Milk Jawn to open a brick-and-mortar ice cream shop in South Philadelphia

These are hot times for ice cream in Philadelphia, what with home-grown brands such as Bassetts, Wecklerly’s, Dre’s, Zsa’s, 1-900-ICE-CREAM, and Franklin Fountain getting company from out-of-town artisanal labels such as Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams and Van Leeuwen.

Jeni’s, incidentally, just opened its Fishtown scoop shop at 1322 Frankford Ave. and has a second shop opening soon at 1901 Chestnut St. in Rittenhouse, while Van Leeuwen opened in August 2021 at 13th and Sansom Streets in Washington Square West and has more locations on the way.

Now it’s Milk Jawn’s turn to come in from the cold and go the brick-and-mortar route, a little more than a year after Amy Wilson, Ryan Miller, and Cathryn Sanderson debuted with pop-ups and deliveries of their small-batch ice cream pints, which routinely sell out.

» READ MORE: VIDEO: Watch how Milk Jawn makes a special ice cream flavor

They have leased a storefront next to Essen Bakery at East Passyunk Avenue and Dickinson Street in South Philadelphia to become a scoop shop in spring 2022.

Further, they have leased space a block away for a production facility.

Milk Jawn, which Wilson started in 2012 in her kitchen as a hobby, currently operates out of its production facility at MaKen Studios North in Kensington, near 1-900′s facility.

Milk Jawn’s shop will offer ice cream in pints, cups, and cones, with various toppings. Wilson also plans to offer ice cream cakes. Milk Jawn’s fame has spread by word of mouth and Instagram.

» READ MORE: The best ice cream in Philadelphia

Milk Jawn’s flavor roster includes tahini fudge swirl; pistachio; double-fold vanilla; cold brew and caramelized cacao nibs; and chocolate hazelnut crunch. Its Earl Grey with honeycomb won Best New Flavor for the Northeast Region, and second place nationally, at the North American Ice Cream Association annual convention, held in early November.