Summer of Ice Cream: Sweet Moses in Gordon Square

Summer of Ice Cream: Sweet Moses in Gordon Square

Tomorrow, July 25th, is National Hot Fudge Sundae Day. As a kid I didn’t like hot fudge. I was more of a chocolate syrup fan. But at some point as I got older I realized the pure joy of hot fudge. The thick texture of fudge is really unbeatable. I usually don’t take any toppings on my ice cream — but when I do, I do hot fudge. I didn’t mean that to be a ripoff of that “most interesting man in the world” commercial, but that’s how it came out. I’m going with it!

Back to our sundaes. In preparation for National Hot Fudge Sundae Day, we wanted to go somewhere that was known for their sundaes. Sweet Moses in Gordon Square is just the place. It’s an old-fashioned soda shop, with soda jerks, phosphates, the whole deal. Stepping in to Sweet Moses feels like you’re stepping back in time. And that’s not just a cheap saying that I’m trying to use — it really does look and feel like the old time soda shops that you’ve seen in movies.

Kerry and I (and Joey) decided to split the Turtle Sundae, which is vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, caramel sauce, salted pecans, whipped cream, and — of course — a cherry on top. The sundaes are a perfect size. If we were both a little hungrier we easily each could have had our own, but we had just eaten a pretty big dinner so we decided to split one. So if you go, and your goal is to eat lots of ice cream, don’t be afraid to get a sundae all to yourself.

I’m usually not a fan of pecans, or generally any sort of nuts in my ice cream. I usually find the texture to be a little too much. I like my ice cream soft! The pecans here really worked. The salt may have been what put me over the edge. With everything else in the cup so sweet, the salty pecans were a great balance. I also really enjoyed that each spoon came with a pretzel wrapped around it. That’s a unique little thing that Sweet Moses does with every sundae. And the combination of fudge and caramel swirling around made sure that every single bite of this sundae was special.

Sweet Moses is an indulgent treat. Their ice cream alone is good … but if you’re going there, you should get a sundae. They have a list of special sundaes that are all named after Cleveland landmarks or people. The Terminal Tower sundae is 10(!) scoops of ice cream! Everything about the place just screams fun and nostalgia. It’s tucked into a very hip area of the city, but when you walk inside you forget what year you’re in. It’s a transportation to a different, delicious time.

Rating: 10 soda jerks out of 10.