Elly's Ice Cream — Restaurant in Bend

Elly's is hands down the best non-chain ice cream in town. But the bar is low, with Goody's the only other option (arguably a chain, and more of a candy shop that happens to make ice cream. Bonta is gelato, which while very tasty, is definitively not ice cream). Bend exists in a weird ice cream desert, a strange fact for a tourist town with hot summers. The opportunity to build a local ice cream brand is enormous; I was hoping Elly's had finally done it.

I'm of the opinion that ice cream shops should be fun. An experience. Full of whimsy. I can buy a tub of ice cream at the store, but the shop has the chance for one-off and local flavors, fresh waffle cones, myriad samples, mixing flavors, zany toppings, served up by goofy high school kids. A local cultural experience, an interactive on-the-go food that adds to that town's identity and your experience of it. Think Amy's Ice Cream of Austin, Cream Bean Berry of Durango, or Salt & Straw of Portland.

Elly's had the chance to come in bold and fill Bend's ice cream void with something daring, fun, unique. Without the competition, they could take risks and be rewarded for that daring and make their mark in the community. They passed all of this up for safety and conformity. The flavors are middle of the road, made in Washington by a contract packager. The shop is situated on the far end of a westside suburb (as much as NW Crossing tries to be Bend). They even surrounded themselves with the ambiance of a modernized airport food court. This is transactional ice cream. It might be good, but you won't remember it, crave it, or tell visiting friends that it's a "must do."

All this to say that while Elly's technically has good ice cream, they lack the other pillars of a local ice cream shop: character, community, creativity. Self-expression stopped after hiring a graphic designer for the logo.

Elly's is an ice cream reseller at a food court in a high end suburb. That's it. Bend's true ice cream shop has still...

I stopped here for ice cream with my partner who has a big sweet tooth. This ice cream was so good I’ve been craving it ever since. Their specialty sundaes are much bigger than I anticipated and I still refused to share with my partner. He got a peanut butter shake that knocked my socks off. I highly recommend Elly’s to anyone who loves ice cream. And they have dairy free options for those...

Elly's Ice Cream helped us plan an ice cream sandwich station bar for our wedding. We did a fun and delicious tasting beforehand where we chose out two cookies and three ice creams and a bunch of toppings. It rained at our wedding and they were very flexible and changed the set up to inside. Everyone commented on how fun and amazing the ice cream sandwiches were!!! Do this at your...