I sat in a yellow chair waiting for my Therapist. I admired a pink wall decorated with 3D faces topped with bobbed hair with long bangs. On the opposite wall, an abstract mural in blue and purple reminded me of ocean waves.
Then The Therapist arrived, a chocolate milkshake wonder at PopLove Gelato in Virginia Beach, the only Virginia location and the fourth for the Florida-based chain. Husband and wife, Flover Villa and Andrea Bernal from Colombia, own the local shop. The cute ice cream shop opened last month in the Timberlake Shopping Center serving milkshakes, smoothies and cold drinks topped with handmade gelato popsicles.
Though prices aren’t listed in the store or website, the owners’ daughter Alejandra Villa will help you navigate the menu. You can mix and match the popsicles with the drinks, or enjoy a popsicle by itself. They come in 35 flavors such as Nutella, rum raisin and lulo, a fruit native to Colombia with citrus notes.
They looked like they were made in conjoined ice cube molds. My Therapist gave me the help I needed. The fluffy Chantilly cream held the Pirouette cookie, popsicle and straw in place.
I scooped up layers of chewy brownie mixed with luscious chocolate ice cream from the middle of the plastic cup and the taste woke up my endorphins. Swirls of melted chocolate throughout the shake gave it more sensational goodness. The icing on the milkshake, or, should I say, popsicle, was the Ferrero Rocher — chocolate gelato with crunchy bits of hazelnut.
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