Funky business: New ice cream shop offers unique experience
Apr. 11—TUPELO — Towering nearly a foot tall, the "Chunky Monkey" is a waffle cone filled with butter pecan ice cream, bananas, caramel syrup, whipped cream, peanuts and chocolate Pocky.
It's one of the signature "Funky Cones" at the newest ice cream shop in Tupelo that bears the same name.
Owner Shona McNairy opened Funky Cones in February, next to Brick & Spoon in the Crye-Leike Plaza on North Gloster Street.
"It was an idea I had about four years ago," she said. "I'm from Alabama, and my family has been catering for years. My mom does cakes and all sorts of baked goods. We came up with the waffle recipe and decided to open this."
The waffle cones aren't the usual crunchy ones, however. Called bubble cones, they're made like traditional waffle cones expect they're dotted with bubbles to give the cones a fluffy inside to go with the crispy outside.
It's a snack made popular in Hong Kong years ago. Referred to as egg waffles, or "gai daan jai" in Cantonese, the cones' texture is often described as a cross between a cookie and sponge cake.
It takes about two minutes to make a cone.
"It's nothing new, but it's new to this area," McNairy said. "We came up with our own recipe for the waffle, which took a lot of trial and error."
Getting a Funky Cone is a relatively simple process. First, pick a waffle flavor, either original or chocolate. Then pick from one of a dozen of Blue Bell ice cream flavors, followed by up to three toppings.
A funky cone costs $6.29, but customers can also get ice cream without the cone. Prices start at $2.59 for a single scoop, $3.99 for a double and $4.99 for a triple. Toppings can be added for 89 cents each.
Besides the Chunky Monkey, five other signature Funky Cones are available, including Death by Chocolate, made of a chocolate waffle, chocolate ice cream, chocolate syrup, M&Ms, Oreos and a chocolate pocky; as well as the Berry Kiss made of an original waffle, strawberry ice cream, strawberry syrup, Fruity Pebbles, whipped cream and strawberry Pocky.
Also, Funky Sandwiches are available for $3.99. Similar to the Funky Cones, a customer can choose either chocolate chip or sugar cookies, an ice cream flavor, and then half is dipped in chocolate shell and topped with sprinkles.
Funky Sundaes are $3.89 for a single scoop, and up to two toppings can be added. All sundaes also come with whipped cream and a cherry.
To round out the menu, warm brownie and floats also are available.
"Our customers take about five minutes to order because the choices can be overwhelming at times," McNairy said with a smile.
McNairy herself designed the eatery's interior, and he cleverly placed "cones" on one wall of the shop.
And its popularity is growing, especially with the temperatures starting to rise.
"It's been very well received, and we're mostly busy on the weekends, Friday to Sunday," she said.
As for a future expansion of the concept, McNairy said she'll play it by ear for now.
"Our thoughts are to possibly add another location on the other side of town and possibly a few other locations ... but one step at a time," she said.
