PHOENIX (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 There are a lot of great ice cream shops in Arizona, but there\u2019s one getting national attention.<\/p>\n
Novel Ice Cream<\/a> was just ranked the top ice cream shop in the country by Yelp. Arizona\u2019s Family stopped by the cute little ice cream shop in downtown Mesa on Tuesday to get the scoop on why customers keep coming back.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t been here before,\u201d said customer Mykel Lott. \u201cBut the flavors really caught my eye.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s one of the best ice creams I\u2019ve had,\u201d said 11-year-old Mackenzie Mecham.<\/p>\n Owner Shawn Allard said it\u2019s pretty cool that his local, family-owned business is getting so much buzz, with more and more customers stopping by to try their unique, hand-crafted ice cream.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople can genuinely tell that we put a lot of effort into our ice cream,\u201d said Allard. \u201cThey can taste the flavor and the consistency.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Allard, they offer 250 different flavors<\/a>, but only serve 12 a day, allowing their ice cream chef to make them fresh every morning, paying extra attention to texture and toppings.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t try to go too out of the box with crazy, crazy flavors, but the most popular one is bourbon caramel toffee crunch,\u201d said Allard. \u201cCookie monster is unique because it is blue, so it will turn your mouth blue.\u201d<\/p>\n The most popular and talked-about treat is the dough melt, which stuffs a scoop of your favorite ice cream between a warm, sweet glazed doughnut.<\/p>\n The first Novel ice cream shop opened eight years ago, and there are now three locations in Phoenix, Peoria and Mesa. They\u2019ve found a way to thrive while other small businesses struggle, despite only offering walk-up window service.<\/p>\n Allard believes that having a great product and a strong presence on social media is key to their success.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough social media and community events and being in business long enough, it tends to help you continue to grow,\u201d said Allard.<\/p>\n Customers are not surprised that Novel was ranked number one in the country.<\/p>\n \u201cI would recommend it,\u201d said Sierra Cummins.<\/p>\n For more details on the different locations and business hours, click\/tap here<\/a>.<\/p>\n See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it<\/a>.<\/p>\n