Week 127: Paradise Yogurt

Week 127: June 1st-7th, 2025

As per usual, the monotony of the work week was made tolerable only by the small relief of the weekend and the promise of a sweet treat. After my friend Kassidy moved into her new, gorgeous apartment at The Village Mission Valley (it is practically a mini city!), I dropped off a housewarming gift, washed my car, and ran some errands. This wore me out enough to be horizontal for a few hours until after dinnertime.

This week's sweet treat was made possible by Paradise Yogurt next to the Ralph's in Mission Valley. It's a corner unit in the main shopping center, but for some reason its easy to miss in the chaos of a busy parking lot.

The outside of Paradise Yogurt

I've driven past the building countless times and never thought to check it out until my boyfriend mentioned it. We had to counterbalance the healthiness of our dinner of chicken and salad with something a little unhealthy. Just for fun.

A handmade sign out front

We were greeted by a handmade chalkboard sign out front and a shelf full of books as we walked inside.

A free book exchange at Paradise Yogurt!

It was pretty empty inside, so we explored a bit and tried to make sense of their many menu offerings. I stole this next photo off of the Paradise Yogurt Yelp page (Thanks, Ricky T.!), so you can kind of get the idea.

(From Yelp) The many menus at Paradise Yogurt

A very nice young woman came from the back and offered to help with anything we wanted to taste or if we had any questions. I was torn between a smoothie, a cup of frozen yogurt, or, the naughtiest option, a "hurricane." I assume it is similar to Dairy Queen's Blizzard, but that is obviously trademarked.

My boyfriend got a mini size cup of the low-fat chocolate fudge delight flavor. I, on the other hand, got a hurricane. I wasn't sure which flavor, but the woman behind the counter recommended the "Peanut Butter Lover," a delicious mix of peanut butter yogurt, Reese's Pieces, and peanut butter cups. I went looking for a little unhealthy treat, and this one did not disappoint.

My Peanut Butter Lover Hurricane from Paradise Yogurt

I could barely finish my hurricane, but not because it wasn't delicious. I was just getting really full. It was everything I wanted in that moment, but I'm not sure if I would have ordered it myself without the recommendation from the woman working. I think I should take more recommendations when I go to new places. Its almost like she knew what I wanted, even before I did. My peanut butter hurricane was the perfect indulgence after a long work week.

According to their website, Paradise Yogurt was established in 1990 and was "the first to introduce frozen vegan gluten-free soft-serve, dietary soft-serves, creamy tart yogurt, unique ACAI bowl recipes and other more healthy but great-tasting products to the San Diego area." I'm not sure how I would verify that, but I believe them. It did feel like a family owned business and I was happy to support them, even if our total was around $16 for just two items... If I'm going to be spending my money somewhere, at least it is at a small local business like Paradise Yogurt. I definitely want to return to try some of their other many offerings, and maybe to participate in the book exchange.

See you next week.