I read last week that Yul Kwon, most known as the winner of “Survivor: Cook Islands,” had opened a Red Mango in downtown Palo Alto. Ernie had posted previously that Kwon had trouble opening a Red Mango in San Francisco due to the city’s strict zoning restrictions against chain stores.
I first heard of Red Mango when I had written about Pinkberry being highlighted in an American Express commercial. Being new to the Korean export of frozen yogurt, I decided to drop by downtown Palo Alto Sunday afternoon to try for myself this frozen delight. We’ve been experiencing a heat wave the past few days in the Bay Area, so the store was pretty crowded. I got my original small yogurt with strawberries, and just loved it. The strawberries were fresh and very sweet and a nice compliment to the frozen yogurt. The Red Mango is not too far from the Apple store in downtown Palo Alto, right on University Avenue. I think it’ll be a big hit given its location and tasty treats.
While waiting in line, I saw that the store had a Danoo video screen - the first time I saw a Danoo enabled HDTV screen in a real setting. Danoo is a company my friend co-founded.
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Jen wrote:
thanks for the update john, excited for red mango to be in the bay area! when i was in korea, i met some of the original founder of red mango, they are actually kroean american expats, in which the one of the guys left his finance job to pursue his dream of opening a froyo store, similar to one he had in his neighborhood in the east coast while he was growing up.
they never expected it to be this huge of a sensation.
red mango yogurt in the US tastes different from the one in Korea, it’s more creamy stateside…but not complaining! love the yogurt. they have a lot of red mango stores in los angeles. my friends and i visited red mango so much in korea that the store owner thought we were investors…
Posted on 21-May-08 at 9:33 am | Permalink
Bo wrote:
There is a red mango about to open up two blocks from my apartment in NY…I’m in so much trouble. I once did a side by side comparison of pinkberry and red mango…and I have to say I love the tartness of pinkberry but enjoy the creaminess of red mango…now if only there was something that was both tart and creamy.
Posted on 21-May-08 at 10:36 am | Permalink
Efren wrote:
Heh, I think that’s why I like Jubili in SF. Both tart and creamy. Pinkberry was a little too icy for me by comparison.
I wonder if Yul Kwon will be serving again next weekend…*sigh*
Posted on 22-May-08 at 12:56 pm | Permalink
John wrote:
FYI - Yul Kwon is straight and engaged. Actually, I will probably drop by Red Mango this weekend to chat with Yul. Maybe I’ll interview him too.
Posted on 22-May-08 at 2:01 pm | Permalink