UCLA has Diddy Riese, UC Berkeley has Cream, and now UCI has STAX. The cookie bar is a new gourmet cookie and ice cream shop located in University Town Center. STAX cookies and ice cream come in classic flavors like chocolate chip, but also nontraditional flavors like rum raisin. They rotate their flavors often. Their products are all natural, organic and some are even gluten free.
Everyone who knows me knows that I practically live off cookies. So when I came back to school and saw the “coming soon” sign at STAX, I got excited. I’ve been to both Diddy Riese and Cream plenty of times and I don’t mind standing in the long lines just to satisfy my taste buds. I took the time to venture out to STAX to try it out and give my honest opinion for you all. Let’s see if this new cookie place lives up to its close cousins.
I went with their specialty, the custom handmade ice cream sandwich, which they claim has over 4000 possibilities. It’s simple, choose your two cookies, choose your ice cream and enjoy. All for a whopping total (tax included) of $4.05! For a student budget, that is a bit pricey. Especially when you compare it to Diddy Riese’s and Cream’s price of just under two bucks. But you have to consider that their cookies come from organic or gluten free flour. So I guess that makes up for the price. The sandwich itself was quite yummy but like most handmade ice cream sandwiches, it was pretty messy and not functional as a sandwich. Nevertheless, it was still edible. The ice cream tastes fresh but is really soft and particularly cold, which I found to be a problem. Because it was soft and under-frozen, the ice cream melted quickly and slid off the cookies.
Although cookie sandwiches are their specialty, they do sell other ice cream and cookie desserts. One is the Affogato, where freshly brewed espresso is poured over ice cream. I’m not a coffee person at all, so this dessert was not up my alley. But someone with a palate for coffee might like it. They also serve a “Smookie,” a warm cookie topped with vanilla ice cream and hot fudge. This dessert is identical to the famous BJ’s pizookie, just smaller. You can also purchase cookies and scoops of ice cream separately.
Verdict: Overall, this place is quite delicious. It is cookies and ice cream, after all. Their cookies were very good. There are some flavors that I thought would be hard to find a combination for. Thankfully they offer samples of both the cookie and the ice cream, so you can find your perfect combination. With the price, this place is an indulgence, but go ahead and give it a try and tell us what you think.