BOUNTIFUL—Blacksmith Ice Cream Company on Bountiful’s Main Street has earned a prestigious national honor. It was named the Best Ice Cream Shop in Utah by Yelp.com, which publishes crowd-sourced reviews about businesses. All 50 states were included in the customer survey.

Yelp said the list of the 50 state winners (only one was named for each state) was compiled by analyzing a variety of factors, including total volume and review ratings of each shop between the period of April 21, 2021 and April 21, 2022. Eligible businesses had to also have a passing health score to be considered.

Store owner Mario Harper didn’t know about the honor until his aunt sent a copy of an article on the Yelp website to him.

“It’s kinda cool, of course,” he said. “The fact that this was voted on by customers makes it that much sweeter. We’re still a relatively new shop and this validates that our customers have had a good experience and we’re making a product they like. It’s always great to be on any top list – always exciting.”

The Yelp review said Blacksmith Ice Cream is “located in the heart of historic Bountiful Main Street, and this quaint ice cream shop offers guests a variety of unique and classic handmade scoops. The shop says all ice cream is made in micro-batches throughout the day to ensure peak freshness. Unique flavors include orange creamsicle, peach, banana Nutella, Campfire S’mores, honeybud, peanut butter cup, brownie, banana and so much more.”

Mario and his wife Lindsay, who met while they were students at BYU, owned a successful ice cream shop in Buena Vista, Virginia for three years, but sold it and moved back to his hometown of Bountiful when a store opening occurred on Main Street. They slowly grew their menu and added new flavors, and many new and returning customers, regularly. 

“People ask us all the time, ‘What are you scooping?’ and then they come in and try,” Mario said. They’ve created a list of originals that have become favorites – flavors like Campfire S’mores, fresh raspberry, lemon bar and berry cheesecake.”

“We make it here fresh daily on cold pans and then sell it in scoops,” he said. “Our goal has been to make our ice cream the best. We’re constantly tweaking some of our recipes, finding ways to make it taste better.” He said they also use local and natural ingredients whenever possible, such as peaches from Tagge’s in Brigham City and berries from White Lake Farm in Midvale.

The Harpers were drawn back to Bountiful in large measure by their location at 180 South Main.

“Downtown Bountiful is one of the few walkable, shoppable Main Streets in the country, and we love that,” he said. “It has a very quaint, family feel to it, and it’s fun to have people I went to school with and that we know in the community come into the shop.”

Blacksmith Ice Cream Company is open Monday through Saturday from noon to 10 p.m., and closed on Sundays and holidays. λ