There's something about Cleveland small businesses between December 23-mid January...a lot of them close. And while I understand the need for (presumably) well-deserved time off, it's really frustrating for a potential customer to check out three local businesses (all sweets businesses /cupcakeries of sorts) to find they are ALL closed for another few days. But that's nothing to do with Ice Cream Joy, as it worked out in their favor a few days ago!
I rolled into Ice Cream Joy at 4:30pm on a particularly cold Wednesday with one thing in mind: to bring delicious treats to my brother's house (and for my little nieces). Inside, Ice Cream Joy is pretty adorable. You'll find a smattering of kid-friendly table set ups, bright walls, and a small but well-edited selection of ice creams and sorbets near the back. The selection of artisan ice creams ranged from classic to quirky and plenty of vegan options: Cinnamon Sugar, Coconut Almond Dark Chocolate, Paved Road, Roasted Black Sesame & Seaweed, Strawberry Dark Chocolate Balsamic. I sampled the coconut almond dark chocolate and the paved road and both were equally delicious.
They have other offerings like artisan soft pretzels, ice cream muffins, and *crazy good* ice cream sandwiches. You know the ice cream sandwiches I'm talking about - the type in which the cookie is nice and soft to the point where it almost feels like eating raw cookie dough. Damn right.
Pro tip #1: Closed Tuesdays and Thursdays
Pro tip #2: Every day from 2-6pm is ice cream happy hour where you'll score $1 off every frozen treat.