The Ohio Ice Cream Shop that Serves Ramen in Winter

Jesse Mason and Helen Qin really use their noodle to make Mason’s Creamery a year-round experience. After their Cleveland small-batch ice cream shop opened in 2014, the couple wanted more ways to treat their customers during the winter. The answer? Steaming bowls of house-made ramen.

They took it slow at first, only offering ramen one weekend a month from November to April. “We’d be sold out in an hour,” says Qin. “We saw the excitement it generated, and we knew we were on to something.”

Since 2018, the couple has converted their tiny ice cream shop into a full-fledged ramen operation during the winter months (available through mid-April this year). Customers can slurp up versions of ramen such as the pork tonkotsu made with pork broth, char-siu (Chinese barbecue pork), soft-boiled egg, corn, nori and pickled radish.

“If you’re doing it the traditional way, it can take upwards of 12 hours at a roiling boil to get the broth going,” says Mason. “We’ve come up with a couple of different methods to trim that time down, but not sacrifice any of the richness of the broth.”

Inspired by how other countries embrace eating outside year-round, you’ll find an outdoor tent with picnic tables and heaters. 

“There’s a sense of community of being out there ... having a nice warm bowl of broth,” says Mason. “It’s such a fun experience.”  

4401 Bridge Ave., Cleveland 44113, 216/762-1095, masonscreamery.com