The Penny Ice Creamery | Downtown Santa Cruz — Restaurant in Santa Cruz

I don't come here too often, but when I do it is an enjoyable experience. The lines can sometimes be unpleasantly long, but that is something that happens when you are at a popular location and sell a magnificent product.

I ordered a two scoop in a cone with fluff. The flavors I ordered were mascarpone & hazelnut, and chocolate bergamot.

Like what everyone else says one of the main reasons this place is so popular is their 'fluff' and of course I ordered it with mine as well. As for what their fluff is it is basically just marshmallow creme and burned similar to when you burn marshmallows for s'mores. They put it over whatever your top scoop of ice cream is and use a small torch to burn it. It is very sweet, so if you aren't looking for something sweet and sugary I do not recommend it. I on the other hand like the texture and flavor it adds to the ice cream.

Their waffle cones are also good. They have a nice flavor and crunch to them, which is nice considering some ice cream shops have stale cones. I haven't ever had a stale cone from them myself, mind you I wouldn't recommend a place that sells stale food in general.

I will go ahead and make sure I mention that they rotate their ice cream options/flavors fairly often, and may not have what you liked on a previous visit the next visit. I believe this can be a good thing, but sometimes it is a bit of a let down. That being said their flavors are generally pretty good, and often intriguing. This also encourages you to explore more flavors then going with 'the usual' sometimes you discover something even better this way.

As for the flavors I ordered, Chocolate Bergamot and Mascarpone & Hazelnut, I enjoyed both quite a bit. I do not think the two flavors mesh well exactly, but they were the flavors I wanted at the time.

The chocolate bergamot had an interesting sour and sweet taste. I found the sourness in this flavor of ice cream to make the flavor much more enjoyable, and more creative then using raspberry for a similar effect. The texture of it was closer to the creamy side of things rather than ice-y. I do feel the flavor would have been slightly better with a more bitter chocolate, but this form of it is better for not aiming too deep into the niche. I believe the flavor contrasts did well enough with how they made it mind you I am just sharing my 2 cents on what may have made it slightly better. Again I did order the fluff, so there was added sweetness to it, but when I tested it on its own I still felt that way. I would probably be willing to order this flavor again.

The mascarpone & hazelnut was a simple, but enjoyable flavor. I adore hazelnut in general, and believe that mascarpone has a mild enough flavor that it wouldn't detract from the other flavor I ordered. Hazelnuts also go well with chocolate in general, which is part of why I wanted both. As for what the two flavors, mascarpone and hazelnut, combined was like it was a delicate yet strong enough to stand out flavor. The texture was creamy with a quite few crunches from actual crushed hazelnuts, which they did not skimp out on. I was of course satisfied by this ice cream.

The service was friendly and patient, and were okay with basically everyone in my group trying various flavors of their ice cream. They also made some recommendations when asked, and were patient and kind while explaining what certain flavors were. They also did not portray themselves as being overwhelmed despite having so many customers before and after us, which is something I appreciate.

I definitely feel this place is worth visiting again, but I feel bad for the people who visit with the over-hyping some people give it. It is a great place without a doubt, but living up to a fantasy is difficult. I believe it can stand toe to toe with various great ice cream shops, but it is not undisputed. That being said this is one of the two ice cream shops I recommend to people who visit Santa Cruz to try while...

shop with a small but mighty selection of delicious ice cream! I dropped by The Penny Ice Creamery after seeing it on a list of must-try spots in Santa Cruz, and I can absolutely see why it’s so popular! They have a small set of daily flavors — just twelve — but every single one is outstanding. The ice cream is rich, creamy, and not overly sweet, and I love how unique some of their flavors are. Between the four of us, we split the blackberry sorbet, sour cream and chocolate with strawberry, coffee and almond praline, and honey vanilla pluot. Literally every single scoop was outstanding, but my favorites had to be the coffee and sour cream. The coffee had a really strong coffee flavor, and I loved the extra bit of crunch and nuttiness from the almond praline. The sour cream, chocolate, and strawberry sounds like a bit of an odd combo at first, but I was shocked by how much I loved it — it was tart, fruity, and chocolately, and they had just the right amount of every ingredient so that they melded together harmoniously and no individual item overwhelmed the others. The sorbet was also delightful and fruity — although it was a smidge too icy — and the honey vanilla pluot was delicious when I managed to get bites of pluot, but the fruit was slightly unevenly distributed throughout. The team is super friendly and will let you sample any flavors you want as well, which makes the choice of flavor...

10 STARS. 😭 This shop is just iconic. Adorable storefront, kind, peppy and eager-to-help staff, amaaaazing ice cream, all while firmly adhering to covid safety protocols! At one point, they very gently advised that, even just to taste - - even if only for a moment! - - we were not able to remove our masks while inside. Very fair. It's a small space, accommodating (with distance) maybe five guests at a time. I appreciated their commitment to safety even when it meant an uncomfy conversation.

But for the main event: The flavors are super true to what they are. There is not a hint of the taste of artifice anywhere. Organic, freshly made, real ingredients combined to make bold and unforgettable flavors... I think I just had ice cream for the first time in my life going here! Everything else pales in comparison. Truly. We don't live anywhere remotely near, but my family unanimously agreed that The Penny alone was worth the drive. - - And coming from my ice-cream-averse mom, that was really saying something! She always makes it clear to us all that if (not when) she goes along for an ice cream stop, it's strictly for the rest of us and she'd rather have almost literally anything else at all. Haha. And yet, even she said she'd go out of her way to come back, with a satisfied "see? Now this is what all ice cream is supposed to taste like. Then maybe I'd like it!...