Icebox Creamery and Cafe

Icebox Creamery is my favorite ice cream shop I’ve discovered in the Pittsburgh area thus far. I used to work in an office building right next door to Icebox, so in the summertime a few of my work colleagues and I would often walk over to Icebox during our lunch break. I was always very impressed with the quality of the ice cream and the staff there.
Icebox is reminiscent of a cute little ice cream parlor from days past. It has a bit of a retro feel, which I really enjoy for an ice cream parlor. The owner is very personable and helpful. She changes her flavor offerings pretty much daily (with some of the classics staying, of course), and she always let my coworkers and I taste as many samples as we wanted before deciding on our ice cream. My go-​to ice cream choice, when available, is always the Graham Central Station. This is a vanilla ice cream with chunks of chocolate and graham cracker bits. It’s absolutely divine! Another one of my favorites is the Pumpkin Pie flavor that is offered in autumn. It seriously tastes like a delightful piece of smooth pumpkin pie in your mouth! The ice cream itself is extremely creamy. It doesn’t have any of those hard ice crystals that I feel store bought ice cream often has. You can tell that Icebox takes pride in not only their ice cream flavor offerings, but also the quality of the product itself. It’s so rich and satisfying. Yum!
Icebox also offers a few different lunch options, which I regret that I never got a chance to try. I always was pretty focused on the ice cream. Even though I don’t work next door anymore, I still make trips over to Icebox when I’m craving a delicious cup of homemade ice cream!

Absolutely the best ice cream around! My hubby and I have stopped here a few times and you can’t really go wrong with any of the flavors. The woman who owns it is a delight and makes everything herself-​you can tell she really puts her heart into it!!! The ice cream is creamy and so flavorful and there are no artificial ingredients-​stop by for a delish treat and support a local business!!!

Very friendly. Clean place. Ice cream is amazing!!! Lots of variety. First time here, we are from out of town. If nearby again we will definitely stop again.

We just enjoyed a wonderful lunch here — a welcome break from our drive from DC to Notre Dame. The soup and crepes were delicious, and the ice cream — WOAH — delicious. Most importantly, the woman behind the counter was impossibly friendly. I wished lived here so we could go again! Perhaps on our way back. :)

Let me start by saying that those reviewers who talk about how good the ice cream is, but then give 3-​stars because of the décor really need to get over themselves. I’ve eaten at enough Michelin restaurants to know that ambience makes a difference and that it’s not just about the food. But, come on, this is an ice cream shop, and if you think that the important part of an ice cream shop is the aesthetics, you’re probably not going to be very happy with any ice cream shop.
Now, to my review of the ice cream. My family was on a road trip from New York back to Maryland, and we happened to have lunch next door. So, we stopped in for dessert. We were thrilled by the selection of flavors, so we tormented the shop owner for about 10 minutes sampling most of them… :-)
Every single flavor was fantastic, and while I don’t throw around the term «best» very easily, this was some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had. Very creamy and great mouth-​feel, which is obviously important when it comes to ice cream. If you like decadent, a couple of the flavors were on the overly sweet side (Choc Raspberry Truffle was notable), but I didn’t try a single flavor that I wouldn’t have been happy making my «main course.»
The shop owner was tremendously nice, as were other customers in the store (who seemed to be regulars). If this place were within 30 minutes of home, we’d be regular customers as well.

Excellent ice cream. Hope to see some more adventurous attempts on flavor choices. Nice lady running the place. Odd location, but well worth the effort.

This is the BEST and ONLY please you should get ice cream from in the Burgh area. We live in downtown Pittsburgh and drive all the way here for the amazing ice cream.
Let me justify my review:
The ice cream is made with no artificial flavours or high fructose corn syrup. With that said, it’s extremely creamy (the texture is on par with some of the best gelatos I’ve had) and all the flavors are not too sweet. The problem with a lot of American ice cream — it’s sugar with some cream and flavoring. But here, it’s creamy, flavorful, and the sugar (not much added) only serves to enhance the already wonderful flavors.
The owner is extremely friendly — she offers large samples of as many flavors as you want, and she tells you about them in great detail. Our favorite flavors are — brown sugar cinnamon, graham central station, strawberry (pure, nothing fake), pumpkin pie (fall special), toasted almond and pistachio. We often get a quart to go!
This is the highest quality ice cream you will find in the area. Support local entrepreneurs who are serving all natural, extremely creamy, almost «good for you» ice cream. Trust me, this is probably as good (and healthy) as ice cream gets. I would give six or 7 stars if I could!

I was absolutely impressed with the Bananas Foster. No fake banana flavor! Just real banana and delicious. The owner was so very friendly and she suggested that I sample several other flavors AFTER I had already ordered. There was a chocolate cherry which she explained was a big Valentine’s Day seller and another berry one too! Try this place, you will not be disappointed.

So many unique flavors! Can’t go wrong with the coffee toffee mocha, butter brickle, lemon blueberry chiffon, bananas foster, brown sugar cinnamon, or black raspberry chocolate chunk! (We go a lot) And the owner is so nice (and patient)!

This is one of the places I always wanted to try but always forget about because it’s a hidden location. Out of sight, out of mind. I finally tried it, and it was ok. I was excited when I saw the long list of flavors that seemed unique and creative. Plus it’s homemade ice cream.
I got a scoop of brown sugar cinnamon and graham central station. I liked that the ice cream was creamy. The brown sugar cinnamon definitely had cinnamon with a hint of brown sugar. Not too sweet.
The ice cream was just ok because I’m the type who likes mix-​ins. I was expecting chunks of graham crackers or brown sugar on my ice cream, so I was a little disappointed when I basically had vanilla ice cream with 3 shavings of chocolate. My husband got 2 scoops of milky way. It had a very rich chocolate flavor but again, no mix-​ins. Just chocolate ice cream. Maybe we just got the wrong flavors, so maybe we’ll try again?
I agree with the cons that Elizabeth B. mentioned. The place seemed empty eventhough there were a few customers because the place was huge. Felt like a warehouse. There was a dining area, which was empty. There was a glass display, but that was empty too. I actually thought they ran out of ice cream, but the ice cream was hidden in metal freezers.
The ice cream menu was posted all the way in the back. It gave me the notion that selling ice cream was just secondary to the other items they offer. The orientation of the place was strange and can be misleading esp. for a first time customer.

Best ice cream we have had in awhile all home made and the staff was very nice and helpful letting you try what you needed to make your decision

Great selection and absolutely delicious homemade ice cream Graham Central a must try.
I agree with Elizabeth B’s review on the cons.

We came across this place by chance driving around Cranberry and since it was a hot and humid day, thought we’d stop in. I’m sure glad we did! All of the ice creams are homemade, and there are many different, unusual flavors to try, along with the norms.
I had the Caramel Cashew in a waffle cone and my husband had a scoop of the Salted Caramel and a scoop of the Chocolate Chip. The scoops are generous and our two scoops could have easily been one and we would have been more than satisfied. The staff is friendly, the place is clean and the ice cream was good. Cranberry is about a 30 minute drive from us so we wouldn’t make a special trip up there just to go here but would most definitely stop in again when in the area.

Wow! What a selection of ice cream flavors! And free samples til the cows come home! I always get a waffle cone, and man do they cram it full of ice cream! Love that it’s open year– round for those wintertime ice cream cravings!

Nice little shop located in Cranberry Township. The ice cream that I had was chocolate with peanut butter and it was very good. We also had sandwiches and they were prepared beautifully. The Decour inside was pink and white with a modern touch. Not too cluttered and really clean lines. I would’ve loved to of seen the front ice cream case filled with treats but it sat empty.
I’m giving this a five star however I do have one suggestion. I do not think the people working can hear when someone has arrived and people wait too long to have someone greet them. Maybe adding a door buzzer in the back would help this?

We stopped in tonight for dessert– this is the best ice cream around! The owner was extremely friendly and generous with samples. Location so immaculate! We will be back!

My coworker and I were making a quick Costco run over our lunch break. As she had not yet eaten lunch, she suggested that we swing by the Ice Box. She had spotted the little ice cream shop while shopping at Wal-​Mart with her family and thought they’d also have lunch food.
I have worked in retail for nearly 10 years both in stores and at corporate and found myself to be extremely passionate about what the Ice Box is doing right and what they are doing wrong. So let’s just go through my list…
Ice Box Pros –
The list of ice cream flavors looked so overwhelmingly delicious that it took me a couple moments to decide what I wanted to have! I loved the wide variety of options from light and fruity to rich and decadent.
The ice cream flavor that I tried was the Caramel Cashew. I love both caramel and cashews and had never had ice cream like this before. It was a must-​try, and I was not disappointed! The vanilla ice cream was rich and creamy, better than any ice cream that I’ve eaten from a carton. The thick caramel running through the ice cream tasted nothing like the store-​bought jar stuff but instead had that strong but delicious cooked-​on-​the-​stove-​top flavor. The crunchy and slightly salty cashews were a fun surprise to discover every couple bites.
The woman working at the Ice Box (who I assumed to be the owner) was very nice.
Ice Box Cons –
I thought the shop was deserted at first glance because of the tall weeds growing out front and throughout the parking lot. Regular maintenance could make the exterior look a lot more appealing.
The color choice and buzzwords on the exterior were misleading. There was a predominance of pink on the building, and needless to say, the only customers that I saw were women. The exterior also read «baked goods,» yet I saw no baked goods inside. The exterior said nothing about sandwiches, yet half of their chalkboard menu talked about sandwich options.
The interior is very sad. Some of the tables and chairs seemed secondhand, and the booth that I shared with my coworker felt tiny. I really don’t mind a worn-​in place, but this shop could just use some cheerfulness on the inside. Maybe some flowers on the tables? Music also brings happiness to a space, but the only source of music was an early-​1990s boombox.
The ice cream seems to be the main focus of this shop. However, the ice cream is hidden away in large freezers. There are no pictures or visuals to see and get excited about what to order. I didn’t feel excited about my purchase until the ice cream had been scooped and was sitting in my hand. The one display case featured a couple sad looking white cartons of ice cream instead of showcasing the prettiest things this shop sells.
I really wanted to like this shop, but I just think the owner has some work to do before this place takes off. However, I am confident that based on the quality of her product, her shop could be a real success.

Few things in life tug at my heart strings quite as much as good homemade hard ice cream. It’s a classic that will never die. Growing up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, we had (and still have) some remarkable places to grab a couple of scoops. Kerber’s Dairy (N. Huntingdon, PA), Dave & Andy’s (Oakland) and many more who took a page out of Penn State Creamery’s book of classic and experimental flavors.
We discovered The Ice Box in Cranberry on Memorial Day 2014. It’s tucked behind the strip mall that houses Buffalo Wild Wings and next to an oil change spot called «Grease Monkey.» Research informed me that it used to be called Ryan’s Red Box Deli which gives it ample room for both kitchen, serving and seating. We’ve stopped twice now for take-​out pints and while business seemed slow… ice cream is a mobile food that doesn’t require dining space and they probably have more seating than they need. I do hope customer traffic is steady because the ice cream is excellent!
The owner offers generous samples of their all-​natural ice-​cream which led us to flavors like Brown Sugar Cinnamon, Caramel Cashew, Milky Way and the brand new Graham Central Station. Each was totally satisfying and resulted in our purchase of pints to enjoy later at home. Pints packed so full I am surprised she managed to get the lid on. 2 of them rang up under $ 12.
I hold out high hopes for The Ice Box… you can’t see it from the highway which can be hurtful in a marketing sense. Good word of mouth might be just what they need to succeed and I know I’m ready to give it.

I stopped by here a couple of Wednesdays ago with my fiancé for an after dinner treat. Honestly I had been wanting to come here since it was the Redbox but had never made it before. Whenever we walked in at around 7:30 there was only one other occupied table. The restaurant itself looked like your normal diner type place with a number of booths and tables only much cleaner. There were two signs telling you the ice cream flavors of the day and there was also a chalkboard menu in the humongous sized kitchen/​ice cream area.
Although I was tempted by the «kids favorite» birthday cake ice cream, it was the lemon blueberry chifane that caught my eye. I ended up getting it in a cup instead of a cone. The flavor of it was pretty good and there was some nice sized blueberries in it. While it was good and I polished it off fairly quickly, my only complaint with it would be that I wish there had been a bit more lemon. Overall though it was pretty good ice cream.
The bottom line for me is that I would stop by here again in the future. They have a good selection of ice cream flavors and I think that the prices are comparable to what you would pay elsewhere.

How can Icebox not have any reviews yet? This ice cream here is amazing. The menu has between 15 – 20 flavors, and each one is made in store. Not sure what flavor you want to try? Ask for a sample… or maybe three.
The owner is eager to hear opinions on available flavors and has an open ear for flavor suggestions. She definitely loves her craft, and it shows in taste of the ice cream.
The menu also has sandwiches and crepes, but I cannot speak to how they taste. I could only guess amazing. Since arriving in Cranberry Twp, I have tried a few of the creameries, but my search for delicious ice cream is over.