black ice cream toronto

Black ice cream draws huge lineups in Toronto

It's not unusual for ice cream shops to draw long lineups in Toronto. Queues regularly snake down Ossington by Bang Bang and on John Street as folks wait for Sweet Jesus.

The latest lineup-inducing ice cream parlour is ihalo Krunch, which sells black - or activated charcoal-infused - soft serve.

One person, according to a post on Instagram, drove for an hour, waited in line for an hour and a half (in the rain, no less), just to get some black ice cream.

According to a rep from ihalo Krunch, some customers waited for about 20 minutes, while others stood outside on Queen Street West for up to an hour and a half.

A post shared by rachel may (@rachie.liu) on

The line grew when staff had to whip up more cones. "Ihalo Krunch makes all of the charcoal cones in house, and when supplies ran low, rather than turning people away, they continued to make cones to serve all their guests," said the rep via email.

Staff also gave queuing customers free water and handed out free gelato and sorbet to kids who were waiting in the line.

Activated charcoal, or goth, ice cream became popular on Instagram after appearing in Los Angeles and New York City. While it's aesthetically pleasing, its supposed detoxifying benefits are about as frothy as soft serve.

Lead photo by

@michaellylecobb


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