Rachel Roland is a mom on a mission - exploring beautiful Arizona (and beyond!) with her two little companions, Jeremiah and Sarah, in search of the best restaurants, attractions, and products for you and your children. See what she has in store for your family today!
"I think my tastebuds just fainted." That's what the back of an employee's shirt reads at Scooptacular, a hidden gem nestled in a simple strip mall in Laveen. Owned by Nindi and Carissa Wadhwa, who are also Laveen residents, this shop is flourishing and recently celebrated it's second anniversary! Pictured above is one of Scooptacular's custom two-scoop sundaes, with their current star flavors - "Mint Romney" and "Barocky Road." All the ice cream is made in the shop with premium ingredients - there are no cut corners here! They also tend to have unusual flavors around holidays - turkey around Thanksgiving, Hot Dog flavored ice cream to celebrate summer, and beer around Father's Day. I have tried the turkey ice cream, and let me tell you - it was definitely unusual!
Nindi, a former pilot, and Carissa, a former barista, decided to open a business when not many people probably would entertain the thought. The economy wasn't the greatest, and they had one daughter and another soon-to-be born. It was a family business from the beginning - Nindi recounted a memory from their early days: "When we first opened we were closed on Mondays, but Carissa and I were here with the girls doing some work, and people were lining up outside wanting to buy ice cream. We let them in and Alia (the couple's youngest daughter) was a baby...and she was just passed from customer to customer." I asked Nindi about where he'd like to see Scooptacular in five years, and while he'd love to expand, he's focused on making the Laveen location the best it can be.
When it comes down to it, though, it's all about the kids - and Jeremiah and Sarah both love Scooptacular! The ice cream is great and there are fun flavors like Cookie Monster (blue cotton-candy flavored ice cream with crushed oreo cookies and cookie dough) and Play-doh (really, it looks like play-doh but is a colored vanilla). There are of course more mature flavors, like Oatmeal Cookie, Laveen Concrete and of course, their award winning chocolate and vanilla flavors.
Scooptacular is located on 51st Avenue and Baseline in Laveen - it's a great place to stop for a fantastic treat, or somewhere you can pick up an ice cream cake, or even have a birthday party for your kiddos!
Photo courtesy Red Phoenix Photography
I'm Rachel - a mom, wife, and 'green' blogger at Small Steps On Our Journey. If you want me to come visit your place of business, have any questions on this article or suggestions for a future article, you can email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , tweet me at @rachelroland, or connect with me on Facebook.
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