One of Dallas' Best Ice Cream Shops Calls It Quits: Betty Ringer Is Closed

When Betty Ringer Ice Cream opened in Sylvan Thirty in summer of 2017, we quickly fell in love with the ice cream shop's bold yet understated experimental flavors — Thai tea, goat cheese and cherry jam, blueberry lavender, olive oil. Some of the shop's flavors were inspired by small-batch, chef-driven...

By Beth Rankin

October 8, 2018

We'll miss you, Betty Ringer's Thai tea ice cream. Beth Rankin

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When Betty Ringer Ice Cream opened in Sylvan Thirty in summer of 2017, we quickly fell in love with the ice cream shop's bold yet understated experimental flavors — Thai tea, goat cheese and cherry jam, blueberry lavender, olive oil. Some of the shop's flavors were inspired by small-batch, chef-driven ice cream shop Salt and Straw, a popular ice cream-maker with shops in Seattle, Portland and Los Angeles. But as of Friday, the shop has closed.

"So I had to say goodnight to my lovely shop today," owner Stephen Smith posted on Facebook. "We lasted a solid 15 months in this location. ... I'll be back again, somewhere, sometime."

Smith, who's been a chocolatier for the last 10 years, said he fell behind on his rent and was locked out of the Sylvan Thirty location.

"I did want to have Sylvan Thirty as our home. And as time went on, possibly grow to other locations," he says. "But we never got the foot traffic we were hoping for."

Smith says Betty Ringer may pop back up elsewhere in Dallas one day, or he may take it elsewhere.

"Honestly, I'm free to go now wherever I wish to be," he says.

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Beth Rankin is an Ohio native and Cicerone-certified beer server who specializes in social media, food and drink, travel and news reporting. Her belief system revolves around the significance of Topo Chico, the refusal to eat crawfish out of season and the importance of local and regional foodways.

Contact: Beth Rankin

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