Thursday, February 9, 2017

Sweet Charlie's Hopes Atlanta Will "Just Roll With It"

Rolled ice cream is headed to Buckhead   

Sweet Charlie’s, a Philadelphia-based rolled ice cream and yogurt franchise, has signed a lease for a new location in Atlanta.  The new 1,300 square foot shop will open at Buckhead Court on Roswell Road, adjacent to Superica in north Buckhead.  Sweet Charlie's will open in the current home of Stellar Bodies, a fitness boutique, which is shifting to the former Peachtree Gymnastics, a 2,100 square foot space in the same center.     

After watching a video about the overseas trend of Thai-inspired rolled ice cream, 19-year-old entrepreneur Kyle Billig teamed up with his older brother Jacob and figured out a way to duplicate and Americanize the fascinating treat.  The first   Sweet Charlie's location opened last summer in the Washington Square neighborhood of Philadelphia.      

"It starts with a base of either premium ice cream, nonfat yogurt or Nada-Moo,  the company’s vegan [coconut milk base] option. Customers then select a cup or one of Sweet Charlie’s signature oven-baked glazed donuts as an ice cream-carrying container and finally, one of Sweet Charlie’s signature flavors and toppings.  Each ice cream or frozen yogurt at Sweet Charlie’s is made to order on a super-cold surface that is below 20 degrees. Because the surface is so cold, very small ice crystals are formed quickly, eliminating the need to add stabilizers, emulsifiers and preservatives."      

The company's online menu indicates that a standard order, either in a cup or in an oven baked donut, costs $7, with unlimited toppings and indcluding tax.     

Another Sweet Charlie's is planned for nearby Rittenhouse Square in in Philadephia the coming months.  According to the company’s website, they also operate a seasonal location at Rehoboth Beach, DE.  The website also indicates there is another franchised unit coming to Cherry Hill, NJ later this spring.      

Sweet Charlie's Atlanta, which will be among the first franchised units, is expected to open early summer.    

Long a popular dessert in Thailand,  rolled ice cream has become trendy stateside with many businesses popping up offering the Instagram-ready treats.     

8 Fahrenheit Ice Cream has locations open in Doraville, Duluth and Cumming with locations coming soon to Carrollton and Houston, Texas as well as Sacramento, California.    (A location planned for Barrrett Parkway in Kennesaw was to open last summer but never did and is not mentioned on the company's website.)  

I-CE NY, based in Thailand but with U.S. headquarters in New York, opened its first location New York's Greenwich Village in 2015 followed by additional locations in Doraville on Buford Highway, Delray Beach, Florida, Philadelphia and others in the works.     

Roll It Up Ice Cream, another "me-too" operator, plans to open soon in Asian Square on Buford Highway, home to the original Sweet Hut.     

Are you excited for rolled ice cream to be coming to Buckhead?  Have you ever tried rolled ice cream?  Where else would you like to see Sweet Charlie's open in metro Atlanta?   
Please share your thoughts below.    

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

So it would seem 8° Fahrenheit Ice Cream is the original purveyor of this type of Ice Cream in Atlanta. I stumbled on the Buford Highway location which is in a new 2 story retail building. It has a nice room with good outdoor seating that is not overlooking a parking lot, the Ice Cream is very good and it appears to be locally owned and authentic.

Atlantan99 said...

@Anon RE: 8° Fahrenheit,

I never like to do this and hate to sound accusatory but that comment sounds like you own / manage or are otherwise invested in 8° Fahrenheit, and not just Joe Schmo customer. I'd ask that if you are involved, you either refrain from making such comments or be transparent about your involvement.

Thank you.

Anonymous said...

@Anon RE: 8° Fahrenheit,

The restaurant is the corner unit on the lower level and it definitely overlooks the parking lot. Just pull up street view in Google Maps.

Anonymous said...

Ha! I am not related to 8 Fahrenheit and have never been there, but my daughters, who are 14 and 12 talk about it all the time, say it is good and go there with their friends. I wouldn't mind trying it myself (or any of the other rolled ice cream models).

396 said...

I'm glad someone else noticed that - a thinly veiled ad for a competing business disguised as strangely, comically specific criticism. Capitalizing "ice cream" was also a dead giveaway.

Anonymous said...

Ice ny was there t least a year longer than 8'

Anonymous said...

This blog is not inviting or inclusive of all opinions and/or comments?

InAtl said...

I wrote the original comment that sounds like someone with an interest in the Farenheit wrote it. Sorry, it sounded that way. I'm just a fan of Buford Highway and locally owned businesses but I have no ownership, family, financial or other interest in thwe place. As to the parking lot. Yes the front door over looks the parking lot but the outdoor seating is on the other side in a semi landscaped area between the building and Buford hifhway

InAtl said...

Sorry, yea there is a parking lot on the seating side and that grassy are sure looks a lot smaller than I remembered it

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