The Parlor at Cherry Hill Market

• 721 Cherry Street SE
• Grand Rapids, MI 49503
• (616) 776-0266
• No Known Website
• Menu

You would think that I’d stop for ice cream on one of the 95+ degree days and not on the one when it’s pleasantly warm out, but that’s exactly what happened.  I was out of the office with a couple co-workers and one of them mentioned she wanted ice cream.  I’m not really familiar with Grand Rapids, but she knew a place that another co-worker had recommended.  Once she said it, I knew what she was talking about.

The Parlor at Cherry Hill Market is on Cherry Street at Packard Avenue.  As the name implies, the ice cream shop is part of a larger market complex.  They’re in the same building, but I don’t believe you can move between the two businesses without going outside.

The building is in the historic East Hills neighborhood so as you would expect, the building has gone through many transformations over the years.  The distressed hardwood floors and exposed red brick walls compliment the rustic furniture that is placed around the large L-shaped ice cream case.

There was a couple people in front of us when we walked in so we had time to look over the large ice cream menu.  My two co-workers were very excited and wanted something fun.  Boring ol’ me was planning on going with the Cookies ‘N Cream standby, but something else jumped out at. 

We all got single bowls which consist of two scoops of ice cream.  Co-worker #1 got two different scoops of ice cream while Co-Worker #2 went with two of the same flavor.  I have no idea what they actually got because I was still looking over the large ice cream list while they were getting their ice cream and paying for it.  The two of them put their ice cream on one bill which came to just under five bucks.  Co-worker #1 was paying and handed over her credit card.  The Parlor actually has a five dollar minimum  for credit purchases, but the cashier let the extra $.20 slide and put it on the card.

After my colleagues got paid up, the cashier came over to me.  I got a single bowl of Mackinac Island Peanut Butter Fudge.  Yeah…that’s right.  I got something other than vanilla.  While talking with the cashier, we found out the ice cream comes from House of Flavors in Ludington.  Most ice cream shops in this region of the state use either Hudsonville or Sherman’s, but the owner’s of The Parlor wanted to do something different.

My single dish cost a little over three bucks which I paid for with cash.  We could have grabbed a table inside, but we decided to go out front where they have a couple of benches.  It was a beautiful day and it just felt right eating ice cream outdoors.

Like expected, my ice cream tasted like peanut butter fudge.  There were soft pieces of fudge mixed in with the vanilla ice cream and peanut butter syrup.  Very delicious.

The Parlor at Cherry Hill Market is a really neat place in a really neat part of town.  The other ice cream’s I mentioned earlier are all very good, but if you want to try something you don’t get very often in these neck of the woods, The Parlor is a good place to cool off on one of those warm summer days.

Mackinac Island Peanut Butter Fudge