Eugenian ice cream lovers can officially rejoice with the grand opening of Oregon based ice cream company, Salt & Straw. You can find this delicious ice cream at the Oakway Center, located next to P.F. Changs and Sephora. Be prepared to wait in line, as Salt & Straw has quickly become a Eugene hotspot with many customers excited to try the creative flavors.
The scoop shop opened April 8 at 11 a.m., and the first 100 customers were given free T-shirts that read “I believe in ice cream and the Ducks.”
Eugene has been a target location for Salt & Straw for some time now. Salt & Straw’s CEO and co-founder Kim Malek said in a press release, “It’s always been a dream to open a shop in Eugene, and we’re so excited to see this location come to fruition.”
Additionally, Salt & Straw already collaborates with a few local Eugene businesses such as Red Ape Cinnamon and Singing Dog Vanilla for some of their ice cream flavors.
Some of Salt & Straw’s classic flavors include: sea salt with caramel ribbons, double fold vanilla, honey lavender, arbequina olive oil and cinnamon snickerdoodle. They also provide two vegan flavors for customers with dietary restrictions — freckled mint chocolate chip and marionberry coconut sherbet.
Salt & Straw also offers some unique and delicious monthly flavors on their menu. Some of these flavors include: rhubarb crumble with toasted anise, jasmine milk tea & chocolate almond stracciatella and saffron & honey with crystalized flower petals. These wonderful flavors are part of The Flower Power Series, a collection of flavors dedicated to spring.
Customers can order any of their flavors in a single scoop, double scoop, waffle cone or milkshake. If you can’t decide which flavors to order, try a split scoop or even a flight of ice cream. Or, do what I did and just take home an entire pint of lavender honey and sea salt w/ caramel ribbons to enjoy throughout the week.
I visited Salt & Straw on a rainy afternoon and was impressed to see customers enjoying their ice cream out on the Salt & Straw patio.
“I think their flavors are unique and inventive, and I like that they want you to taste all of them,” customer Chris Eilers said. “I also like that they use high quality ingredients.”
Another customer, Lucy Zammarelli, stood on the patio with Eilers and a group of friends. “The ice cream’s really great. I’m having the two vegan ones,” Zammarelli said.
Additionally, there’s much more to be purchased at Salt & Straw besides ice cream. On display you can find cookbooks, ice cream scoops, candles, sprinkles and tumblers, along with much more merchandise online.
One of the first things I noticed when entering the scoop shop was the heavenly smell of sugar and chocolate that filled the air. The Salt & Straw employees were more than friendly and encouraged me to taste test different flavors before settling on an ice cream. I came for a scoop, and I left with two pints.
Another unique feature they offer is a monthly subscription service which lets customers pick their choice of ice cream flavors to be delivered to their house. Customers can pick their pints from the monthly flavors, bestsellers or keep it a surprise.
This new ice cream shop is perfect for the local and college community in Eugene and definitely lives up to the hype. I encourage everyone to visit and give those creative and unique flavors a try!
