Salt & Straw Now Scooping Ice Cream (and Bugs) at Disneyland

Kiss those mouse-shaped ice cream bars goodbye, because strangely delicious scoops have finally arrived at Disneyland. Portland-based chain Salt & Straw opened its sixteenth shop in Anaheim’s Downtown Disney district this morning, bringing its signature wood-carved interiors and savory flavors to the Dole Whip-loving palettes of Disneyland visitors.

Known for unexpected flavor combinations like Black Olive Brittle & Goat Cheese and Strawberry Honey Balsamic with Black Pepper, the new Disneyland location will also be the only scoop shop to offer Pots of Gold & Rainbows, a cereal-steeped sweet milk and Lucky Charms marshmallows mash up.

The Anaheim shop will serve twelve of the company’s classic flavors in all, but there’s more: candy-coated bugs. Salt & Straw’s three Halloween-themed scoops will be on offer when the shop debuts, including Creepy Crawly Critters, a matcha ice cream with coconut toffee-brittle mealworms and dark chocolate-covered crickets, giving those Oogie Boogie vibes from down the block a realistic bend. (Care for extra protein on your more pedestrian scoops? Opt for “Crittles”, the sugary mealworm brittle, as a delightful Nightmare Before Christmas-y topping.)

Jakob Layman

Like Salt & Straw’s other West Coast locations, Downtown Disney’s new scoop shop was also designed by Andee Hess of Osmose Design, the firm behind Portland’s Q Restaurant and Small Tea in Miami. The location, with its sculpted fixtures, wooden door pulls and rustic take on ice cream parlors’ red-and-white stripe motif, is marked by a 14-foot hand-carved wooden ice cream totem — an unexpectedly artisanal touch, considering the literal fantasyland of Disney’s theme park decor.

Located in Downtown Disney, the dining and shopping district just beyond the entrance to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, the new dessert spot will also sell small marketplace goods (Marshall’s Farm honey, Theo chocolate) and offer a grab-and-go pint freezer for hotel room indulgences from 10 a.m. to midnight, daily. Don’t worry about admission, either — the outdoor mall-like area is open to the public, no ticket required.

Salt & Straw is just the first of three banner openings at Downtown Disney. Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer as well as Ballast Point, which will include Disney’s first on-site brewery, are expected to open in the coming months.

Salt & Straw at Downtown Disney. 1550 Disneyland Drive E-103A, Anaheim, CA.

• 22 Outstanding Ice Cream and Gelato Shops in Los Angeles, Summer 2018 [ELA]

Jakob Layman