Black Dog Gelato scheduled to open Friday in West Loop
Menu will change monthly, like at the popular Ukrainian Village location
Popular gourmet sweet spot Black Dog Gelato will open its anticipated West Loop location on Friday. An opening celebration is planned through the weekend at the new shop, 1012 W. Lake St., a location that formerly housed Harvest Juicery.
The West Loop location will feature the same gelato flavors as its existing shop in Ukrainian Village, including goat cheese cashew caramel, strawberry balsamic, and vanilla sea salt caramel. Black Dog also offers catering services, as well as a rotating monthly menu developed in collaboration with a local purveyor. June, for example, features “Birthday Cake” and earl grey Fruit Loop.
The company is also known for playful pop-culture references, like a “Game of Thrones” menu in April with flavors like “The City of Brotherly Sisterly Love” (Philly-style cheesecake, wine-soaked berries).
The shop’s family-friendly grand opening weekend will include a free pint and branded cooler bag for the first 50 attendees, a raffle, a contest to inspire a new Black Dog flavor, and an Instagram photo printer.
Owner Jessica Oloroso has described the West Loop opening as a new beginning for the “authentic, not traditional” gelato brand, which first opened in West Town in
2009. A former pastry chef at Scylla, Oloroso took to the streets in a bright pink food truck to offer her wares at farmer’s markets. In the years since, locations in Roscoe Village and at Revival Food Hall in the Loop have shuttered.
West Loopers can also enjoy Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, which opened a long-awaited “scoop shop” in April.