Rainy mornings are for Karma Cream's ice cream
by Kimberly Ramírez
Gainesville, Fla. in the summer is not always sunny; sometimes, it rains all day. Cloudy skies hovered over Gainesville at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, June 6th, 2018. Karma Cream, a local ice cream cafe, stands at the heart of the Gainesville community and is ready to offer ice cream and other goodies despite the inclement weather.
Karma Cream has been a landmark for students at the University of Florida since 2009 when it was first established. The venue used to be located near UF but moved to its current location closer to downtown in February 2017, which is 607 W. University Ave. The owner, Kyle Fick, wanted more seating space for customers. (Here's an article from The Independent Florida Alligator that covers the venue's reopening at the new location.) The cafe opens on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. On weekends, it opens from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The venue welcomes its clients by writing out what it offers: ice cream, coffee, baked goods and sandwiches. The cafe offers inside seating, as well as outside seating. However, the weather in Gainesville calls for sitting inside.
Karma Cream specializes in using organic, vegan and fair trade certified ingredients to craft its pastries, ice cream, coffee and sandwiches. Its pastry menu includes: carrot cakes, chocolate chip cookies, Walnut ginger chai biscottis, apricot currant-walnut scones and much more! The pastries available vary from day to day. Pictured above are the Fostess cupcakes.
Karma Cream sells specialty drinks such as beer, tea and coffee. The cafe crafts sandwiches with organic ingredients and locally baked bread.
"To make every ingredient in our sandwiches vegan, we use tempeh bacon and turkey made from tofu,” said Collin McGill, 21, an employee at Karma Cream since July 2017. He is a junior business administration major in UF from Tampa, Fla.
McGill holds a cappuccino flavored organic and vegan ice cream in a waffle cone. He said the most popular ice cream flavors are vegan salted caramel and vegan chocolate, which the cafe did not have at the moment. However, there are 12 other vegan flavors to try, as well as 12 dairy flavors. All of which are organic, as well as the toppings offered.
"Karma Cream gets really busy from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on any given day,” said McGill. “A lot of people with dietary restrictions visit our cafe. I am lactose-intolerant myself, so I can enjoy the ice cream here.”
Karma Cream's success in Gainesville continues to grow as it keep its promise of serving vegan, fair trade and organic treats to students and locals.