VAMPIRE PENGUIN (115 Hickory St., 706-449-7140): Venturing into The Mark—the behemoth student apartment complex that is right next to but not part of downtown—when you’re neither a resident there nor a UGA student can be intimidating. Where to park? How to walk? Am I even allowed to be in this insular world?
That said, the first place that for my money is actually worth the trip into the concrete canyons is Vampire Penguin, a shaved ice franchise out of Sacramento with locations liberally scattered across the U.S. If you remember SunO, a now long-departed small chain downtown, with the same fondness that I do, this is your place. Both made the same kind of shaved ice, in which the base is flavored before being frozen, often combined with some sort of milk product, and then shaved at high speed into a fluffy mound that resembles snow much more than it does a sno-cone. Instead of getting a bunch of ice chips doused with a syrupy, artificially flavored goo that makes you thirsty, you feel refreshed by Vampire Penguin’s product.
Which isn’t to say kids won’t like it. Vampire Penguin is more geared to American palates than SunO was, with toppings like Fruity Pebbles, brownie bites and Sour Xploderz. The base varies from chocolate, vanilla and strawberry to green tea, coffee and coconut, with a lot of fruit flavors mixed in. If you build your own dessert, you can pick two snows and two toppings, or you can choose to save your decision-making brain for something else and pick one of the pre-selected combos. Among the latter are things like Cotton Candy (cotton candy snow, watermelon snow, Fruity Pebbles, whipped cream, a cherry), Twix (chocolate snow, graham cracker crumbs, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce) and Mexican Mellon (watermelon snow, mango popping boba, Taijin, actual watermelon and chamoy). That last one was by far my favorite, geared as it is to a palate that’s interested in more than straight sugar, plus my kids didn’t want to eat it. Prefer your snow melted? The store also offers “potions,” which incorporate whipped cream, sprinkles, boba and such. They’re too sweet for me, but you might rather drink your sugar than eat it (or let it melt in your mouth).
The atmosphere is cute and surprisingly quirky given the corporate origins. Parking is validated for up to two hours by scanning a QR code. There’s no outside seating, but you can get your food to go. Prices range from $4.99–$8.99, depending on how big of a serving you want (small is pretty adequate) and how much stuff you want on it. Vampire Penguin is open noon to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
CRUMBL COOKIES (196 Alps Rd., 706-389-5894): This franchise, on the other hand, newly opened in the former Menchie’s space in Beechwood, is not my cup of tea. Famed for the huge size of its cookies, the fact that some flavors change out weekly and being owned by Mormons (no coffee flavors, closed Sundays), Crumbl has cute branding and employees who yell out, “Welcome to Crumbl!” with impressive enthusiasm when you walk in the door. If you don’t want to be accosted by positivity, you can order the cookies for delivery. At nearly $4 a pop, they’re more tea cakes in terms of size and texture than a proper crisp cookie. I understand folks who like a moister, chewier cookie, but these are so thick and soft that it’s often like biting into a wad of sugar cookie dough. Maybe that’s your thing! I don’t mind a morsel of cookie dough here and there, but I really don’t want to eat a fist-sized portion of it. An anonymous friend of mine reported that, having enjoyed some cannabis and being really excited to check out this new cookie place, they were likewise disappointed, which may be more of a knock on it than my opinion.
The classic milk chocolate chip is always on the menu and is the best option. The cragginess of its exterior results in some areas that have some crispness. On the other hand, if there’s a peanut butter cup cookie on the menu, be prepared for a mouthful of hot, wet peanut butter. Some cookies are served warm and some chilled, and the quality control is impressive, but the cookies themselves can be somewhat indistinguishable flavor-wise, especially if they have a sugar cookie base. The Crumbl Cream, or ice cream mixed with cookie crumbles and other ingredients and sold by the half pint, is somewhat better, with a high butterfat content.
If you are looking primarily for aesthetics, you’ll be delighted: cutely decorated cookies, adorable pastel pink boxes, snazzy social media. There is covered outdoor seating and no inside seating. The store is open 8 a.m.–10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and until midnight Friday and Saturday.
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