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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Cold Stone Creamery's Steve Burk holds a just-made scoop of ice cream, sitting in a fresh-baked waffle cone. Customers' best flavor combinations are featured on Cold Stone's 'Wall of Fame.'
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The Cold Stone truth: make your own flavors
By PAM MARINO
When people look a little bewildered inside the area's newest ice cream store, employees give them what is called "The Cold Stone Truth."
The "Truth" is that Cold Stone Creamery is not your average ice cream store. Far from it. Instead of picking from a preset array of ice cream flavors, customers' get to create their own flavors right on the spot. The company's motto is "If you can dream it, we can ice cream it."
According to Cold Stone's Steve Burk, customers' eyes light up when they catch onto the concept. Customer response to the month-old store has been exciting, Burk said; there is one man who has returned every day since the store opened.
Ice-cream makers at Cold Stone Creamery make a few basic flavors of ice cream and hard-packed frozen yogurt fresh every morning. French vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, peppermint and coffee are always on hand, along with something called "sweet cream."
But thousands of ice cream concoctions are actually available: Employees mix flavorings, fruit and more than 20 dry ingredients into any combination right before the customers' eyes. "It's a new concept in ice cream," Burk said. "We call it 'create your own happiness.'"
Got a hankering for German chocolate cake ice cream? Try chocolate ice cream or yogurt mixed with coconut, brownies (freshly baked in the store), pecans and caramel. What about piña colada? Try the sweet cream mixed with rum flavoring, coconut and pineapple.
"Your favorite flavor is always here," Burk said. The basic flavors of ice cream and yogurt are scooped out with special ice cream spades that look like paddles. The scoop is placed on a piece of granite, kept frozen by a refrigeration unit under the stone. The flavors and additions are mixed in right on the stone.
Then customers can choose between a cup or a fresh-baked waffle cone. For an extra treat, they can choose a waffle cone dipped in chocolate; some dipped cones are also rolled in nuts or sprinkles.
Cold Stone also offers freshly made ice cream cakes and pies.
One of the features of the store is a "Wall of Fame," where customers' best flavor combinations are featured.
The concept for Cold Stone was born in Arizona, and in eight years it has grown from one store to 65. This newest Cold Stone Creamery, located in the Hacienda Center in Sunnyvale, is the first store in Northern California. Two more are expected to open in the East Bay this summer. Burk said the company is looking to franchise more stores in the South Bay in the near future.
In addition to the ice cream, yogurt, cakes and pies, the store offers Chillers, also known as smoothies. Cold Stone also sells sundaes and milk shakes. There's a kids' menu and kids' club that offers free ice cream on birthdays to members. Kid-sized servings, for those 12 and under, are $1.39.
Prices range from $2.49 for a small serving--one mix-in is free--to $3.29 for a large. Additional mix-ins are 49 cents each.
The Cold Stone Creamery is at 757 E. El Camino Real, Sunnyvale, in the Hacienda Center. The phone number is (408) 739-4420. Hours are Sundays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
