Business Name : Cowlick's Ice Cream Cafe
Category & Type : Restaurants > Ice Cream Shops
Location : 250 N Main Street , Fort Bragg CA
Phone : 707-962-9271
Email : info@cowlicksicecream.com

Description : Handmade Ice Cream Makes Sweet Memories

Remember outings to the Mendocino Ice Cream Company, or the Green Parrot? Well now Fort Bragg has Cowlick’s Ice Cream Café, and they’re busy making sweet memories for this generation.

Cowlick’s owners are David and Johanna Jensen. David, Robert, or Will produce the super premium ice cream right in the café where you can watch while you enjoy a yummy cone, shake, sundae, banana split, hot dog, or pick up an ice cream cake. They’re open late, every night, so you can come after dinner or the movies. And they couldn’t be easier to find, right on Main Street in historic downtown Fort Bragg.

Cowlick’s is a lively place where people come for great ice cream then stay for the fun.

Part of the fun is seeing what their two goofy calves are up to. First, they went swimming wearing goggles, bathing caps and water wings. Then they went wind-surfing. In September, they paraded as Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, before slipping into backpacks and heading off to school. They ended the year by dressing up for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. In January, they’re going crab fishing.

There’s often some activity going on… name the cows contest (Rocky – for Rocky Road, and Cookie – for Cookie Dough!), color the whale pictures, or a model train of a Fort Bragg Christmas.

But the best reason to go is for Cowlick’s hand made ice cream - it’s so fresh it practically “moos”. They begin with a dairy mixture heavy with real cream so the product is smooth and rich. Then they add the finest, freshest ingredients to create David’s fabulous flavors. And the flavors are constantly changing.

For example, during the Mushroom festival David introduced Mushroom ice cream! The reaction is usually, "Wow, this is actually good!" - once they’re convinced to taste it. Johanna came up with the idea after hearing Eric from Mendocino Mushrooms talking on the radio about how candy cap mushrooms are used in sweet foods. She thought to herself, "Hey, we make sweet things, maybe this would make a good ice cream." Also she liked the idea of making something special for the mushroom festival. When she suggested it to David, she told him she didn't think we should put it out if it wasn't REALLY good - the idea of a mediocre novelty wasn't where she thought they should go (garlic ice cream comes to mind). And of course the holidays featured Pumpkin, Egg Nog, and Cinnamon.

"I enjoy using the techniques I learned at Ice Cream University (ICU) to create new flavors, but most of all I love watching a customer's face when they’re trying our ice cream or a flavor like Root Beer Float for the first time," David says. And he loves getting suggestions – customer requests led to Black Forest - made from the Mendocino Ice Cream Company award-winning recipe.

If you’re in Mendocino village, you can enjoy their ice cream at Frankie’s Ice Cream Parlor. Or, you can pickup a cone, espresso, light lunch, or a glass of wine at Cowlick’s in the Garden, their seasonal ice cream stand in the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens.

Items for sale:

Handmade, super premium ice cream served as fountain favorites including cones, shakes, banana splits, and hot fudge sundaes. Also available to take home in pints and quarts, or as ice cream cakes and pies. Glazed roasted nuts, or a quick meal of hot dogs, sausages, chili dogs, nachos, or organic tamales.

Other
•Fundraisers: Kite Festival (Habitat for Humanity), Pool Together (Aquatic Center), plus others
•Restaurants: Little River Inn (coconut for their Almond Joy sundae), North Coast Brewery (signature flavor – Lotus Cream), Piaci’s for Spumoni, Nemo’s for Nemopolitan
•Donations: schools, MCCT, Mendocino Historical Society, Paul Bunyan Days, many more
•Parades: Paul Bunyan Days (3 first places!), Holiday Lights •Johanna’s community activities: Fort Bragg Promotion Committee, Paul Bunyan Days Association, Mushroom & Whale Festivals •David’s community activities: Board of Directors for Mendocino Land Trust, Board of Directors Audubon Society, leads monthly bird walks at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens

Also
•Bird Board – posts bird activities, special sightings and birding hot spots