When Anna Salentine discovered she was gluten-free three years ago, she wasn’t met with many gluten-free ice cream options — until she visited the newly opened Murphy’s Ice Cream Shoppe. Salentine, a junior at Notre Dame, said she visited the ice cream shop the day before classes started Aug. 26 and has returned twice since.
The store, located near the corner of Eddy Street and Angela Boulevard, opened this spring to serve the Notre Dame and South Bend communities. Murphy's boasts 24 flavors of ice cream on the menu plus three pre-scooped flavors that are switched.
Tess Reinhart, a junior at Notre Dame, said when she visited the ice cream shop the line extended past the neighboring O’Rourke’s Public House. She added even as people realized how long the line was they remained in line. Similarly when Salentine visited the shop, she said the line was out the door.
“I just think it is pretty universally accepted as being something that people enjoy eating, enjoy partaking in,” Reinhart said. “No one's ever really said no to ice cream before and I think you can always rally the troops when it comes to going.”
When Reinhart visited the shop, she ordered the dairy-free mint oreo ice cream. She noted that she likes to avoid dairy products as much as she can.
“I think ice cream shops are doing a pretty good job of being inclusive to all sorts of allergens and sensitivities,” Reinhart said.
Finding birthday cake ice cream at Murphy’s was something Salentine found “very nostalgic” since it was her favorite flavor of ice cream as a kid. She added that Murphy’s has nutritional information on a sheet by all of the ice creams.
“I think most ice cream shops have a variety of flavors. But the thing that I liked so much about Murphy’s is that there’s such a wide variety and a lot of different options for different kinds of dietary needs,” Salentine said. “I'm pretty sure I saw no sugar added ice creams, vegan ice creams.”
Salentine noted that the shop's walking distance from campus will be a huge advantage. Salentine joked that having an ice cream shop so close to campus was “dangerous.”
“I think it just really adds so much to the campus experience,” Reinhart said. “We've never really had anything like that — so it’s a fun little outing.”
Salentine said she will continue to visit the shop, even as the weather cools.
“I can eat ice cream in all seasons, it doesn’t matter,” Salentine said.
Mary Williams, a sophomore at Notre Dame said she has visited the shop six times with three friends who she’s doing the ice cream challenge with.
Williams said she’s spent hours sitting in Murphy’s and that she’s enjoyed getting to know the owners.
“They've got fun articles on the wall, and you can see how the family's connected to the Notre Dame community,” Williams said. “So it's just really nice to kind of sit and go into a Notre Dame place and celebrate Notre Dame.”
Salentine said visiting the ice cream shop was really fun for her adding that she enjoyed the shop’s outdoor seating.
“It was really fun because I went with all my friends, and we walked over there after dinner,” Salentine said. “It was kind of like the perfect way to get a sweet treat, which we all really enjoy after meals.”
