Purity Ice Cream

Purity recently underwent renovations, and they now serve brunch on weekends and lunch on weekdays. I'm not too much a fan of their vegan sorbet, but the food they serve is very good. They have options of that the average omnivore doesn't typically know of (ie cashew cheese sandwich, butternut squash mock and cheese, vegan caesar salad). The portions are pretty large. I had the bbq tempeh sandwich (sub. lettuce and tomato for slaw) with fries, and it was really good! My only complaint is that the fries were a bit on the salty side, and I was pretty tired afterwards. I am excited to try out vegan pancakes or french toast on a weekend sometime!

The vegan ice cream is made from coconut milk and is more icy than creamy. We tried the cookie dough, vanilla, and fair trade chocolate. All of them were waaaay too sweet for our taste. The good news is they have vegan waffle cones, but overall we were not very impressed.

I love living in this area because many places have vegan ice cream options. I have several of these places stored into my phone just so I can call and ask what the vegan flavors of the day are. Purity though has more vegan ice cream options than any other place currently in town and vegan cones to boot!

My typical favorite is a scoop of the Triple Threat (chocolate ice cream, chocolate chips, and cookie dough) in a waffle cone. Beware that their scoops are pretty large, so one scoop is usually plenty for most people. They also have vegan cupcakes and vegan ice cream cakes (to be ordered in advance).

In the summertime, we are regulars and they are even open all year round for anyone with an ice cream craving.

My family and I have been here several times on our visits to the area. It's an absolute must for vegan ice cream! On our last visit we got giant waffle cones filled with soy-based ice cream. We had mint chocolate chip, chocolate chip cookie dough, and french vanilla. I honestly can't choose which was better. My 11 year old commented, "Why would anyone eat cow's milk when they can have this?" It truly is delicious!!

You must, absolutely must order a soy "Hurricane" - it is a milkshake made with vegan ice cream (Chicago Soy, I prefer the cookie dough or french vanilla) and candy mixed inside (oreos!!). It is heaven. They also have vegan cupcakes occasionally, AND you can order a vegan/gluten free ICE CREAM CAKE!!!!

As of my last visit (early May 2012), I noticed a sign mentioning that all Purity-made ice cream flavors contain gelatin. Though I know some vegetarians can go either way on gelatin, I prefer to avoid it, and was therefore so disappointed that I had to order Dryer's sorbet at this Ithaca landmark! (They also have some pretty good (gelatin-free) soy ice cream--another veg-friendly option, albeit with only a few flavors.)