Who’s cooler: The Ice Cream Shack or Paradis?
Collage by Easton Clark, Photo Editor
The Orange Circle is a dream location for an ice cream shop. It’s bustling with foot traffic, and the charming surroundings give businesses automatic appeal. The walkable distance from the freshman dorms makes any business a potential target for awkward first dates, making these frozen treats perhaps the most lucrative small business venture.
Fortunately for Chapman students, great minds think alike. The Orange Circle welcomes not one, but two new ice cream shops for local dessert enthusiasts.
The Ice Cream Shack is an independently-owned ice cream shop with traditional Mexican influence that came to The Circle on April 4. In addition to the classic array of ice cream flavors, waffle cones and milkshakes, they also offer “frozen goodies” such as ice cream sandwiches, shaved ice, smoothies, banana splits, mangoneadas and chamoy options.
The front counter also showed off a collection of housemade popsicles and frozen bananas, with an extensive list of flavors ranging from the traditional chocolate and mango to more original flavors such as cheesecake, mint or bubble gum.
“Ice cream has been in my family forever. My grandpa opened his first shop in 1990, in my hometown in Mexico,” the owner Jorge Prado said. “Then, my family got the opportunity to open their own stores in the U.S. … I was in fifth grade, and I was working there every single day.”
Prado has taken his family’s original recipes for flavors such as vanilla, strawberry and “abuelita chocolate,” and added his own personal twist. In addition to the classics, the Ice Cream Shack offers modern flavors, including the now iconic Dubai chocolate.
Dairy-free options include strawberry, mango, lemon and watermelon. I can personally recommend the strawberries-and-cream flavor, as well as the original tres leches recipe, which includes bits of galletas de mantequillas (butter cookies).
The Ice Cream Shack is located across the street from The District Lounge, in the building that was previously Ojai Burger. They have tables and counter seating indoors, and outdoor seating at a charming shared patio with Wahoo’s. They’re open every day from noon to 10 p.m.
Paradis is a Denmark-originated, Southern Californian chain that prides itself on its premium-grade quality, opening their newest location in the Circle on April 26. The taste is influenced by various Danish and Mediterranean flavors, resulting in a product “richer than gelato but lighter than ice cream,” as their tagline boasts.
Novelties besides the ice cream flavors include milkshakes, acai bowls, banana splits and floats, with their specialty being their extensive coffee bar with local-roasted coffee beans. The coffee bar offers a customizable range of the classics, as well as dessert options such as the affogato or the Old Town Orange iced latte.
They offer elevated classics such as sea salted caramel and peanut butter cup, as well as more unique flavors such as baklava and ashta. In line with these pistachio-based flavors, Paradis is also a perpetrator of the Dubai chocolate trend. The parlor serves a variety of plant-based options such as coconut chip and mango, lemon and strawberry sorbets. I can personally vouch for the tastiness of the taro and speculoos cookie butter options.
Paradis is located next to the CigarSpots Shop, in the space previously occupied by the old Orange Plaza Barbershop. There is no indoor or outdoor seating, and they are open every day from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Both locations offer one scoop of ice cream for $6, but Paradis pulls ahead in cost with additional scoops. At The Ice Cream Shack, the novelties range from $5.25 for popsicles to $14 for the banana split. Paradis’s novelties are slightly more expensive, with about a 50-cent difference for milkshakes and ice cream sandwiches. The coffee bar’s prices are all under $5, with the ice cream specialties set at $9.
With such a small variation in price difference, it comes down to a matter of personal preference in flavor and style. The Ice Cream Shack offers a relaxed setting to hang out with friends and cool down with a popsicle, whereas Paradis is suitable to impress the more experienced ice cream connoisseur. The only way to fully settle the debate will be to hear who the people of Orange decide reigns as the ice cream champion.