If you want to score a bona fide clown-faced ice cream cone at Clown Cone, you’re going to need to give the business a two-day warning. All that fanciness can’t just be whipped up on a moment’s notice.
But if you just want a fun ice cream experience, or some penny candy; it’s got all that. Slushies and pizza too. Located in the very way-back of Northern Lights Shopping Center, Clown Cone is a little kid’s dream factory.
Walk in, and the place is wall-to wall crammed with sugar. There are shelves and bins of every candy possible (plus two bonus points for a variety of candy cigarette options). Guests grab little straw baskets, and belly-up to the sweet buffet of treats. Weirdly, the store walls also host a humongous collection of cartoonish salt and pepper shakers for sale.
Then, packed into the center of all this busy-ness are coolers that hold the house-made ice cream. It comes in all sorts of flavors: Lemon Cheesecake, Orange-Pineapple, Caramel Chocolate Chip Cheesecake and Fudge Brownie, to name a few. The internet’s business listing says there are 39 flavor options, in all. Coincidentally, Clown Cone is also in its 39th year of operation.
The obvious best first choice would be the Cappuccino Crunch: it’s a sweet, coffee-flavored ice cream. The base is light and landscaped with tiny chunks of chocolate toffee and nuts. Big ups for the Choc-O-Lot too: it’s chocolate ice cream loaded with dark chocolate chips. You can score any flavor in shakes (thick like wet cement), sundaes, cones or even modest little solo cups.
And the prices are cheap. A milkshake, plus two scoop cups, and a pint to go rang up around ten dollars.
You can find Clown Cone at 3431 Cleveland Avenue. It’s open Mondays through Saturdays from 11am until 8:30pm. On Sundays, it’s open from 12noon until 8pm.
For more information, visit www.icecreamparlorcolumbus.com.