For Week 4 of National Ice Cream Month the focus is on two shops that are both on Peoria Ave East of the 101. One’s in an unremarkable corner mall and the other operates out of a permanently placed food truck. Despite these humble locations and appearances, they are worth a stop. Pinky promise - your taste buds will say thank you!
ICED OUT
This shop is very modern, streamlined, and clean with its self ordering system and white decor. Staff make the ice cream and wafflecones right there so you know it’s fresh. The waffle cones here are unique in two ways - they are in the shape of fish, and they come placed on top of the ice cream. What really matters though is that they are super tasty!
There are soft serve ice creams, shaved ice, crepes and more. The ice cream comes in bright, kid friendly colors and, as a whimsical touch, the spoons are the kind that change color when they are cold. Try to remember to bring yours home and wash it so you can get a couple more uses out of it before it gets tossed!
Pictured is the Matcha and Vanilla soft serve and the Dragon Fruit shaved ice with Vanilla soft serve in the middle. (Yes, vanilla is yellow here.) As you can see, the portions are pretty generous!
If this shop is not near your normal errand running territory, you’ll be happy to learn that there’s much to do in the area. There’s a Harbor Freight and one of the larger sized Dollar Trees just steps away. Iced Out is half hidden behind a Ono Hawaiian BBQ restaurant if you wanted to get lunch first. Across the street is The Rush, in case the kids need a place to burn off the sugar they just enjoyed having the ice cream.
Iced Out is at 6750 W Peoria Ave. Ste. 105 in Peoria.
NOVEL ICE CREAM TRUCK
At the beginning of July, Yelp published a list of the top 100 ice cream shops in the US as their way to celebrate National Ice Cream Month. You will be pleasantly surprised to learn that Ice cream shop #1 for All Of America just happens to be right here!!!!!!! Novel Ice Cream has 3 locations in the greater Phoenix area and one of them, operated out of a food truck, is in downtown/old town Peoria about 5 minutes from the 101 freeway.
Dough Melts are part of what put them on the top of Yelp’s list. It’s a warmed glazed doughnut stuffed with the ice cream flavor of your choice plus one of 15 toppings. Talk about Heaven on earth!
Another reason for their top ranking is the quality and flavors of the ice cream. The Honey Lavender ice cream REALLY tastes like honey and lavender, not just something sweet and creamy. Flavors range from standards like Chocolate and Butter Pecan, to more unique offerings like Mimosa and Cookie Monster! Novel Ice Cream can satisfy kids and adults.
At the Peoria location, you can also order affogato, thanks to some neighborly cooperation between Novel Ice Cream Truck and another independent business, Driftwood Coffee, the coffee shop next door. They have a "novel" system where you get Novel’s ice cream and then head to Driftwood Coffee where they will add the espresso (at no charge). Because of the high quality products at both businesses, it’s a coffee lover’s delight.
Once you have thoroughly enjoyed the ice cream and somehow resisted the urge to get seconds, there are some places to explore all within about 3 minutes of a walk. You are there, so why not!
- Right behind the truck is a playground with tables to eat at. (Currently there’s some construction fencing blocking the view from the sidewalk but it’s there, just walk around and you'll see the play area pictured below.)
- Check out Driftwood Coffee! It's 15 steps to the left of the ice cream truck and has a relaxed vintage vibe. https://www.driftwoodaz.com/
- At the corner to the north west is an art gallery that might be open when you are there.
- Across the street for the art gallery is a public park that has some super unique play equipment for the kids. The equipment is not the expected playset but a set of bells, drums, and other percussion instruments that are great fun to experiment with.
The best ice cream in America, literally, is waiting for you at 8295 W. Jefferson St., in Peoria!
Interesting Ice Cream Related Fact:
Ever wonder what exactly is going on with Brain Freeze? Here’s your answer - Brain freeze happens when you eat ice cream or other cold foods so quickly that the blood vessels in your head expand suddenly to increase blood flow and help warm up your mouth. The result is a temporary headache.
