A brand-new shop has opened in the Cypress plaza! The Original Rainbow Cone, established in 1926 in Chicago, Illinois by Joe and Katherine Sapp, has finally made its appearance here in California. The shop’s grand opening was on Friday February 14.
Sapp was never satisfied with just one flavor of ice cream, so he came up with the idea of “sliced” ice cream to have more flavors within a smaller serving of ice cream. They only had one location until the third-generation owner, Lynn Sapp, decided to expand and grow the company in 2019. The company franchised and started to open locations in Florida, Texas and now California.
Their Original Rainbow Cone consists of five different flavors, making it a unique combination. The cone consists of slices of chocolate, strawberry, Palmer House, pistachio, and orange sherbet. Palmer House, is Sapp’s own creation, New York vanilla with walnuts and cherries. There is actually a scientific reason for the order of these flavors! The outer layer of orange sherbet cleanses your palate, preparing you for the next flavors, with the chocolate being the last flavor to hit your tongue with its strong, rich taste. Although this is their signature item, they also have 13 other flavors to choose from, as well as doughnuts, shakes, sundaes, root beer floats, ice cream sandwiches and even ice cream cakes. The standard items tend to range from about $5-$10 with additional cakes being roughly $50. The shop also offers party packs ranging from $70-$110.
Robbin and Anne Hsiung are the owners of the California location here in Cypress. Anne Hsiung grew up in Chicago enjoying Rainbow Cone, which became one of her favorite childhood memories. Her dream was to bring the nostalgic Rainbow Cone not only share with her family, but bring it to Southern California to share with the surrounding communities. The Hsiungs chose Cypress as the first location because they wanted to be able to hire from the high school and college providing students within an easy commute, and giving students invaluable work experience. With the shop being open seven days a week from 11AM-10PM, this makes it convenient for their employees to start work right after school. Hsiung says that she “is excited to learn more about the community of Cypress” and that she “could not have chosen a better place to open her ice cream shop.” One of the company’s biggest challenges while opening this location, however, is the logistics of being able to get product to the shop in California since they are so far away from their suppliers in the Midwest. The Buonas (the owners of the brand) have been excellent mentors and have assisted Hsiung with “their experience in the restaurant business and helping [her] to be able to bring [the franchise] to California.” Although the company is known for the Rainbow Cone, the owners say the second most popular cone at this location is the Chocolate Obsession. Some of the Hsiung hopes that she can establish this location in Cypress as a place for the community to gather and for families to celebrate special occasions, creating wonderful memories for their children, similar to how the Sapp family did within Chicago neighborhoods.
Rainbow Cone is a great addition to the Cypress community, especially for ice cream lovers of all ages.
