Downtown Dessert Destination
Just across from Petaluma’s Putnam Plaza Park on Petaluma Boulevard is the iconic Lala’s Creamery, a place to enjoy the very best ice cream treats. Surrounded by the Petaluma downtown area’s best restaurants, Lala’s Creamery is well-positioned to service your after-dinner sweet tooth. Or perhaps provide an excuse to enjoy a cold treat on a hot day. As their sign says, “We can NEVER have enough ICE CREAM.”
Like all of the businesses in Petaluma, getting through the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t been easy, but Lala’s Creamery remained open by embracing the local safety guidelines.
Now that things are starting to open up, owner Angela Pryor and her staff will continue using masks and meeting all safety requirements for the foreseeable future. Her customers expect nothing less.
Inside, you will find an old-fashion ice cream shop atmosphere, with milkshake machines on the shelves, pints and quarts of take-and-go containers in the freezer, and a display case of all the great baked goods on offer. Try a fresh cookie or vegan brownie. People come from miles away to enjoy their favorite baked goods. It’s not unheard of to run into people who traveled from all parts of the Bay Area to get their favorite ice cream flavors.
Starting with the finest organic base ingredients from the local Straus Family Dairy, Angela and her staff stay busy crafting the large variety of ice cream flavors offered. All of the fruit used is organic and sourced locally. And, of course, actual chocolate is used in all of the recipes. There are no artificial flavorings used in any of the recipes, only the highest-quality ingredients. Petaluma is famous for eggs, milk, and butter, so it’s only natural to turn them into the best premium-quality ice cream and baked items. You can taste the difference.
Angela will soon be making ice cream and baking tempting treats out of a commercial kitchen. The current kitchen is too small to prepare everything needed to keep the store stocked efficiently. After all, we wouldn’t want Lala’s Creamery to run out of your favorite flavor!
Freshly made waffle cones are a customer favorite, and Lala’s makes their cones daily. Angela has developed a unique recipe for a gluten-free, charcoal-activated waffle cone that her customers rave about. Nowhere else will you find such a delicious treat that everyone can enjoy!
Angela’s family has a long and storied history in Northern California. Her direct ancestors, the Benitz’s, owned Fort Ross for twenty years as ranchers after buying the land from John Sutter in 1849. After the Gold Rush, the Benitz family moved to Argentina in 1870 and prospered as ranchers for four generations.
At the beginning of the millennia, Angela and her family moved from Argentina to California to go back to school at the San Francisco Art Institute. She received an MFA in Painting and spent the next ten years as a middle and high school teacher at Summerfield Waldorf School and Farm in Santa Rosa. Her husband served as the Business Manager there until the family decided to dedicate their full-time energy to making delicious ice cream for the people of Petaluma. Their goal is to continue improving product quality and friendly service while bringing Angela’s Ice Cream to more people in California.
Make a trip downtown to enjoy a shake, sundae, cone, or baked treat. You’ll find all your favorites in one place. Happiness and fun, Under the Petaluma Sun!
Lala’s Creamery
134 Petaluma Blvd N
Petaluma, CA 94952
707-774-6567
Open daily: Sunday through Thursday noon to 9:30; Friday and Saturday noon to 10pm
Story and photos by Steven Ward;
Read about more of his adventures at 10MinuteTravel