Coco + Hazel

This is the hidden gem in Richmond.  If you are craving ice cream, or maybe a huge hunk of cake or a chocolate-dipped cheesecake slice, you can get all of that, all at once at this inconspicuous storefront in an unassuming little shopping strip.  If it were in Short Pump or the eclectic Church Hill or downtown, this place would have a line, ridiculously around the block, and we would still wait in that line.  Some of the pomp and circumstance has been muted by the pandemic, but this tucked-away treasure rests between the University of Richmond and Regency Square in the heart of Tuckahoe.

It is ice cream AND it is cake.  Not cake blended up in the ice cream.  Not even cake-flavored ice cream.  It is both, in huge servings, held together by a straw.  Click on the web site.  And, here’s the promise… in this case, the pictures don’t do it justice.

The menu is intriguing with names like “The Blackout”, “Candyland”, “The Rosengarten”, and even the “Cake Shake”.  The meticulous care taken to make each sugar-laden sculpture is nothing short of Instagram worthy.  I challenge you not to take a picture and share it with your friends, and I promise, you will begin having that discussion about how huge this place will one day be.  

Named after his two daughters, owner Chelle Bravo has built a business with the same incredible detail and pride as any parent would for an establishment destined to become a family legacy.  There are many incredible finds in Richmond, but this place is always on the short list of places you take out of town guests, dates you must impress, and sweet tooths of all ages!