Noodies, Tucson

I was just in Tucson for a very short business trip (working with students at University of Arizona).  It was mid-October, and the weather was 95* and sunny the entire time I was there.  I *loved* it, and in my world, this was absolutely perfect ice cream weather.  And if you know my blog, you know how much I adore soft serve, particularly in that kind of weather.

My research yielded shockingly few ice cream/froyo/gelato places around where I was staying.  There was one local ice cream chain that people do love (hard serve only), a Cold Stone, and a Pinkberry further away, but other than that, there wasn't much.  One place on campus had plain tart froyo only.  It seems most people opt for Mexican style refreshing icy treats (respados), or get smoothies.  There were *tons* of smoothie/bowl shops.  Acai everywhere. 

But my research did have one very promising set of options: Noodies and Ceres, sister restaurants.  They are actually pasta/sandwich places, with house made pasta as their main attraction, but both also offer house made soft serve gelato.  A rare find.  They have just two flavors at a time, and they swirl to a sundae creation with curated toppings.  The flavors change weekly.  I stalked them on Instagram, and couldn't wait to find out what my flavors would be.

But ... they are not open on Mondays or Tuesday, and I was there in Tucson only Mon-Wed.  And Ceres is only open for lunch, and is kinda far from where I needed to be at 1pm.  Thus, I made sure that at least on Wednesday, I was able to make it to Noodies.

I'm so glad I made this prioritization decision.  I'd eagerly return in the future, to either location, and even though I am not a big pasta person, I'd likely try that too, as it looked incredible (and was sooo fresh!  You could see them rolling fresh pasta right there).

Exterior.

There was some outside seating, more under some umbrellas, but minimal.  I think in general it may be too hot for people to really want to eat outside.

Inside.

The ordering and pickup area are at one end of the interior space, tables fill the rest.  I believe they have table service for dine-in.

Baked Goods.

I didn't realize that Noodies had baked goods!  I was there aiming to get the soft serve, but the "Noodie Pie", their signature dessert, looked incredible (the crust has crushed pecans and dark chocolate, it is filled with a rich mocha mousse, and topped with coffee whipped cream and shaved chocolate).  The staff member told me it was her mother's recipe and it was as incredible as it sounded.  Since I don't consume caffeine later in the day, I couldn't get it to enjoy later either.  I really did consider getting it instead of soft serve, but, I stuck with my plan.  It was 95* after all.

I also nearly got another goodie to take for the evening.  They had whoopie pies, which I rarely see outside of New England, but the warm weather wasn't actually putting me in the pumpkin spice mood (the flavor of the day), even though it was mid-October.  The frosted cookies even called out, despite being lemon (not my fav).  

Next time, I'd definitely plan to try some of these items too, they come from the same local bakery that makes their focaccia.  

Almond Joy Gelato (Kid's Size). $3.

"Coconut gelato swirled with dark chocolate sorbetto (V) topped with coconut flakes, toasted almonds, and chocolate shell."

I went for the swirl, with all the suggested toppings but the coconut flakes.  I actually do like coconut (obviously, I was getting coconut gelato), but the coconut flakes were untoasted, and I'm not particularly into the consistency of untoasted coconut.  I thought it would be more generously dipped in chocolate shell, but instead, was just a slight drizzle.  Same with the toasted almond slices, you can see all of them, the backside of the cone had none.  If I had to criticize one thing, it was the amount of toppings.  I wanted more!

But what I did have was delicious.  The coconut gelato was nicely creamy, a reasonably strong coconut flavor that still had dairy cream in it, which I prefer - I like coconut, but don't actually care for coconut vegan ice cream or the like.  The dark chocolate sorbetto was incredibly rich and decadent.  It tasted like a cross between a fudgicle and very rich dark chocolate mousse, just, frozen.  I think a full cone of it would be far too much for me (but a bowl of it with whipped cream and raspberries to balance it would be heavenly!).  I really liked both flavors, although my cone was more like 65% dark chocolate sorbetto and only 35% coconut, which made it borderline too much chocolate for me.  The almonds were great crunch, and the chocolate shell was a high quality dark chocolate too, not the waxy style.  It all came together very very well.

I got the kid's size, not knowing how big they might be, and I'm used to a world where kid's size is much bigger than this.  I think I'd get a regular in the future.  

Overall, a great treat, ****, although slight ding for quantity of toppings, and ratio of the two flavors being off in my twist.  

The kid's size was only $2(!), the regular $4.  Toppings are $0.50 each, or $1 for all.