Fifty Licks
Ice cream parlor based in Portland, Oregon, U.S.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fifty Licks is an ice cream parlor with several locations in Portland, Oregon.
| Fifty Licks | |
|---|---|
| |
 Exterior of Fifty Licks on East Burnside Street (with Laurelhurst Theater in the background), Portland, Oregon, 2022 | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 2009 |
| Owner | Chad Draizin |
| Food type | Ice cream |
| Website | www |
History
Owner Chad Draizin had graduated from NSU University School and studied beer brewing at the University of Florida before an internship at Portland Brewing.[1] After realizing brewing beer on an industrial level was not for him, he began Fifty Licks as an ice cream truck in 2009.[2] That ice cream truck, which operates only during the summer, was named one of Portland's "best new food carts" in 2011 by The Oregonian.[3] "Fifty Licks" is an estimate of the number of licks required to eat one scoop.[3]
In 2013, Draizin opened the first brick and mortar location in the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood,[2] and Vox Media's Eater selected Fifty Licks as seventh on a list of "16 worthy ice cream candidates that opened across the country over the past year or so" to be included on its "Eater National Ice Cream Heatmap".[4]
Fifty Licks is a small-batch handmade ice cream shop in Portland, Oregon. Their ice cream is lusciously high in butterfat and eggs, and their flavors lean towards elegant & aromatic.
The second location opened on East Burnside Street in the Buckman neighborhood in 2017, which led to increased popularity for the company.[2][6] Fifty Licks offers approximately eleven flavors daily as well as two soft serve flavors and offers ice cream cocktails.[7][8] The ice cream parlor also makes an effort to provide non-dairy and vegan options, and hopes to eventually feature fifty-percent dairy-free products.[9][10]
In 2018, Akron Beacon Journal reporter Katie Byard wrote about "some feasting in Portland, Ore., considered one of the country’s best food cities..."[11] and "... an ice cream place dubbed Fifty Licks. Specializing in nontraditional flavors, it touts that it makes its base for its ice creams in house... a friend bought some 'Chocolate as #$%&' with housemade ganache for us to try. The name works... "[12]
During the 2018, Occupy ICE protests, the Fifty Licks food truck distributed free ice cream to protestors.[13][14] In 2020, Fifty Licks opened its third location in the Slabtown district of the Northwest District neighborhood.[2][15] Later that year, following the George Floyd protests, one of the shops was briefly targeted by a rioter who tore down a Black Lives Matter poster displayed in the shop's window.[16]
An Associated Press article reported that Fifty Licks was featured in the Hulu television series Shrill.[17] Peter Cottell of Thrillist said Fifty Licks is "beloved for simple, elegant flavors in no-nonsense spaces."[18]
Locations
- Food cart at Northwest 24th Avenue and Thurman Street, Northwest District[19]
- Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood (opened 2013)
- Buckman neighborhood (opened 2017)
- Slabtown district of the Northwest District neighborhood (opened 2020)
- Fifty Licks is also a vendor at the Moda Center[20]
