Lula's Sweet Apothecary
Restaurant, Coffee/Tea/Juice, Other
Hours
Profile
$ - inexpensive
American
All-vegan ice cream parlor and soda shop
This is an old-time soda shop, featuring home-made, nut-based vegan ice cream and other treats such as New York Egg Creme.
They also offer tea and other drinks.
Cash only.
Between Avenues A and B.
- (Mostly) Organic
- Kid-Friendly
- Quiet
Added by conde.kedar on Oct 13 08 (updated Feb 16)
Reviews
I first visited Lula's the first week they opened, and unfortunately for me, due to the unexpected immediate success of the parlor, they were out of pretty much everything. I returned to Lula's again last week and was pleasently surprised with everything I tasted.
I sampled nearly all of the ice creams (which are homemade in very small batches), and then ordered a few scoops of my favorites. The cinnamon pecan was absolutely amazing, and it was an unexpected combination, as the only somewhat non-traditional pairing of cinnamon is usually with chocolate. I also had the cake batter ice cream, which was outstanding.
Blythe (one of the owners) allowed my friend and me to sample the soft serve, which was good, but not nearly as good as the small batches. The soft serve is Temptation ice cream, which is also a great small, vegan company to support, and it definitely hits the spot if you would prefer soft serve to traditional ice cream.
This is an excellent establishment to support. It's a small company, vegan powered, offers excellent service, has beautiful and original decor, and serves AMAZING vegan ice cream. Go here!
I love the atmosphere in Lula's, which is a quaint, friendly, old-time soda fountain shop. It truly feels like a throwback to a simpler, nicer era, and that's something I haven't encountered often in my travels. The first time I walked in, I was greeted by the sight of a kid coloring with crayons (Lula herself, I discovered) and neighbors chatting with the lovely owners Blythe and Derick. They already have regulars and I became one of them during my short trip to New York.
I was astounded by the creamy, rich flavors of their ice creams, which are predominantly made of cashews (something you don't see very often). All of the flavors seemed perfectly balanced and could be mixed and matched to make a killer sundae (with your choice of toppings). I especially like the S'more ice cream, which had a great array of textures (especially with the pieces of graham cracker crust) and flavors, without seeming over-powering or industrially-assembled like the s'mores you get in boxes from the supermarket.
Their "egg creme" was also remarkable; it's a spritzer drink made with rice milk, chocolate and something else. I thought it was delicate and smooth, with an unusual bubbly nature; it wasn't overly-sweet, either, which I loved.
They also have soft-serve and some cookies and brownies.
Lula's is the perfect dessert spot in the East Village, but I found myself going there just to try new flavors and sundaes and drinks, at all times of the day. I also greatly enjoyed talking to the friendly owners. If you're in New York, Lula's is not to be missed.
sweet place, sweet people and sweet sweet deliciousness re the vegan ice-cream.... nut milk ice-cream chocolate chunk.... heaven!
treat yourself, bring a friend, or a book, or just take yourself and revel in the loveliness and chat with the very nice owners Blythe and Derick.
DELICIOUS ice cream! Unfortunately, their equipment was broken when we visited, so they only had 5 flavors instead of the usual 10 or 12. BUT luckily, the two flavors we chose were amaaaaaaazing. A scoop of peanut butter fudge swirl & a scoop of maple pecan put together in a cute glass dish, topped wish hot fudge, coconut whipped cream, peanuts, and a cherry... Mouthgasm. Just incredible!
This place is TINY, and not quite as "cute" as I imagined (I pictured like '50s-style ice cream shoppe with fancy little stools & bright-colored counters). Truthfully, it sort of looks like a storage closet. But the product is very high-quality, the staff was really friendly, AND they had veg literature all over the store.
Most importantly, the ice cream was the best I have ever had... Well, it's tied with Maggie Mudd in San Francisco. But it's certainly better than any dairy ice cream I ever ate - and that is really saying something because I used to be QUITE the dairy ice cream connoisseur. This is creamy perfection that is sweet, rich, and satisfying.