I scream you scream
Nationally acclaimed ice cream shop picks The Heights for first Houston location
One of America's most-acclaimed ice cream shops is coming to Houston. Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams will open in The Heights at 375 W. 19th St., a representative tells CultureMap.
Known for its rich, creamy flavors like Gooey Butter Cake, Darkest Chocolate, and Salted Peanut Butter with Chocolate Flakes that are sweet but not too sweet, Jeni's operates dozens of scoop shots in 10 cities across America, including its hometown of Columbus, Ohio; Chicago; Atlanta; Los Angeles; and more. In addition, its ice cream is sold in grocery stores across the country, including locally at select H-E-Bs and Central Markets, and by mail order.
Founder Jeni Britton Bauer, who won a James Beard Award in 2012 for her cookbook Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home, provided a statement about the company's plans in response to CultureMap's request for comment.
We shipped our first online order to Houston back in 2006 … word spread, and over time it became a top market for us. So we have a lot of customers there, and we kept hearing from people: please come to Houston, you need to open in Houston.
We love the energy of The Heights. The food scene is super fun — we like being close to Ford Fry’s restaurants [La Lucha and Superica] whenever we can, if for no other reason than we can eat there more often. I'm excited to be close to Justin Yu's spots [Better Luck Tomorrow and Squable]. The good thing about being surrounded by talent is you can’t help but up your game, and we're looking forward to serving our ice creams in the neighborhood.
In addition to all the savory talent near its location, Jeni's will open near three popular ice cream shops: Fat Cat Creamery, Sweet Bribery, and Cloud 10 Creamery. Houstonians with a sweet tooth will get to decide for themselves which shop serves the most tempting scoops.
The company is unable to confirm an exact timeline for the opening, but, as The Leader recently noted, Jeni's has already applied for building permits with the City of Houston to transform the former Carter & Cooley Company Delicatessen into its first Houston location. Similarly, the company is unable to confirm whether this first location will be followed by others in different parts of Houston.
