Salt & Straw opened this morning on Henderson Avenue. If you’ve heard the name and wondered what the fuss was about, today is a good day to find out.
The Portland-based ice cream company set up at 2323 N. Henderson Ave., Suite 107 — right next door to Gemma, open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. The phone is (214) 716-2440. You can walk up or order ahead at order.thanx.com/saltandstraw.
The backstory: cousins Kim and Tyler Malek started Salt & Straw in 2011 as a literal pushcart on a Portland street corner, serving Chocolate Gooey Brownie and Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons out of what Kim once described as a garden trough. They had no professional ice cream experience. Kim had spent years at Starbucks helping build what she called “third places” — the idea that people need somewhere to go that isn’t home and isn’t work. That’s still what she’s building. Tyler is the one who figures out what goes in the cup.
Kim has said they’d been looking for a Dallas location since 2018. COVID happened, the right space never materialized, and it just kept getting pushed. Henderson finally made sense — the walkability, the mix of restaurants and shops, the fact that it’s in the middle of a genuine reinvention right now. The Ignite-Rebees and Acadia development that broke ground in late 2024 is reshaping the whole corridor, and Salt & Straw lands right in the middle of that moment.
Now, about the ice cream. The permanent menu has the things Salt & Straw is known for — Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons, Honey Lavender, Arbequina Olive Oil (yes, it sounds strange, yes it works, just try it), Freckled Mint Chocolate Chip, and the Salted Malted Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, which uses the same malt you’d use to brew an amber ale and finishes with thick ribbons of malted fudge. These are the ones people come back for. But every month there’s a new rotating series, and that’s where things get interesting.
Right now they’re running the May Flowers Series — five flavors built around florals and spring ingredients, with a free edible flower garnish on every in-shop scoop. The lineup: Jasmine Milk Tea Almond Stracciatella, jasmine tea steeped directly into the cream and laced with chocolate-covered almond shards; Strawberry Tres Leches, a jammy strawberry base with actual tres leches cake swirled through; Rhubarb Crumble with Toasted Anise, roasted rhubarb folded into vanilla ice cream with a spiced crumble on top (the anise gives it a low-key licorice note that works better than you’d think); Saffron Milk with Wildflower Honey, the brand-new addition this year, made as a sherbet — subtle, aromatic, the kind of flavor that takes a second to register; and Coffee Chamomile Sherbet, the vegan option, cold brew and chamomile tea churned with coconut cream and oat milk.
The seasonal menu rotates at the end of the month, so if the Rhubarb Crumble has your attention, don’t sit on it.
One more thing worth knowing: they want you to try before you commit. Ask for samples. Try the olive oil one. That’s the whole point of going in person rather than ordering online.
The Fort Worth location — 1305 W. Magnolia Ave. in the Near Southside — opens May 22. But that one’s next week. Today is Henderson Avenue.
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