AB brings chill sweetness to town

As summer approaches, Oak Harbor recently welcomed a place where families can hide from the heat, enjoy a board game and satisfy their sweet cravings.

On April 12, Jessie Abrahamson and her partner Chris opened AB’s Ice Cream Parlor right next to their Greek restaurant, AB’s Hillbilly Gyros.

The business, which is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week, offers ice cream from two Pacific Northwest brands, Cascade Glacier ice cream and Edaleen Dairy ice cream. Guests can choose from 20 different ice cream flavors, including cotton candy, huckleberry mountain, blue bubblegum, chocolate explosion, mango, black liquorice and more. In the future, Abrahamson said, they plan to add 20 more flavors to their range.

Guests can request specialty cones dipped in chocolate, caramel, peanut butter or marshmallow fluff, and add toppings such as Oreos, nuts, sprinkles, pecan praline and strawberry, blackberry and pineapple syrups. Hard shell toppings are also available, including chocolate and caramel.

Moira Reed, an employee at the parlor, said her favorite combination is a scoop of coffee ice cream in a waffle cone dipped in marshmallow fluff. Coffee options include cappuccino chip, Kona coffee or espresso explosion. Abrahamson recommended combining cappuccino chip and chocolate explosion together.

A fan favorite among children, Reed said, is cotton candy and bubble gum. Older customers instead seem to prefer maple nut or butter pecan praline.

For an extra protein boost, the parlor offers to add protein powder or peanut butter to ice cream shakes.

To add more fun to a family outing or a date, guests can choose from the parlor’s board games while snacking on shareable ice cream nachos — different ice cream flavors that can be scooped up with waffle cone chips.

Later, Abrahamson said, they will offer ice cream tacos. For now, the parlor keeps a suggestion box where the community can drop recommendations and requests.

“We’re all learning this together, seeing what everybody wants and what they don’t want,” she said.

Abrahamson, who specializes in “hillbilly gyros,” is not particularly fond of sweets, which she said makes her the perfect fit to own the business.

“I can sell all of everything and not eat it all,” she joked.

At the same time, the parlor’s sweet beginnings filled her heart with a sense of pride for the local community.

After Berry Bay Smoothies closed, the Abrahamsons envisioned the return of an ice cream place back where Baskin-Robbins once stood.

With no experience with ice cream, the partners took the risk of opening their own cold treat oasis. Rex Nickerson, the owner of the old Baskin-Robbins, taught them how to make waffle cones and offered his equipment for free, much to the Abrahamsons’ surprise.

When the parlor made its debut, Abrahamson said, business was slow. But within minutes after she announced on Facebook that there was a new business in town, people flocked to it.

In her experience, Whidbey’s community stands out for being particularly supportive.

“If something is open and new, they want to try it,” she said. “If somebody’s in need, they’re there.”

For more information, contact absicecreamparlor@yahoo.com.

Photo by Luisa Loi Jessie and Chris Abrahamson hold a reporter’s order (cotton candy ice cream with a caramel dipped cone sprinkled with Butterfinger crumbles).