Phileo Frozen Yogurt

[Andrew Fenton]

So we checked out Philadelphia's entry in the wonderful world of frozen yogurt: Phileo. In concept and design, it's basically a rip-off of NYC's Pinkberry-- not that that's a bad thing; go with what works! The difference is that Phileo is self-serve: they have around a dozen flavors of yogurt, which you dispense and then complete at their toppings bar. The whole thing is priced by weight: 49¢ an ounce.

There's a good mix of flavors: several kinds of fruit, as well as some more exotic flavors like taro, snickerdoodle and cheesecake. Everything I tried was pretty good, and there was a nice selection of toppings as well. (Want mochi on your yogurt? You got it, chief!) Not surprisingly, they give you a very large cup, and it's easy to construct a monstrous, city-crushing, Godzilla-style yogurt sundae. Which will set you back around $5-6; a more reasonable portion is around $3.

It's a good addition to South Street. The yogurt is good, and is a nice alternative to ice cream or water ice. And it's a nifty, stylish place; I can imagine it getting very popular, and I'm sure I'll be back.

They're on South St., between 4th and 5th.

[urbanfabric]

Can someone clue me in to this "new" trend of frozen yogurt? All I can think of is 1985 and the "new" trend of frozen yogurt that brought a TCBY to every street corner.

Are the Pinkberry/Phileo folks the bringers of "new" trends from 1985? Can't we leave that to 18-yr-old art student fashion? Is there more to this trend that I'm missing?

[Andrew Fenton]

Is there more to this trend that I'm missing?

It is pretty tasty. Doesn't mean you have to wear your Members Only jacket, but I suppose it couldn't hurt...

[Buckethead]

Can someone clue me in to this "new" trend of frozen yogurt?  All I can think of is 1985 and the "new" trend of frozen yogurt that brought a TCBY to every street corner. 

Are the Pinkberry/Phileo folks the bringers of "new" trends from 1985?  Can't we leave that to 18-yr-old art student fashion? Is there more to this trend that I'm missing?

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Pinkberry and Phileo (though I haven't been to Phileo) serve frozen yogurt that is tangy, rather than sweet like TCBY's.

[yellowmnm81]

Oh man.. I can't wait to visit. I LOVE Pinkberry, so I really hope this is comparable. My favorite topping at Pinkberry is the fresh mango...anyone know if Phileo has this?

Yum! Too bad it's sorta far away from me...

[Buckethead]

Oh man.. I can't wait to visit.  I LOVE Pinkberry, so I really hope this is comparable.  My favorite topping at Pinkberry is the fresh mango...anyone know if Phileo has this?

Yum! Too bad it's sorta far away from me...

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I visited Phileo a few days ago, they actually have Pinkberry-style tart fro-yo as well as TCBY-style sweet fro-yo. There is a wall full of soft-serve machines, maybe six machines with two flavors in each machine. There were more sweet flavors than tart ones, maybe 8 sweet and 4 tart. If I remember correctly the 4 tart flavors were taro, strawberry, mango, and plain. I tried the chocolate, and the tart strawberry and mango. I didn't like their tart flavors all that much, but I don't really like Pinkberry's either, so there you go. The chocolate was decent, I'd go back and try a few other sweet flavors.

I don't recall there being any fresh mango on the toppings bar, mostly it was crumbled candy bars, chocolate chips, coconut, sprinkles, stuff like that. They did have mochi nuggets and some kind of red bean paste, though.

[johnb102]

I tried the tart mango and tart blueberry, as well as the sweet capuccino. I thought they were all good, but really liked the tart mango. The $0.49 per oz. price doesn't sound like much, but a few quick shots from the self-serve machine and my total was over $5.50 without any toppings.