When fans of Holy Cow Ice Cream Café head to Cape Cod this summer, they won’t have to leave behind their favorite scoops: The award-winning ice cream business earlier this month opened a shop in Dennisport, its first outside of the North Shore region.
“We’ve known for quite some time that we wanted to expand to Cape Cod when the right opportunity came up, and when we saw this location we jumped on it,” says Holy Cow founder Mike Schifino. “It’s going great so far.”
Started in Gloucester in 2014, Holy Cow has developed a fervent following among ice cream lovers who enthuse about the quality of the housemade ice cream, the made-to-order waffle cones, and the bold and often unconventional flavors Schifino and his team dream up. Oh, and its indulgent, enormous ice cream sandwiches. And its creative collaborations with local bakers, breweries, and businesses (right now you can check out the Peach Piescraper, which incorporates a fruity ale from Night Shift Brewing in the mix). The shop’s vegan flavors, made with a coconut base, have also garnered rave reviews.
Some of the menu staples include Fruity Pebbles – an ice cream base in which the eponymous cereal has been steeped, studded with cereal marshmallows – and Corner Piece, in which crispy brownie corner chunks are mixed into brown butter chocolate ice cream. Another popular flavor – Ritzy AF, a salted butter cracker base loaded with housemade Ritz cracker toffee bark – was named Flavor of the Year by the North American Ice Cream Association last year.
Though Cape Cod is known to have plenty of established, beloved creameries, Schifino isn’t worried about the competition. He’s been doing this long enough, he says, that he is comfortable with what he has to offer and confident in his ability to attract customers, even in a competitive market such as the Cape.
“The new goal is to be known as the best ice cream on Cape Cod,” he says. “It’s obviously not going to be easy or fast, but we’re not gonna stop until we’re in the conversation.”