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This post was originally published on August 23rd, 2022. It was last updated on February 27th, 2023.
Welcome to Part 2 of the Best Ice Cream Shops in LA!
To read Part 1, click here.
Sonny’s Handcrafted Ice Cream & Italian Ice
15030 Ventura Blvd #17, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
Ice cream galore! Thank you Mila Kunis for letting us in on one of your favorite ice cream shops in LA! In Harper’s BAZAAR’s “What I Eat In A Day” video series, Mila said that she and Ashton loved driving around Los Angeles and trying out different ice cream places.
At the end of the video, she said, “Sonny’s, little known spot. This dude that owns it, he’s older, he’s been there forever. It’s in a strip mall, it’s not fancy and it’s damn good ice cream”.
I have been to that strip mall many times. There are so many businesses there, but I never would have thought that here lies one of the best ice cream shops in LA. I went there in early December. Upon walking in, Matt, the owner, greeted me. I told him it was my first time there and he gave me a thorough breakdown. I’ve never been to an ice cream shop with so many options to choose from.
Matt makes over 50 flavors, which are all available all the time! He also offers gelato, Italian ice, sundaes, floats, ice cream pies and shakes. If this isn’t enough, Matt said he was currently working on his holiday special flavors. Everything at Sonny’s is handcrafted in small batches, and is made from scratch. Matt is from Brooklyn and lived in Wyoming for 34 years before moving to LA, where he’s been residing for the last 7 years. He was so knowledgeable about ice cream and you could tell he was very passionate about the process of making it.
Since there was no one behind me, he allowed me to sample a few flavors. One of them was chocolate cherry, which was extremely decadent and unique. If you like chocolate, this is a must-order!
I ended up getting a double scoop of pistachio and M&M’s. The first thing that struck me about his ice cream was the cloud-like texture. The flavors are true to their names and are distinctly delicate without being overpowering or too sweet. Besides this, what won me over was the texture: rich, creamy and thick. I’ve never encountered an ice cream with this type of texture. Look at the picture. It was so good.
While I was sampling the flavors, I told him that I had found out about him because of the video. He thanked me for letting him know and said that many people had also come in for the same reason. He also said that Mila’s family goes there from time to time and that there have been a few instances where he and his employees didn’t recognize Mila and Ashton because when they went there, they always wore masks. Although Sonny’s has been open for almost 7 years, he let me know that Mila and Ashton started going there during the pandemic. “They’ve been coming here for almost three years,” he said.
I’ve never been a fan of That ‘70s Show, but something about Mila is so personable. She’s been doing promo for her movie Luckiest Girl Alive. In one interview, she said that she and Ashton loved wearing masks because it allowed them to be very low-key and unrecognizable.
I ended up loving the ice cream so much that I went back the next day. That’s how you know the ice cream was good! Upon walking in, he said, “You’re back, that’s a good sign.”
This time, I tried the Cowboy and Salted Caramel. Matt said that he made the caramel in-house. It was to die for. The Cowboy flavor is coconut cinnamon with vanilla and Graham crackers. This combo was another hit. The salted caramel had the perfect balance of sweet and salty. Then, the woody flavor of the cinnamon combined with the other ingredients of the Cowboy made this an explosion of flavors.
If you’re indecisive like me, ask him what flavor combination he recommends.
Sonny’s is one of the Valley’s best kept secrets! It’s been three days since I had his ice cream and I’m still thinking about it. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing that I’m willing to drive to this place all the way from West Hollywood. Thanks, Mila.
Creamy Boys (truck)
Hokey Pokey LA – Westfield Century City mall
Note: Creamy Boys finally has their own brick-and-mortar in the Westfield Century City mall, and it’s called Hokey Pokey LA! Their truck, Creamy Boys, continues to operate at the Mar Vista Farmers Market on Sundays! The IG account of Hokey Pokey LA in Century City is @hokeypokeyla
This is what Bud (co-owner) said:
Just letting you know we’ve opened up our Hokey Pokey LA store, we’re in the Westfield Century City Mall! We’ve expanded on the menu quite extensively, but clearly Hokey Pokey is still our feature haha. We opened December 2nd, and it’s been going very well. We put up our first Tik Tok a month ago, and it got 19 million views, and there’s been a lot of amazing feedback for our ice cream.
The three of us brothers who ran the entire food and front side of Creamy Boys have ended up starting this ourselves, as Duncan, our other business partner, only wanted to do trailers going forward.
This is my review + interview from last year.
When I first came across Creamy Boys Ice Cream on Instagram, I saw that their Hokey Pokey ice cream was a hit at all their events. Upon doing some research, I found out that this flavor is a staple in New Zealand – it consists of vanilla ice cream and crushed honeycomb toffee.
After I had my meal from Bangkus Bagus at the Smorgasburg food market, I happened to see their pink and white trailer in the ice cream section of the open lot. I waited in line for about 8 minutes.
The soft serve ice cream can be served either in a cup or a cone. I chose the cup.
How could something so simple taste so good? The combination of vanilla and the toffee was sweet, creamy and crunchy – a delight for my taste buds. I didn’t expect to like the vanilla flavor as much as I did! The Hokey Pokey was $8, but you definitely get a good amount. I thought it was going to be too much, but I ended up eating the whole thing.
Creamy Boys operates out of their trailer, but in the month of August they had a temporary brick-and-mortar location in Manhattan Beach. I went there on a Saturday and talked to Bud, one of the founders. Inside, there were cans of Lyle Golden syrup on display, a top-rated brand they use to make the toffee. The soft-serve vanilla is not made in-house, but the toffee is. He was crushing the toffee as we spoke.
Besides the Hokey Pokey, Creamy Boys also offers Real Fruit, another signature flavor in New Zealand made of ice cream and fruits. When I went to the location, Bud showed me how they made this flavor by inserting the fruits directly into the soft serve machine.
Bud said: “Each ice cream is blended to order, all of the flavours can be made vegan using our vegan base, including the Hokey Pokey!”
Bud aIso said that in aII the events, despite offering more flavors, the Hokey Pokey remains their best-seIIer. “Everyone loves it!” he said. Mid-conversation a father and his daughter walked in, indecisive as to what to order. I chimed in suggesting the Hokey Pokey. They heeded my advice and after they ordered I continued talking to Bud. When I left, they were sitting on the bench outside and she said to me: “It’s really good”.
What’s the story behind Creamy Boys?
Bud: Creamy Boys are 4 boys from Hawkes Bay in New Zealand. Duncan Parsons, the 3 Chalmers Brothers: Anand, myself (Bud) and Dhyan. It was first started by Duncan Parsons, who grew up down the road from a real fruit ice cream shop! After finishing a degree at Duke, he came to LA, built an ice cream trailer and brought this style to California. Soon after he opened he was joined by the 3 of us brothers, and we’ve now run it together for the last year.
What’s the Real Fruit flavor?
Real fruit ice cream is a classic New Zealand treat often found on berry farms and the beaches of NZ, and is made by putting vanilla ice cream and real frozen fruit in a specially made machine, which blends them together to create a fresh and delicious soft serve ice cream on the spot.
Can you tell me about the Hokey Pokey?
The Hokey Pokey is our version of New Zealand’s most popular ice cream. As far as we can tell there’s no one else making it quite like we do – it’s always satisfying to serve something original! It’s made using a toffee – we make all the honeycomb toffee in house – and we use the real fruit ice cream blenders to swirl it through, and is then finished with a toffee dust topping to add a satisfying contrasting crunch providing both texture and flavor. Our vanilla is currently made by a co-packer using high quality California dairy, we are looking to add in house ice cream making to our coming store!
For our other flavors we have a rotating menu of mixed berry, strawberry, banana, mango, peach and watermelon, and in addition coming to our Hokey Pokey LA store will be chocolate, pistachio, coffee and cherry-coconut-chocolate. You will always find the Hokey Pokey flavor on the menu though!
Where can people find Creamy Boys?
We currently have two ice cream trailers which go to events all over LA and beyond. They can be found by following our Instagram @creamyboysicecream. We’re also at the Mar Vista farmers markets every Sunday!
Sadly, our first store in Manhattan Beach is closing due to the building coming down to make way for a retirement home. As for expansion plans, we’re seriously looking all around West LA to find the right location to open our next store, and this will be rebranded under the name Hokey Pokey LA. We hope to have several stores around LA within the next few years.
To be continued
