The Penny Ice Creamery

This location had a much shorter line than the main shop around the corner on a Saturday afternoon. The mint chip and Verve coffee ice creams both tasted very fresh, i.e. they actually tasted like fresh mint and strong coffee. I wasn’t a huge fan of the caramel because the bitterness was just a touch too strong for me.
The toasted fluff was a nice touch.

I have to blame a certain SoCal Unilocaler for embedding this idea that I should have marshmallow fluff on top of my ice cream. If it is any consolation, I picked dark chocolate sorbet.
— dark chocolate sorbet w/​marshmallow fluff
I had it 2 days in a row. I am addicted.
Only one con: wish the scoops were bigger!

Delisious mint ice cream.
Affogato is perfect!
The coffee is chilled, so it saves ice cream of fast melting.
Thank you for good job!

Penny Ice Creamery is one of the trifecta of perfect local ice cream places.
This review is for the kiosk location on Pacific ave and one of the main features is that there is no inside seating as there is no inside. Not such a problem as they do provide some chairs and tables and pacific has multiple benches up and down the avenue.
Pacific has limited street parking available, (in this case there’s two spaces perhaps three feet away. if you are able to get either of these spots go buy a lottery ticket as you are one lucky duck) but this is meant as a walk up location.
The service is always excellent in spite of (because of?) the fact that the kiosk is tiny and has room for only one employee. Thus the person taking your order will be the one making it. At times this is a drawback if the guy (it’s always a guy) at the front decides to order six latte’s to go for work, as each latte has to be made one at a time by hand. Family in front of you with five indecisive children? Maybe you have time to check out the magazine rack in the bookstore right next door.
If you don’t feel like waiting the main location is two blocks away. Problem solved!
Penny consistently has some of the best ice creams in Santa Cruz. It sources local sustainable items and thus will never ever have things like mango coconut. Unless some dedicated farmer finds a way to grow them locally. Typically they have more sorbet options then the other members of the local ice cream trifecta.
The kiosk will not necessarily have the same range of items as the main locations due to space constraints. Typically this means a half dozen or so ice cream flavor selections and the range of specialty sundaes is similarly limited.
They use verve coffee for the latte’s and espresso’s and occasionally will have chocolate truffles but really the focus here is on ice cream.
Penny’s outside of it’s standard ice creams (vanilla bean, rich chocolate, verve coffee) tends to be more experimental then the other perfect local ice cream shops. About half it’s product line is always changing and it’s entirely possible to see completely different choices in the space of a week. A small word of advice– the ice cream tastes EXACTLY what the description says. Thus a scoop of black licorice or wheat grass may not be for everyone. Also the sorbets tend to be super fruity. that is to say not as sweet as you might be expecting. Tart is the word I’m going for here. I strongly recommend a sample taste before purchase if it’s something you haven’t had before. Unless you’re buying for someone you don’t like such as your little brother, in which case that might be a good time for a bowl with a scoop each of black licorice and lime sorbet.

I came here yesterday with a couple of friends after hearing great things about this place. We were surprised with the number of creamery’s within the same proximity, but decided to come here because we were already eating at Pono’s prior.
When we got there, there was about a ten minute wait. The place was a lot smaller than expected, but then again, it’s a creamery kiosk so I didn’t really mind as long as they serve their purpose.
The employees here are really kind and initially asked us if we needed help with choosing a flavor — allowing us to sample as many flavors as you would like until we were satisfied with our decision. We tried four flavors, but what stood out the most was the Maple Walnut. We topped off the ice cream with a gluten-​free cone/​toasted marshmallow fluff for a bit of extra charge, but the end result was worth every «penny».
I’ll definitely be back if I’m ever around the area!

I’m as big a fan of Penny Ice Creamery as any woman in heat, but this kiosk could use a little bit of pep in the customer service department…
and some toasted marshmallow fluff topping because that’s basically all I came for and they were out before it was even noon o’clock.
I’ll give it up that it’s a high-​pressure job for one person to man this kiosk all by their lonesome, but there’s not reason to have a coronary when someone orders up a lil dab of caramel sauce on their scoop.
Nevertheless, everything was still damn delicious (toasted marshmallow fluff or not).

I don’t know why I previously didn’t like Penny Ice Creamery, but clearly I must have been taking crazy pills because Penny Ice Creamery is AWESOMESAUCE.
This is a small kiosk with a subset of flavors, but they usually have some really good ones. We got to try the Candied Mushroom flavor (it’s a mushroom that has caramel notes in it) and it was incredible.
Highly recommend that you come here if you get an ice cream craving in Santa Cruz!

It is the keyosk version of Penny. how in the $@## can you go wrong???
Sometime when I am über lazy to walk to cedar. I double fist the Chocolate (restaurant near by) truffles with a scoop of local, organic amazing ice cream. don’t judge me.

In addition to the brick and mortar store a couple of blocks away, The Penny Ice Creamery also has a small kiosk on the busier street of Pacific Avenue. We already had the bon bons at the store, but saw that the kiosk had different flavors so had to be fatties and try those out as well. I tried the Verve Coffee w/​Chocolate Almond Praline, which was good, but the Bitter Caramel was the clear winner. We got a Scoop of Bitter Caramel ($ 3.25,
), and I loved the smoky taste of the caramel, which had a slight hint of bitterness, but this is a close second to the Salted Caramel from Bi-​Rite in San Francisco. The creamy texture of the ice cream was also really good, and it was difficult to stop eating. This flavor is a must try if you see it on the menu!
The line of the kiosk was a little shorter than at the store, but if someone orders a coffee, you’ll have to wait a lot longer. I will definitely be back for more ice cream from Penny!

Wow. Fabulous luscious fresh made ice cream. Simple combination of vanilla plus caramel & chocolate sauce combined was superb. A must visit if you’re a nice cream fan.

The Best Ice Cream Ever!
My two favorites are the Fresh Mint Chip and of course their famous Chocolate Sorbet, but I also loooove the bitter caramel! Its really another world.
Pretty much everything they do is great.

When in Santa Cruz, one must stop and have a scoop from The Penny Ice Creamery. They have three locations, including a kiosk downtown. Nice to have a sweet treat after a tough day of shopping…
Last time, I tried the black pepper cheesecake as well as the burnt caramel. They actually paired together nicely. A little spice a little sugar… both had a kick at the end.
The kiosk also sells coffee, so even if you’re watching your girlish figure, there’s still options for you!

I liked it, but it wasn’t fabulous. Very expensive. Service was incredibly slow.

After numerous trips to Santa Cruz I finally was able to try The Penny Ice Creamery. We were walking around downtown after a fun surf session at Cowell’s and found this little kiosk. I had their Affogato with Tahitian Vanilla Bean ice cream and it was wonderful. The melding of warm espresso and organic ice cream was perfect. I’ve had Affogatos from Blue Bottle Coffee and Four Barrel in SF and Penny’s was right up there.
I’d like to check out their original location on Cedar but this kiosk offers a quick fix down the main strip.