Chef Fresh Frozen Yogurt

I was staying in downtown Portland for a few nights. One evening, I was in desperate need of a cool treat. So I got on Unilocal to figure out what would be open at night. Chef Fresh serves up frozen yogurt and was nearby, so I walked over. I totally could not find this place even though I was using the GPS on my phone. I called the store and they told me they were in the mall. Aha! That would have been good to know. I was wandering around the mall and then a couple pointed me to the store. Thank goodness. I was impressed by alot of the flavors, but I picked out the cake batter. It was decent, but I’ve had better back home in Atlanta.

Used to love, L-​O-​V-​E LOVE this place. I’d come in every day. Sometimes more than once. The selection of flavors was ridiculous (good), as are the toppings.
Now, the yogurt is not creamy anymore. It tastes more like ice milk. It’s icy, and it’s not good. Whatever they changed with the formula did not improve the consistency or flavor of the product.
I kind of hate to complain, because being only a few blocks from my office, it’s an attractive nuisance.
My health is happier, my doctor is happier, my scale is happier. But I do miss my friends: creamy delicious cake batter (always on tap), caramel pretzel, chocolate and vanilla, taro root, coconut…

On a random trip I noticed the sign in the window advertising their red bull smoothies and thought I would come see what this place was all about. Upon walking in I was greeted with an insane amount of negative energy. The two girls-​who were literally sitting around the entire time I was in the shop, grunted and sighed at any request or question. Must have interrupted their gossip hour (more than an hour before closing) since they couldn’t be bothered to elaborate on what the advertised smoothies entailed. God forbid I interrupt their conversation!
Needless to say, the smile I had on my face when I walked in had been greatly affected by the customer service I’d received, and an otherwise delicious smoothie deemed unworthy of another visit.

Only twelve flavors to choose from, and those were more like ice-​milk than creamy Fro-​Yo. But plenty of toppings, dipped cones, and a friendly staff in a location with nice atmosphere overlooking 3^rd Ave.

There is chocolate covered bacon as a topping and other fun goodies too! The original tart is yummy and it was a perfect find with a cool view of the nicest part of Portland.

Okay, I’m going to be completely honest — I had very very low expectations before coming here. I mean, a fro-​yo shop in the middle of the mall? Talk about cliché. But believe it or not, this may be the best fro-​yo in all of Portland. Yes, the employee did only give me one sample cup — are you kidding me, can you spare it? I thought to myself, though I did not say aloud. However, this really was my only complaint. Other than that, my experience was pure delight. First of all, let me start with the flavors. Not only were they the most exotic, daring and artisan of all the other fro-​yo shops, but they had at least 4 vegan flavors that weren’t sorbet (shout out to all my vegans!!!), including a banana flavor that was very interesting. But typical me, I stuck with the Plain Tart which was Plain Delicious, and topped it with fresh strawberries and dark chocolate (!) mini (!)-chips. I would give the yogurt quality an A+ at Chef Fresh. And let me just say a few things about the ambiance. Not only did I feel like I was in a hotel lobby, a type of luxury I can really get into, but also more importantly, it felt like a haven from the capitalist filth of the mall, as refreshing as their yogurt. And unlike most hotel lobbies, the art in Chef Fresh was ACTUALLY GOOD — beautiful Cibachrome prints of fresh fruit and smoothies — a nod to minimalist design, yet rich and contemporary. There were also floor to ceiling windows with stunning views of Ross Dress for Less and AT&T. My experience at Chef Fresh definitely proved to me the potential of frozen yogurt stores to combine quality product with luxury ambiance — I can’t wait to come back for more!

Hands down the best frozen yogurt I’ve found in Portland. Especially with it being summer, I sometimes go twice a day. The parking hassle is worth it. They have the BEST vegan chocolate froyo I’ve ever had.
If you work downtown (NW is included) you get 10 percent off.

Get the mocha yogurt, please. The ice to yogurt ratio was just perfect, and the flavor was richer than you expect from frozen yogurt, a definite step above the rest. The toppings were standard issue, except for giant chocolate covered strawberries, though why you’d put that in your yogurt is beyond me. The seating area was cozy enough, but you can’t escape the fact that you’re in a mall. The price was very reasonable.

This place rocks !!! They have froyo and smoothies they have like 10 diff flavors of frozen yogurt and the smoothies aside from being similar to like a jamba juice since most all flavors are natural and all juices are fresh, they have red bull smoothies also which are totally the biz. I honestly almost didn’t come back since every time I come the service sucks and some of the girls just aren’t very friendly but the gal with the red hair was super sweet and I’ll come back just because of her! I wish they wore name tags so I could mention her by name cause she’s nice the last 2 times I’ve been in here.*came in 5.12 around 4:30pm* it’s also kind of a big place inside with all sorts of seating, not so much good for groups but if there’s 10 ppl or less in a group you’d all be able to squeeze in there. Again if you want frozen yogurt this is the place to go! Multiple topping also which is always a plus, heathy (fruit and nuts) as well as unhealthy (; candy (; and syrups and what not. Great place to go !

5 stars just for the toppings. The yogurt wasn’t that great, but they had me with the chocolate covered red vines and all the cereals. I just dig weird toppings.

Happy to find a froyo place in pioneer square. I would normally go to tartberry but if I’m shopping on a hot summer day, I like the option of staying indoors and still getting froyo. Sweet taro was my favorite flavor here because it actually tastes like taro and wasn’t bright purple like lots of other places. I also like how they have cones available so I ended up getting a double chocolate froyo cone. Nice selection of toppings too. A little difficult to put it on my cone but that was my own issue.

I don’t know how I ended up here, but I did and it was Fresh. Like 80’s bubble gum pop fresh, not fresh off the vine. Teen fresh not me fresh…
This place is a little different in that you can get hopped up on custard fro yo, fruit, caffeine, energy drinks, sugar or all of the above. I think I could have loved this place 10 – 20 years ago.
I tested the Drumstick, salted Carmel pretzel and Taro. The Taro Root was really excellent and reminded me of Boba in college… I was a little overwhelmed in Chef Fresh, because there were so many options. When given the chance, I generally build my own, but I didn’t know what to build — so I tried their pre-​builts ie the Original Hollywood Shirley Temple in a can, and the salted caramel pretzel with no toppings. I also got a water because everything was so sweet.
Now I remember how I got here: I was thirsty and curious… I left thirsty and curious… even feeling a little old… I don’t know if I’d come back without a teen/​child…
PS. I paid way too much for that can Shirley Temple — and it was not what I expected at all. I expected it to taste like those I ordered in SF in the 80’s and 90’s, but it didn’t… it was weird.
4 stars for the yogurt and scene my little loved ones will enjoy

I just friggin’ love this place. My favorite froyo spot easily. They’re always getting new flavors so each visit is a fun and unique experience. My most recent fave flavor is strawberry banana– so good! Lots of great toppings as well like fresh fruit and candies.
They got nice new chairs and tables so the atmosphere has improved quite a bit!

This is little quaint yogurt spot in the Pioneer Place Mall. What I like about this place is that it has a nice variety of toppings, along with about 10 different types of yogurt. The best I think is the mango tango and chocolate swirl.

This is a decent frozen yogurt place with great flavors and a good selection of toppings. Located on the third floor of pioneer mall, it’s hard to not have some frozen yogurt while shopping there.
Last summer they had the Drumstick Icecream flavor, I had it almost everyday after work for the whole summer. This time I tried sweet taro and mint, omg, by far the best taro flavor I’ve tried, yet again!
They have some non-​fat and sugar free (Mint was sweetened with Splenda) options; you can also make you own frozen yogurt smoothies. Don’t forget to check-​in to receive 10% off your first purchase.

Peanut butter covered Oreos! Need I say more?

One of the better froyo places I’ve been to.
One of the things I like about this place is their unique selections of flavors. The last time I was there, they had avocado froyo, salted pretzel, and Mayan chocolate, just to name a few. The avocado one was great and reminded me of the avocado ice cream I had as a child. The Mayan chocolate had a nice heat to it that perfectly complemented the chocolate flavor. Their tart, which is my favorite froyo flavor (I know, boring), was, well, tart and not too sweet.
I’m not a huge fan of toppings, but from what I saw, they had a huge selection of different toppings, from fresh fruits to cereal.
They also have a nice space in the mall. They have a few comfy couches that’s perfect for hanging out or using your laptop or whichever.
Anyway, I’ll definitely be back when I’m at the area and in the mood for more froyo.

Blue oreos, ding dongs, twinkies, chili gummy bears, 3 different kinds of mochi, a couple of different kinds of poppers, tons of fruit options, as well as the nod to all the candy bars all smashed up and ready to load on to your custard, yogurt, yo cream of choice.
I so wanted to finally get to try some custard but I asked him how many calories and it’s 184 cals for 4 ounces! BOO! The frozen yogurt is 80 – 100.
Their décor is slightly odd. It’s very modern looking with white couches and these spacey looking greenish chairs. They’ve got these humongous white decorative ball lamps hanging above (there’s a pic posted). Lots of room at this fro yo spot to munch down on your treats. I could picture folks that are not 21 come to this space where you can pretty much just spread out, chill and look cool.

Good yogurt, great place to chill at the mall when you’ve been shopping for far too long. Not the best place in the mall, but the easiest and comfiest. Plus you got H&M across the way.

I enjoy frozen yogurt as an alternative to ice cream, thus I have ventured out to just about every new frozen yogurt establishment. This new «trend» of frozen yogurt kind of reminds me how people went crazy over «bubble/​boba tea» when it was first introduced in the NW. This is my routine at frozen yogurt joints; pick 4 – 5 flavors and fill about 75% of my container and top it off with coconut flakes and mochi. Sometimes fruit. Well, seeing that Chef Fresh was a new establishment at Pioneer Square (inside the mall), I went in with my friend (who is also quite the frozen yogurt fan) and tried it out. They had a few flavors that no other frozen yogurt establishment had like Red Velvet and Greek-​Styled Salted flavor.
Now let’s talk about the taste. Most of the flavors left a artificial residue kind of taste… it didn’t have the same «freshness» as some nearby places such as Peachwave and Skinnidip. The artificial taste threw me off. The mochi toppings were STALE. They stuck together (good quality mochi would not stick together) and that should have been a dead-​giveaway but nooooo, I had to try it (my mistake). On a positive note, they had two different mochi toppings (original white and mango flavored)…but it doesn’t matter, they were both stale.
Price wise, wow… if you are going to charge double the price like Skinnidip, please look at your quality. I understand you are based inside a mall and have a legit reason to jack up the prices, but really? Skinnidip jacks up their prices, but their quality is always consistent. Yes, I’m willing to pay for quality. For comparison purposes, filling my container 75% at Peachwave would cost me an average $ 3.25 (with good quality mochi too!). At Chef Fresh, $ 5.80.
Interesting how all the people who gave this place 5 stars only has a history of 1 review and it happens to be for this one!
Wanted to give this place 1 star but the employees were nice and they didn’t screw up the coconut flakes. LOL not coming back.