Cloud City Ice Cream is an ice cream parlor in Portland, Oregon.
Cloud City Ice Cream | |
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![]() The ice cream parlor's exterior, 2024 | |
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Restaurant information | |
Established | 2011 |
Owner(s) | Bryan and Sarah Gilbert |
Pastry chef | Andrea Bowers |
Food type | |
Street address | 4525 Southeast Woodstock Boulevard |
City | Portland |
County | Multnomah |
State | Oregon |
Postal/ZIP Code | 97206 |
Country | United States |
Coordinates | 45°28′46″N 122°36′58″W / 45.4795°N 122.6160°W |
Website | cloudcityicecream |
Description
editCloud City Ice Cream is an ice cream parlor in southeast Portland's Woodstock neighborhood. The menu includes ice cream cake, ice cream sandwiches ("Pie Creams"), and the Unicone (a sugar cone dipped in white chocolate, with ice cream and sprinkles).[1] The Cherry Bomb has tart cherry ice cream and a vanilla pie crust. The Malted French Silk has malted chocolate ice cream and a dark chocolate pie crust. The Snappy Goat ice cream sandwich has lemon goat cheese ice cream with a ginger snap pie crust.[1]
Ice cream cakes have included the Ginger Pumpkin Chai, the Malted Chocolate Cherry Bomb, and the Mexican Coca-Cola Cake, which has dark chocolate butter cake, vanilla chiffon cake, caramel ice cream, cinnamon buttercream, and a dark chocolate glaze. Drink options include coffee (Stumptown Coffee Roasters), hot chocolate, ice cream floats, and milkshakes.[1] Waffle cones are made on site.[2]
The Stumptown (coffee) ice cream flavor was the most popular, as of 2012.[3] Other ice cream flavors have included butter pecan, cookies and cream, honey lavender,[2] pistachio,[4] sea salt cookie dough,[5] Grilled Peach Sweet Tea, and Sasquatch Tracks. Circus Friends has Mother's Circus Animal Cookies and sweet cream,[6] and Totes Ma'Goats has goat cheese ice cream with lemon curd.[7] The Sunshine is a vegan option and has cardamom, cinnamon, turmeric, and Thai coconut milk.[8] The Bourbon Vanilla uses Burnside Bourbon and the Chocolate Stout flavor uses Hopworks Urban Brewery's Survival Stout beer.[9]
History
editSpouses Bryan and Sarah Gilbert opened Cloud City Ice Cream in 2011. The business replaced Chill Ice Cream, which was sold following the deaths of the owners earlier in the year.[1] The ice cream parlor Surf Shack operated in the same space prior to Chill Ice Cream.[3] Andrea Bowers was Cloud City's initial pastry chef. The company's logo and business cards were designed by local artist Guita Anderson.[1]
Reception
editIn 2012, Nora Eileen Jones of Willamette Week said of the chocolate stout ice cream with Hopworks, "It was insanely good and surprisingly refreshing for a chocolate ice cream—the stout in the mixture added some tiny yet welcome ice crystals to the thick confection. It's a very mature flavor, with more rich darkness to it than your average chocolate ice cream."[3] Lizzy Acker recommended the Totes Ma'Goats and Sunshine flavors in The Oregonian's 2018 list of "23 of the best frozen treats from around Portland you need to try this summer".[8]
Darcy Schild selected Cloud City for Oregon in Business Insider's 2019 list of the best ice cream shops in each U.S. state.[10] Pete Cottell included Cloud City in Thrillist's 2019 list of Portland's "most essential spots" for ice cream. He said the business was "perhaps the newest superstar in the Portland ice cream scene" and wrote, "It's rare that a nouveau riche ice cream boutique manages to impress both adults and children in equal measure, but Cloud City continually knocks it out of the park for tastes that are at once juvenile, sophisticated, and that weird grey area in between."[7] Michelle Lopez and Brooke Jackson-Glidden included Cloud City in Eater Portland's 2021 list of "Where to Find Supremely Tasty Ice Cream in Portland", writing:
Those craving nostalgic flavors like cookies n' cream and chocolate chip cookie dough head directly for Cloud City when the time comes. This Woodstock spot balances memorable classics with kid-friendly touches, like ice cream studded with frosted animal cracker cookies and red velvet mascarpone cake. Although Cloud City is located within a nondescript strip mall parking lot, plenty of families still take advantage of its outdoor seating, making the shop a lively neighborhood staple.[11]
The website's Nathan Williams recommended Cloud City in a 2022 overview of eateries in the Woodstock neighborhood.[2] KOIN included Cloud City in a 2023 list of the Portland metropolitan area's top ten ice cream shops, based on Yelp reviews for businesses with no more than three locations.[12]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Groff, Elizabeth Ussher (November 23, 2011). "New name and owners for Woodstocks ice cream shop". The Bee. Pamplin Media Group. Archived from the original on February 2, 2022. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
- ^ a b c Williams, Nathan (2022-02-02). "Where to Eat and Drink in Portland's Woodstock Neighborhood". Eater Portland. Vox Media. Archived from the original on 2022-02-02. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
- ^ a b c Jones, Nora Eileen (2012-07-12). "Scoops' out for Summer: Day 21". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on 2022-02-02. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
- ^ Stevenson, Jen (2017-04-18). Portland Family Adventures: City Escapades, Day Trips, Weekend Getaways, and Itineraries for Fun-Loving Families. Sasquatch Books. ISBN 978-1-63217-100-9. Archived from the original on 2022-02-02. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
- ^ Jackson-Glidden, Brooke (2020-05-08). "Where to Find Ice Cream in Portland Right Now". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2022-01-15. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
- ^ Hamilton, Katherine Chew (2021-05-29). "Cool Off with These Icy Treats Now". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on 2021-07-15. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
- ^ a b Cottell, Pete (August 20, 2019). "Portland's Most Essential Spots For Every Kind of Ice Cream". Thrillist. Group Nine Media. Archived from the original on 2022-01-20. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
- ^ a b Acker, Lizzy (2018-07-25). "Here are 23 of the best frozen treats from around Portland you need to try this summer". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on 2020-11-09. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
- ^ Lee, Julie (2016-06-14). "Five Favorite Ice Cream Makers in Portland". 1859. OCLC 489252235. Archived from the original on 2021-04-21. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
- ^ Schild, Darcy (2019-07-10). "The best ice cream shop in every state". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2022-02-02. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
- ^ Lopez, Michelle (2015-06-26). "Where to Find Supremely Tasty Ice Cream in Portland". Eater Portland. Archived from the original on 2021-10-20. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
- ^ Arden, Amanda (2023-05-16). "Try these top-10 Portland-area ice cream spots when temps climb". KOIN.com. Retrieved 2023-05-16.
External links
edit- Media related to Cloud City Ice Cream at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
- Cloud City Ice Cream at Zomato