As soon as Klondike announced that the Choco Taco would no longer be, the wailing began. Social media was filled with cries of no, say it ain’t so and petitions for Klondike to change its mind. Even Serena Williams’s husband (and also the guy who founded Reddit) Alexis Ohanian said he would buy the rights to ensure future generations had a chance to taste a not-as-crispy-as-it-should-be cone shell filled with slightly watered down chocolate and ice cream.
Okay, that’s harsh. But let’s be real — it’s probably been a minute since you actually had a Choco Taco. The outcry seems largely driven by nostalgia and novelty, the comfort of knowing some mediocre but reliable product from your childhood will no longer be there for you to spot in the corner store freezer and go “Oh right, remember those?” But worry not, because it turns out Choco Tacos are everywhere. Across the country, independent ice cream makers have been playing with the form, and making things that are probably better than anything Klondike (a subsidiary of Good Humor-Breyers, itself a subsidiary of Unilever) could serve you.
Nationwide, Salt & Straw announced it would be debuting its version of a Choco Taco on October 4, a little late for summer but it’s the thought that counts. And locally, plenty of purveyors are providing options. In Los Angeles, Oy Bar is serving a classic Choco Taco, and Sad Girl Creamery at Smorgasburg LA serves both a chocolate and a strawberry shortcake-inspired ice cream taco. Rocko’s Ice Cream Tacos has also been operating In Santa Clara, CA in some form since 2012, featuring chocolate and peanut butter dips and a variety of toppings.
In Las Vegas, there’s Happy Ending Chocolate, which serves ice cream tacos in rotating flavors like birthday cake, orange creamsicle, and milk and cookie; Black Tap, whose Churro Choco Taco CrazyShake comes topped with a Choco Taco; and a Choco Taco sundae at Màs Por Favor Taqueria y Tequila.
In Atlanta, Poco Loco Neighborhood Provisions partnered with Butter and Cream ice cream on a “Loco Cocoa Taco,” with sesame and rice crunch. In Chicago, Lonesome Rose and Troubled Pizza both offer their takes on the treat. In Austin, there’s Suerte, which makes a version with cinnamon semifredo and a chocolate masa shell. And in Boston, Honeycomb Creamery has “Choco Taco Tuesdays,” in a rotating cast of flavors.
So fret not, your sweet taco dreams need not be dashed. And even if there’s no version of a Choco Taco around you, you can always make your own.
