{"id":86995,"date":"2026-07-29T00:01:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T06:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=86995"},"modified":"2026-07-28T11:09:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T17:09:20","slug":"novel-ice-cream-mesa-arizona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=86995","title":{"rendered":"Novel Ice Cream &#8211; Mesa, Arizona"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<figure id=\"attachment_86996\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-86996\" style=\"width: 850px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-86996 lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 850px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 850\/638;border: 4px solid black; margin-top: 3px; margin-bottom: 3px;\" data-src=\"https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream01.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"850\" height=\"638\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream01.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 1280w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream01-300x225.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 300w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream01-1024x768.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 1024w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream01-150x113.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 150w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream01-768x576.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 768w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream01.png?size=384x288&lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 384w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream01.png?size=512x384&lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 512w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream01.png?size=640x480&lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 640w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-86996\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Novel Ice Cream in a Mesa, Arizona Alleyway<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Summer_of_George\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Season 8 finale of Seinfeld<\/strong><\/a>, Kramer attends the Tony Awards (for Excellence in Theatre) ceremony as a seat filler for a nominee who leaves his seat. When the musical Scarsdale Surprise wins, the excited actual winners surge past his row and pull him onto the stage. Kramer accepts the award, starts celebrating, and famously declares that &#8220;<em>the Tony is taking me to Sardi&#8217;s<\/em>!&#8221; Producers of the show find Kramer and tell him he can only keep the award if he fires the show&#8217;s star, Raquel Welch, because she does not move her arms when she dances. Kramer nervously goes to fire Welch, but she attacks him and destroys the Tony Award.<\/p>\n<p>Seinfeld was a television comedy show?\u00a0 In &#8220;real life&#8221; prestigious awards aren&#8217;t handed out in error,\u00a0 are they?\u00a0 Hmm, who can forget Steve Harvey announcing the wrong winner at the 2015 Miss Universe Pageant?\u00a0 Or the 2017 Academy Awards when <em>La La Land<\/em> was mistakenly announced as the &#8220;Best Picture&#8221; winner instead of the actual winner, <em>Moonlight<\/em>?\u00a0 Those two examples came to mind when Novel Ice Cream was ranked as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yelp.com\/article\/top-100-ice-cream-shops-2025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>number one donut shop<\/strong><\/a> in the U.S. by Yelp Elite members&#8211;despite actually being an artisan ice cream shop.\u00a0 Despite having only one donut on its menu.\u00a0 One donut.\u00a0 It&#8217;s a warm glazed donut into which ice cream is stuffed.\u00a0 It&#8217;s called the &#8220;Dough Melt&#8221; and it is fabulous!<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_86997\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-86997\" style=\"width: 547px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-86997 lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 547px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 547\/800;border: 4px solid black; margin-top: 3px; margin-bottom: 3px;\" data-src=\"https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream02.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"547\" height=\"800\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream02.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 875w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream02-205x300.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 205w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream02-700x1024.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 700w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream02-103x150.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 103w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream02-768x1123.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 768w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream02.png?size=256x374&lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 256w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream02.png?size=384x562&lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 384w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream02.png?size=512x749&lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 512w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 547px) 100vw, 547px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-86997\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Honors Galore at the Door<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Still, it begs the question, &#8220;Does one donut a best donut shop make?&#8221;\u00a0 Even if that donut was one of the best you&#8217;ve ever tasted?\u00a0 Would McDonald&#8217;s ever win a &#8220;best seafood restaurant&#8221; for having a Fish Filet sandwich in its menu?\u00a0 This is a culinary quandary.\u00a0 In the early 2000s, donut burgers (such as Krispy Kreme&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.krispykreme.com\/more-smiles\/recipes\/dog-days-doughnut-burger\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>doughnut burger<\/strong><\/a>) have shown up in restaurants.\u00a0 Most diners still consider them a novelty, not a serious food item.\u00a0 And, there have been ice cream sandwiches since time immemorial.\u00a0 Maybe it&#8217;s about time ice cream stuffed in between a warm glazed donut became a thing.\u00a0 Novel Ice Cream has made it a thing&#8230;and it&#8217;s winning awards because of it (at least in part because of it).<\/p>\n<p>Novel Ice Cream first opened on March 15, 2017, at its original Grand Avenue location in Phoenix.\u00a0 Aside from the Phoenix location, you can find Novel Ice Cream in Peoria and Mesa.\u00a0 That&#8217;s virtually covering the far west, center and far east of the metropolitan area.\u00a0 Closest to us is the Mesa store which (very unfortunately) is about the size of a closet.\u00a0 Mesa&#8217;s Novel Ice Cream store is ensconced in an alleyway.\u00a0 There is no inside seating to cool you off when it&#8217;s 117-degrees (the temperature on the day of our visit).\u00a0 With temperatures soaring, the ice cream will start to melt even before\u00a0it&#8217;s handed to you.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_86998\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-86998\" style=\"width: 850px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-86998 lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 850px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 850\/691;border: 4px solid black; margin-top: 3px; margin-bottom: 3px;\" data-src=\"https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream03.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"850\" height=\"691\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream03.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 1280w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream03-300x244.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 300w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream03-1024x832.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 1024w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream03-150x122.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 150w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream03-768x624.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 768w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream03.png?size=384x312&lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 384w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream03.png?size=512x416&lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 512w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream03.png?size=640x520&lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 640w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-86998\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bacon Caramel Toffee Ice Cream Donut<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Novel Ice Cream, by the way, doesn&#8217;t solely earn awards for having the country&#8217;s best donut. In 2025, it was ranked the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yelp.com\/article\/top-100-ice-cream-shops-2025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>No. 1 best ice cream shop<\/strong><\/a> in the United States on Yelp&#8217;s Top 100 Ice Cream Shops List.\u00a0 That&#8217;s the second time Novel has earned that accolade.\u00a0 The flagship Phoenix location has achieved a 4.9-star rating over 1,200 Yelp reviews.\u00a0 Mesa and Peoria satellites have achieved similar ratings. Yelp helped Novel gain national attention with its unique \u2018dough melt,\u2019 which went viral on social media. Despite having no marketing budget, the shop\u2019s innovative treat&#8211;a donut sliced in half with a choice of ice cream and toppings&#8211;has captured the hearts and stomachs of ice cream lovers across the country.<\/p>\n<p>It was a given that I would be enjoying the <em><strong>dough melt<\/strong><\/em> during our inaugural visit.\u00a0 The only question was which ice cream flavor would grace the middle of that sliced glazed donut.\u00a0 Choices are listed by the front door and may include such flavors as Bourbon Toffee Caramel Crunch (a best seller), Honey Lavender and Madagascar Vanilla. With my brain being baked by the sun, I rushed my painstakingly thorough decision-making process and ordered the <em><strong>bacon caramel toffee<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 Even as the ice cream melted onto my hands and dripped on my shirt, it was obvious this is a superior ice cream&#8211;as in maybe the best we&#8217;ve ever had ice cream.\u00a0 The donut, too, was outstanding.\u00a0 If Novel made more donuts like this one, they truly would be the country&#8217;s best donut shop.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_86999\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-86999\" style=\"width: 658px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-86999 lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 658px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 658\/800;border: 4px solid black; margin-top: 3px; margin-bottom: 3px;\" data-src=\"https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream04.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"658\" height=\"800\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream04.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 1052w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream04-247x300.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 247w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream04-842x1024.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 842w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream04-123x150.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 123w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream04-768x934.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 768w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream04.png?size=384x467&lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 384w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream04.png?size=512x622&lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 512w, https:\/\/b4385483.smushcdn.com\/4385483\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream04.png?size=640x778&lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1 640w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 658px) 100vw, 658px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-86999\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Madagascar Vanilla Ice Cream With Caramel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>My Kim&#8217;s choice was two scoops of <em><strong>Madagascar vanilla ice cream<\/strong><\/em> in a cup. Madagascar vanilla is the world&#8217;s gold-standard, producing <em>roughly 80% of the global supply.\u00a0 Her ice cream was replete with rich, buttery, and creamy flavor notes&#8211;&#8220;the<\/em> best vanilla Ice cream I&#8217;ve ever had&#8221; she said.\u00a0 Tiny ground vanilla bean flecks are visible throughout the ice cream.\u00a0 The term &#8220;vanilla&#8221; is often used to describe something that&#8217;s conventional, average, and lacks unique excitement.\u00a0 Perhaps this vanilla ice cream should be renamed to something that doesn&#8217;t connote boring.\u00a0 It&#8217;s simply wonderful.<\/p>\n<p>It could be said that everything is novel at Novel Ice Cream where one single donut will change everything you ever thought about donuts and ice cream.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Novel Ice Cream<\/strong><br \/>\n40 N Macdonald #2<br \/>\n<strong>Mesa, Arizona<br \/>\n<\/strong>(602) 579-9198<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/novelicecream.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Website<\/strong><\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/novelicecream\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Facebook Page<\/strong><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>LATEST VISIT<\/strong>: 25 July 2026<br \/>\n<strong># OF VISITS<\/strong>: 1<br \/>\n<strong>RATING<\/strong>: N\/R<br \/>\n<strong>COST<\/strong>: $$<br \/>\n<strong>BEST BET<\/strong>: Madagascar Vanilla Ice Cream with Caramel, Bacon Caramel Toffee Ice Cream Donut<br \/>\n<strong>REVIEW #1537<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the Season 8 finale of Seinfeld, Kramer attends the Tony Awards (for Excellence in Theatre) ceremony as a seat filler for a nominee who leaves his seat. When the musical Scarsdale Surprise wins, the excited actual winners surge past his row and pull him onto the stage. Kramer accepts the award, starts celebrating, and famously declares that &#8220;the Tony is taking me to Sardi&#8217;s!&#8221; Producers of the show find Kramer and tell him he can only keep the award if he fires the show&#8217;s star, Raquel Welch, because she does not move her arms when she dances. Kramer nervously goes to fire Welch, but she attacks him and destroys the Tony Award. Seinfeld was a television comedy show?\u00a0 In &#8220;real life&#8221; prestigious awards aren&#8217;t handed out in error,\u00a0 are they?\u00a0 Hmm, who can forget Steve Harvey announcing the wrong winner at the 2015 Miss Universe Pageant?\u00a0 Or the 2017 Academy Awards when La La Land was mistakenly announced as the &#8220;Best Picture&#8221; winner instead of the actual winner, Moonlight?\u00a0 Those two examples came to mind when Novel Ice Cream was ranked as the number one donut shop in the U.S. by Yelp Elite members&#8211;despite actually being an artisan ice&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":86998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,32,67,5647,4,553],"tags":[5894,5893,5891,5890,5892],"class_list":["post-86995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arizona","category-donuts-specialty","category-ice-cream","category-rating-n-r","category-specialty","category-across-america","tag-absolute-best-ice-cream-in-america","tag-americas-best-ice-cream-shop","tag-bacon-caramel-toffee-ice-cream-donut","tag-madagascar-vanilla-ice-cream-with-caramel","tag-top-50-donut-shops-in-america"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Novel Ice Cream - Mesa, Arizona - Gil&#039;s Thrilling (And Filling) Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=86995\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Novel Ice Cream - Mesa, Arizona - Gil&#039;s Thrilling (And Filling) Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the Season 8 finale of Seinfeld, Kramer attends the Tony Awards (for Excellence in Theatre) ceremony as a seat filler for a nominee who leaves his seat. When the musical Scarsdale Surprise wins, the excited actual winners surge past his row and pull him onto the stage. Kramer accepts the award, starts celebrating, and famously declares that &#8220;the Tony is taking me to Sardi&#8217;s!&#8221; Producers of the show find Kramer and tell him he can only keep the award if he fires the show&#8217;s star, Raquel Welch, because she does not move her arms when she dances. Kramer nervously goes to fire Welch, but she attacks him and destroys the Tony Award. Seinfeld was a television comedy show?\u00a0 In &#8220;real life&#8221; prestigious awards aren&#8217;t handed out in error,\u00a0 are they?\u00a0 Hmm, who can forget Steve Harvey announcing the wrong winner at the 2015 Miss Universe Pageant?\u00a0 Or the 2017 Academy Awards when La La Land was mistakenly announced as the &#8220;Best Picture&#8221; winner instead of the actual winner, Moonlight?\u00a0 Those two examples came to mind when Novel Ice Cream was ranked as the number one donut shop in the U.S. by Yelp Elite members&#8211;despite actually being an artisan ice&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=86995\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gil&#039;s Thrilling (And Filling) Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nmgastronome\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-29T06:01:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NovelIceCream03.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1040\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gil Garduno\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gil Garduno\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/?p=86995#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/?p=86995\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gil Garduno\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d61ea953d9edea6f20385bd1f3a34fa8\"},\"headline\":\"Novel Ice Cream &#8211; 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