A Durham ice cream shop with candy-coated cones is adding a new store. Here’s where & when
A Durham ice cream shop known for dipped cones is expanding to a second location.
Simons Says Dip This, founded by husband-wife duo Nathan and Audrey Simons in 2021, will open soon in downtown Raleigh’s Bloc[83] development at Glenwood Avenue and Hillsborough Street.
They’re hoping to open before Christmas, Audrey Simons told The News & Observer in a phone interview.
“Everybody loves ice cream,” she said. “I like the fact that we kind of appeal to all ages and all backgrounds, that we’re not having to focus on a specific demographic.”
The Bloc[83] site offers a courtyard and plenty of foot traffic and is located near hotels, bars and dining options. Morgan Street Food Hall, for example, is just blocks away, making the development “kind of a no-brainer” for the ice cream store, Audrey Simons said.
Opening an ice cream shop
Nathan Simons is a professional chef, having graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and worked in fine dining establishments in New York and North Carolina, including Herons at The Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary.
Even before Nathan Simons finished school, the couple knew they wanted to eventually start their own venture. One idea they brainstormed was dipped cones, treats they enjoyed as kids, but with the option to dip the ice cream in something other than chocolate and add toppings.
“It was just kind of a fleeting, fun idea,” Audrey Simons said. “We didn’t take it seriously.”
But when they were ready to start their own business, they returned to the dipped cone idea. Audrey Simons began writing a business plan in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed their plans, but by February 2021, the couple had opened their first ice cream store at 117 W. Parrish St. in downtown Durham.
“We both worked in Durham for a while. We live in Durham. We really enjoy the food scene here. We love the sense of community that Durham has,” Audrey Simons said. “Durham is very supportive of local businesses, and we just enjoy the downtown vibe. So when we found the space here on Parrish Street, we thought, that’s kind of perfect.”
A chef-driven menu
Unlike other scoop shops, which offer a variety of ice cream flavors, Simons Says Dip This only makes one: vanilla soft serve (though there are two versions, made with and without dairy).
Diversifying the ice cream flavor choices has never really been an option, because the machine they use to make the soft serve is pricey, only has two hoppers and requires a dedicated electrical line.
But don’t assume that because Simons Says Dip This serves only vanilla soft serve, customers don’t have choices. With the dip flavors, core options and toppings, there are more than 2 million sweet treat combinations, Audrey Simons said.
Served in a cone or sandwiched between two cookies, the ice cream is coated in the customer’s choice of dip. Simons Says offers more than two dozen dip flavors — about half are dairy free — and several “cores,” which create a tasty center within the soft serve.
Customers can top their treats with sweet and savory noshes, such as potato chips, fruit, sprinkles, cotton candy, nuts, cereal and candy.
The options may be overwhelming to some customers, Simons said, so there are images of popular cone orders on the shop walls. One item is the MVP, which has a fudge core, cookies ‘n’ cream dip and Oreo cookie topping.
Simons Says Dip This also sells soda floats, freeze-dried candy and during the winter, dipped hot chocolate, which turns a customer’s choice of any dip (or combination of dips) into a drinkable beverage.
What to expect at the Raleigh location
The menu at Raleigh and Durham stores will be the same, but the aesthetics will differ.
In Durham, posters of movies, music and musicians, and television shows Audrey and Nathan liked as children during the 1980s decorate the walls.
The slightly smaller Raleigh store, being the second for Simons Says, will have a more modern style and reflect the owners’ more mature tastes, from their late teenage years in the 1990s and early 2000s.
There will also be a squirrel spring rider that visitors can sit and rock back-and-forth on, alluding to the City of Oaks.
