| Cloud City Ice Cream | |
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 Theice cream parlor's exterior, 2024 | |
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| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 2011; 14 years ago (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″N122°36′58″W / 45.4795°N 122.6160°W /45.4795; -122.6160 |
| Website | cloudcityicecream |
Cloud City Ice Cream is anice cream parlor inPortland, Oregon, United States. Spouses Bryan and Sarah Gilbert opened the restaurant insoutheast Portland'sWoodstock neighborhood in 2011.
Cloud City Ice Cream is anice cream parlor insoutheast Portland'sWoodstock neighborhood. The menu includesice cream cake,ice cream sandwiches ("Pie Creams"), and the Unicone (asugar cone dipped inwhite chocolate, with ice cream andsprinkles).[1] The Cherry Bomb has tart cherry ice cream and a vanillapie crust. The Malted French Silk has maltedchocolate ice cream and a dark chocolate pie crust. The Snappy Goat ice cream sandwich has lemongoat cheese ice cream with aginger 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 chocolatebutter cake, vanillachiffon cake, caramel ice cream, cinnamonbuttercream, and a dark chocolateglaze. Drink options include coffee (Stumptown Coffee Roasters),hot chocolate,ice cream floats, andmilkshakes.[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 includedbutter 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 withlemon curd.[7] The Sunshine is avegan option and hascardamom,cinnamon,turmeric, and Thaicoconut milk.[8] The Bourbon Vanilla uses Burnside Bourbon and the Chocolate Stout flavor usesHopworks Urban Brewery's Survival Stoutbeer.[9]
Spouses 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 initialpastry chef. The company's logo and business cards were designed by local artist Guita Anderson.[1]
In 2012, Nora Eileen Jones ofWillamette 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 inThe Oregonian's 2018 list of "23 of the best frozen treats from around Portland you need to try this summer".[8] Cloud City ranked first in the best ice cream category of the newspaper's Readers Choice Awards in 2024.[10]
Darcy Schild selected Cloud City for Oregon inBusiness Insider's 2019 list of the best ice cream shops in each U.S. state.[11] Pete Cottell included Cloud City inThrillist'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 andBrooke Jackson-Glidden included Cloud City inEater Portland's 2021 list of "supremely tasty" ice cream, 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.[12]
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 thePortland metropolitan area's top ten ice cream shops, based onYelp reviews for businesses with no more than three locations.[13]
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