After 70 years, Rick’s Ice Cream shares its recipes

DINING SCENE

Sunnyvale’s Pints of Joy aims to preserve site’s craft, flavors

Above: The owners of Rick’s Ice Cream in Palo Alto retired and sold their business and recipes to Pints of Joy in Sunnyvale. Nhat V. Meyer — Staff Photographer

Right: Pints of Joy owners Ketki Dandekar and Arshiya Shaikh, shown in their first shop in 2021, will retain Rick’s employees and hope to maintain the store’s character. Aric Crabb — Staff Photographer

El Forastero, which recently opened in San Ramon, is one of the rare 24-hour restaurants serving diners in the Bay Area. Aric Crabb — Staff photographer

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By Linda Zavoral and John Metcalfe

Staff writers

Computer Chip ice cream, meet Alphonso Mango.

Call it a rich, creamy merger of artisanal, family-owned Bay Area shops. Ice cream lovers can now enjoy handcrafted flavors from two creameries on one cone as the owners of Rick’s Ice Cream in Palo Alto have retired and sold the business and recipes to the entrepreneurs at Pints of Joy in Sunnyvale and Fremont.

“We know what it means to the community, the schoolkids and the numerous residents who have made Rick’s their local dessert stop,” said Ketki Dandekar, who co-founded Pints of Joy and was contacted by the most recent Rick’s owners, the Khosla family.

“Our goal is to preserve everything customers love about Rick’s, while enhancing the experience with the craft, flavors and standards Pints of Joy is known for.

“Just as importantly,” she said, “all current employees will remain on, ensuring familiar faces and the same warm service customers expect.”

Rick’s, also known as Rick’s Rather Rich Ice Cream, was founded in 1956. Among its most popular handmade flavors are Computer Chip, Choco Cherry, Cookies & Dough, Black Raspberry Crunch, Mexican Chocolate and the fruity Blue Moon,

The Computer Chip flavor — chocolate ice cream with chocolate chips and orange flavor — is a Silicon Valley classic. “One byte and you will be software in our hands,” the Rick’s folks have said over the years.

Pints of Joy was co-founded in 2020 by Dandekar and friend Arshiya Shaikh, who decided to pivot during the pandemic from jobs in finance to making ice cream.

“Because we don’t use artificial flavors, essences and colors, our ice creams give you the whole flavor experience — taste, smell, texture,” both said in a 2021 interview about their transition. “We’ve also let our creative juices flow and come up with some very exciting flavors that people can relate to.”

Since the opening of the Sunnyvale flagship, the founders have also expanded to Fremont.

“Our most loved and popular flavors are Alphonso Mango, Chili Lime Guava, Biscoff Cookie and Malai Kulfi, which are now being scooped at Rick’s, too,” Dandekar said,

Details: The co-branded Rick’s and Pints of Joy is open from noon Tuesdays-Sundays until 8 p.m. or 8:30 (Fridays-Saturdays) at 3946 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Closed Mondays. ricksicecream.com

San Ramon gets a 24/7 Mexican restaurant

Twenty-four-hour restaurants are few and far between in the Bay Area. San Ramon just landed a new one, the fast-Mexican chain El Forastero.

The restaurant opened in December inside a former Wendy’s near the I-680 corridor. It’s open 24/7, with a drive-through, and serves “tacos, burritos, loaded fries and all the Mexican favorites you crave,” the company posted on Facebook.

It’s sited between a tire shop and an auto-body shop, so locals will always have a place to eat while their car is getting fixed in the middle of the night.

The Livermore Vine was the first to report news of the opening.

El Forastero was established in 2008 and has grown to nearly 20 locations in California and Nevada, most of them to the west around Sacramento and Stockton. The closest one to the Bay Area seems to be all the way in Manteca, making this new location an exotic presence for East Bay diners.

The menu features all the chain-Mexican staples from tacos to burritos (including breakfast varieties) to nachos to fajitas. There’s a torta sandwich and chimichangas, shrimp cocktails and then birria, served as quesabirria tacos and ramen and something called “pizzabirria.” That would be an 8-inch flour tortilla dipped in chile broth with cheese and beef.

Desserts include flan with ice cream, an Oreo shake and a “churro delight” — churros with vanilla ice cream and chocolate stuffed into a cup. Aside from drive-through and sit-down service, where patrons can take advantage of a salsa bar, the restaurant offers delivery and catering.

Details: Open daily at 2222 San Ramon Valley Blvd., San Ramon; elforastero mexicanfood.com

Send restaurant news tips to Linda Zavoral at lzavoral@bayareanewsgroup.com, Kate Bradshaw at kbradshaw@bayareanewsgroup.com or John Metcalfe at jmetcalfe@bayareanewsgroup.com.