Eclectic Portland-based ice cream shop Salt & Straw expanding to midtown Sacramento
Salt & Straw, the popular Portland-based ice cream brand known for its eclectic flavors, will expand to Sacramento in 2022, a company spokesperson confirmed to The Sacramento Bee.
The ice cream shop will land in midtown Sacramento’s Ice Blocks mixed-use project, developer Michael Heller told The Bee on Saturday. It’ll neighbor the new See’s Candies in a 900-square-foot unit at 1710 R St. and should open around late spring or early summer, Heller said.
“It’s a highly imaginative, creative menu of ice creams. It’s not just the normal ones, it’s pretty far-out stuff,” Heller said.
Co-founders and cousins Kim and Tyler Malek created Salt & Straw in Kim’s basement before opening their first store in 2011. Salt & Straw has since expanded to 20 locations, including four in the Bay Area, four in Los Angeles, two in San Diego and one in Anaheim.
Salt & Straw has developed an ardent following thanks to its unusual flavor combinations and ever-rotating selection. Consistent options include honey lavender, arbequina olive oil and pear with bleu cheese in addition to more traditional flavors like chocolate gooey brownie and cinnamon snickerdoodle.
Friends and professional contacts at brands such as Shake Shack, Philz Coffee and Mendocino Farms had spoken well about midtown Sacramento and the Ice Blocks, Kim Malek said. Then about a year ago, Salt & Straw asked social media followers where they should expand next. Sacramento was by far the most common request, Kim said.
“What I’ve noticed when I’ve gone to other (Salt & Straw) stores is the lines and crowds are really long. People are really happy to be going there,” Heller said. “It gives people joy, and we can use that these days. Anything that brings that draw and happiness to the Ice Blocks sounds like a winner to me.”
Salt & Straw debuts five or six special flavors each month in addition to a dozen constants; January’s include chocolate hazelnut cupcake and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Those flavors might riff on a theme, like Thanksgiving dishes, or reflect a partnership, like a “Rad Readers” launch with Scholastic Inc. Cream comes from Chino-based Scott Brothers Dairy, though Salt & Straw makes several dairy-free options as well.
Bay Area-specific flavors once incorporated Cowgirl Creamery cheese with toasted Acme bread or Breakaway matcha with black raspberry, and Sacramento may one day have its own regional options as Salt & Straw partners with local chefs, Tyler said. Regardless, customers are encouraged to sample the different offerings and ask their scoopers questions.
“There’s this idea of taking people on an adventure through flavors, and something really important about that dialogue that happens as you’re going through a tasting,” Tyler Malek said. “We’re creating this indulgent space so people can learn and hopefully have a lot of fun with their tasting.”
Heller also confirmed women’s clothing store Anthropologie will fill the Ice Block’s last major retail space next to Creamy’s by Cayla Jordan, a local cupcake shop. That brings the development to 100% retail capacity following the December reopening of Frank, a bar that shut down for multiple months in fall 2021.
This story was originally published January 9, 2022 at 7:53 AM.