Raleigh's Two Roosters named one of America's top 10 ice cream parlors
Raleigh's Two Roosters Ice Cream was named one of America's best ice cream parlors by USA Today Friday.
The business, which started as a turquoise blue ice cream truck at The Cookery in Durham in 2014, has grown to now have two stores in Raleigh with locations in the Person Street Plaza and the Greystone Village Shopping Center.
The parlor has 10 "forever flavors" and introduces a set of unique flavors each month "to highlight specific seasons or festive themes," according to their website.
Jared Plummer, the owner of Two Roosters, told Out and About before the Person Street location opened as a pop-up shop in 2018 that the ice cream parlor will partner with local businesses and their "forever flavors" will tell their stories, like Sola Cinnamon Donut and Blackberry Hibiscus from Tin Roof Teas.
"The menu is very strategic," Plummer said on the Out and About Podcast. "Using the food truck experience, there was a lot of flavors that I was able to vet during those years. Naturally, there's a few that popped up that were really popular, so going into the brick and mortar arena, I knew there were the regular flavors that were tried-and-true, people loved them and knew us for those flavors."
The rotating flavors, which Plummer calls the "guest list," are updated on the first day of each month. July's guest list features flavors like Key Lime Ginger Snap, Blueberry Lemon Glaze Donut and Non-Dairy Almond Joy.
"That's where I really get to have a lot of fun, and a lot of the partnerships that we do come out of that guest list," Plummer said. "Once I have sort of that monthly theme figured out, that's sort of my bumper lanes. It just depends on what that theme is, then I go out and search for folks that are doing awesome work, perhaps in that area."
If you're struggling to decide between some of these flavors, there's no need to worry. Two Roosters has a "flight" option where customers can get four small cups of different flavors.
Two Roosters also has a spot at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and Plummer said he's working on getting baseball-inspired flavors to that stand, like Cracker Jacks.
"Our ethos is that we are supported by our community," Plummer said. "For me, the heartbeat of Two Roosters is then to support our community because it works both ways. Without our community, we do not exist."
