting up FRESH mangoes and didn't give us any of the fresh ones... I asked for it too but I guess he didn't hear me or just disliked me and didn't wanna give me any =(
Flavor of the fro-yo was just non existent. I didn't like it at all.. I guess you can say it's a little tart and tangy and icy. Mango topping that was NOT just cut up was not sweet at all....
Service was super slow.. I was waiting to order it and the girl behind the counter just wanted to continue and clean or do whatever she was doing before we even entered...
After a gluttonous meal at House of Biryani.....*licking my lips*....I need something sweet......to justify my fat ass I opted for fro-yo. Papamingo is around the corner, so we wadded our full bellies over.
Walking down the sloped entrance, yellow walls and low ceiling I felt like Alice in Wonderland falling down the rabbit hole. I wondered if the guy behind the counter is the caterpillar serving me pomegranate fro-yo instead of a mushroom. One side with strawberry topping will make me bigger and the other mango topping side will make me smaller.
Susa, Whalen, and I were having a fro-yo tea party, but the mad hatter was missing. A spoonful of strawberry with pomegranate didn't make me bigger....damn I wanted to walk down telegraph and stomp on cars that didn't yield pedestrians.
I'm not a fro-yo connoisseur like Lolia S. but it was not pleasurable. I could barely taste the pomegranate or the tanginess of yogurt. The topping bar was miserable. The bins not even half filled and crumbs littered the surface.
After eating I clicked my shoe three times and returned home. Wait, wrong story...I'll save that for next time.....
Neighborhood: UC Campus Area
Category: Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt
Neighborhood: UC Campus Area
Category: Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt
Neighborhood: UC Campus Area
Category: Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt
Neighborhood: UC Campus Area
Category: Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt
Neighborhood: UC Campus Area
Category: Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt
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