Nico Vergara founded a sweet little ice cream shop in the local community that started out as a small cart but was able to open up more locations after a successful summer. The first storefront is located at 5713 NE Fremont St.
The ice cream stands out compared to others; although Baskin Robbins has a huge selection of flavors and Salt & Straw has quirky ingredients, Nico’s has its own unique qualities, such as how they make their ice cream. They mix the fresh ingredients with a plain ice cream base, which makes the ice cream refreshing and high quality.
The ice cream flavors regularly include strawberry, marionberry, raspberry and blueberry. On Thursdays, they switch it up and the flavors turn tropical, which is a nice change and a really good business move to bring in more customers that have different preferences. Tropical Thursday flavors include pineapple, mango and banana.
They’ve received many positive reviews online with Portlanders saying they love it because of how unique it is when it comes to the way it’s made and the community around it. I love it for how refreshing it is. It’s like someone squeezed fresh fruit right into your mouth.
When you walk up to the establishment, you see an aesthetically pleasing sign with the cute little personified ice cream cup character as a logo. The whole shop has a theme with bright colors used as statement pieces, such as a vivid coral mural of the adorable character which is a little bowl of the ice cream. The decorations inside make it seem like such a positive place for the community to go when they want a treat.
However, Nico’s isn’t without its flaws. The lines can be really long. Although all the staff seem so nice during the times I’ve gone, and the customer service has been great. They work hard to make conversation, and the environment is very comfortable and homey.
Vergara has another restaurant where he sells savory meals, called Cully Cantina. The way his businesses treat their customers show that this is someone I’m willing to support.
Overall, Nico’s is a neat place and fun shop that you should definitely stop by.
