922 NW Circle Blvd. #110
If you’re picking up a birthday cake, desiring some fresh baked bread, or just looking to treat yourself with something sweet, head over to the bakery section of Market Of Choice. Not only does their selection look like art, it tastes like heaven. They have a little something for everyone, and if they don’t have what you’re looking for, they’ll gladly take requests. All natural ingredients are used, and delicious masterpieces are created.
Dulce del Alma
136 SW Washington Ave
Dulce del Alma is an expansion of the New Latin restaurant, Del Alma. It offers wine, cocktails, and desserts in a lounge with cushy black chairs and shiny, wooden tables. Low, artistic lamps create an inspiring and calm atmosphere. To put it bluntly, their desserts are orgasmic. Divine, if you will. I’m not above saying I may have had the best dessert of my life right here in Corvallis. It’s worth making a trip to Dulce del Alma at least a monthly tradition, if not weekly. The cocktails are to die for as well.
Yogurt Extreme
2001 NW Monroe Ave., 922 NW Circle Blvd.
Most college students have been to yogurt extreme since it’s the best place to get frozen yogurt your way. With tons of combinations of topping, yogurt flavors, and sauces, this is one dessert that is always delicious, and convenient with a location on circle and one on Monroe.
White Wind Superfood
252 SW Madison Ave
If you don’t dig the restorative powers of beet juice, you may not appreciate this place. Which is unfortunate, because it’s freaking delicious. And it’s really good for you, which no matter what any yogurt pedaling liars will tell you, is not really a common occurrence in desert-y type sweet treats. I consider an excellent smoothie a great desert. And their Turkish Coffee shake is just bananas. No wait, that’s a confusing description, I meant it’s really good, not made from bananas. I should have said it’s nuts…
Francesco’s Gelato
208 SW 2nd Street
Ever walk into a joint expecting mediocrity only to have your mind blown? Welcome to Francesco’s Gelato. Unlike other places that serve lumpy, frozen heresy in fluted cups, Francesco’s has mastered thick, flawlessly smooth, European-style gelato. The freezer case beckons customers with an expansive flavor selection that changes multiple times a day during summer. In addition to riffs on crowd-pleasing chocolate, Francesco’s scoops indigenous tastes like marionberry and blueberry lavender. Don’t be afraid to ask for samples. The staff is surprisingly patient, as well as enthusiastic about pairing suggestions. Current favorites are orange dark chocolate, hazelnut, lemon meringue, pistachio… I could go on for days like Bubba Gump.
Koriander
215 SW 3rd Street
Formerly Spice’n’Ice, Koriander continues the Southeast Asian food/Italian gelato legacy. Choose from a daily rotation of 18 suave flavors ranging from standard vanilla to seasonal sorbettos. Notable ones include chocolate hazelnut (think Nutella) and vanilla birthday cake. $2.50 gets you a small, or piccolo if you woke up feeling like Marcello Mastroianni. It will be plenty unless you actually enjoy dairy bloat. Stay and jam to classic rock or saunter a few blocks to the Willamette River and say “Ciao!” to your neighbors.
Cold Stone Creamery
2350 NW 9th Street
Despite my preference to patronize locally owned businesses, there are a few cases where I am willing to make an exception. One of those is Cold Stone Creamery. Nowhere else can I find such smooth, soft, and creamy ice cream hand-mixed right in front of me on a frozen stone counter.
The fact that their ice cream is a little bit gooey is what sets Cold Stone apart from the rest. There’s also the mouth-watering aroma of freshly baked waffle cones that pervades the entire store and billows out the front doors. See how long you can resist that…
Baskin-Robbins
336 SW Washington Avenue
Thirty-one flavors is the staple of the hand-scooped ice cream biz, which has kept the oft-overlooked downtown Baskin-Robbins shop open to Corvallisites for YEARS. Seriously, I’ve met so many people who don’t know where this shop is.
You can’t go wrong with this popular chain store’s cold creations. Well, unless you order a scoop of daiquiri ice. Gross.
Variety in the form of 31 or more available flavors, shakes and sundaes is what sets them apart from the imitators and local competition. I can’t find my favorite scoops (birthday cake, strawberry cheesecake, pink bubblegum, and cotton candy) just anywhere.
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