The Hop West

Love The Hop-​west! It’s the same family feel, only smaller than the other Hop. Fun, bright and colorful inside, and a quaint little courtyard in the back.
Cons: parking is ALWAYS an issue. Unless you go on a totally off night. If you go with a a group (5 or more), depending, but there is a good chance you will have to get it to go. Not as big of ice cream selection as the other location.
Pros:their ice cream is the bomb! The variety of flavors and the combos they create is amazing. The have a variety of sugar free, gluten free and use all local produce and products! !
They are family owned and work hard! They support all sorts of local groups and events. I love the fact that they always have something new to try, and one of my favorite things… they always have pup cups. ice cream I can take home to my dogs!

I LOVED everything about The Hop. I tried two flavors and settled on a dish of their Blueberry Kale ice cream. It was perfect! Not too sweet, a great match of flavors, and it was the perfect amount for me! The employees were very pleasant, and they are dog friendly, which is also a great bonus! I will definitely be coming back!

I love living in a town where I have to choose which locally-​owned and operated homemade ice cream place is going to get my loyalty.
The Hop won that battle, and the west location on Haywood is my favorite location of their 2.5 locations.
Not only do you get some insanely creative flavors to choose from, but the actual quality of the ice cream is second to none. Always creamy, always packed full of flavor, and always exactly as advertised. I’m admittedly a bit bummed that they stopped carrying Nutella as a topping for sundaes, but hopefully if I whine enough, they’ll bring it back.
Doesn’t matter, because they’re still easily my go-​to for ice cream around here.

3.5 stars
I’m not sure what the hype is all about. I sampled a few flavors (No sugar pistachio, Coffee, Cardamom, Chocolate Orange, and Gingerbread) and it was good but it’s not something I would be crazy about. I committed to the coffee, which is my usual go to flavor, and it leaned more on the sweet side. I was also impressed by their no sugar pistachio not having sugar.
The staff was very friendly and funny. He tried to scare me saying they charged for sampling!

Honey basil peppercorn! Beat that for a flavor, especially as a first-​time visitor to The Hop. We were exploring West Asheville after a long day downtown, and audible squeal escaped me when we happened upon The Hop. I have been avoiding sweets and decreasing my intake of added sugar over the last 3 – 4 months, but knew I could not avoid trying out a flavor. I ordered a kiddie cone of the honey basil peppercorn; it was the perfect semi-​savory flavor to sample, wasn’t overly sweet, and didn’t shock my system. The staff was friendly and allowed us to sample flavors before making the big decision. The flavors ranged from traditional to the unique (i.e. the peppercorn, blueberry goat cheese, olive oil, etc.). My philosophy is, why try traditional flavors when such creative, one-​time offerings exist?
We visited on a Thursday afternoon and were one of three (3) customers. When driving by on Friday night, we noticed the store was packed with a line out the door. If you don’t have a lot of patience for flavor-​samplers and decision-​dawdlers, you may want to time your visit during off-​peak hours.

Very nice little patio outside! I had the chocolate toasted quinoa ice cream and it was delicious! Lots of options.

Unique favors. Tried the Camembert raspberry and it was delicious. Got a scoop of coffee and salted caramel. Coffee was very good. Caramel was excellent. Our server was very kind and patient (we have four kids). Also got a brownie for one of my boys. It was rich and dense but not too chocolatey. Prices are reasonable. Will come again.

Hop’s reputation definitely precedes itself locally! I’ve heard rumors of Rice Pudding Ice Cream deliciousness! What’s better than a double scoop of ice cream on a hot day? (Well, normally I would say ice cold beer, but today ice cream was the answer!)
Hop West is fairly small, but there are some indoor seating areas and an outdoor patio in the back. Choices range from Vegan to Dairy and flavors do change frequently.
I nabbed myself a scoop of Carmel Latte and one of Butter Pecan today. The coffee/​espresso portion was rich and well balanced with the «Carmel». The Butter Pecan was a little light on the pecans and tasted more like straight vanilla. The «butter «note was either super light or missing. The overall quality of the ice cream was great. You can tell it was made with love.

Yummy ice cream in West Asheville! I had the pleasure of sampling the Indian Rice Pudding at a Unilocal event and I had to come back for more! We got the brownie sundae and it was amazing. The salted Carmel flavor is delicious too. The staff was very patient even with the annoying Tweens taking forever to make a decision in front of us. Great place to get a treat anytime!

Best ice cream flavors ever. And today they had Gluten Free Cookies and Cream! Yay. Their milk shakes are excellent also. They only use the beat ingredients, and have local and vegan options too.

Visited Asheville for a long weekend and stayed in West Asheville. This place has some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had. I tried a few, but ended up choosing the Salted Caramel (customer favorite) and the Chocolate by Death flavors. The staff were nice and helpful. Only downside was that it is a relatively small place and thus the number of flavors is somewhat limited. They also offer shakes, sundaes, toppings, and espresso beverages. Will come back!

The ice cream was soooo good!!! I got 2 scoops and it was a ton of ice cream. The prices were a lot more reasonable than I expected walking in the door. And you really just can’t beat the taste. I got the salted caramel and coffee. Great combo! They offered a lot of inventive flavors and also a lot of vegan and dairy free options. I would highly recommend!

Delicious homemade ice cream on a Sunday evening in August. The staff was extremely friendly and knowledgeable about their all natural ingredients. Reasonably priced for the fresh ingredients you are getting and tasting in every lick/​bite. A definite stop in Asheville, NC.

Interesting, divey and funky place — though perhaps not the most inviting on the outside, it is definitely welcoming once you give it a go. On the inside, there is a complete mismatch of everything: Chairs look as if they are found on the side of the road, paint from the dumpster outside the paint store and even flavors that have no business going together.
I mean really — who puts mustard and ginger into ice cream? These guys do. Now I can’t say that they are really good flavors — but they are certainly interesting, that’s for sure. If you’re in the area, you can definitely do worse than stopping here for a treat. Just be prepared for anything and you’ll be set.

This place has a very nice ambiance, but maybe I caught the staff on a bad day because they were not very friendly and while eating my ice cream, I found HAIR all throughout it!

Honestly, wasn’t as impressed as the ratings represent. Decent, but certainly not the best.

This is a great little place for ice cream in West Asheville. It’s home made ice cream, they have several delicious flavors, and a colorful and comfortable indoor seating area. There is also a patio out back, which is really great on a warm summer evening.

This place is fantastic! Lots of Vegan/​Dairyfree options, great prices, helpful staff, and they do things for Kids during the summer.
I had the Goat Milk Chocolate and the Coffee Crisp Coconut milk and they were amazing. I can’t wait to go back.

I let Unilocal lead me to an ice cream place and in Asheville, I should have expected something like this. Off the wall and unique. Not that there’s anything wrong with that at all. In fact, this place is as unlike the standard «froyo» as you can possibly get.
A small hole-​in-​the-​wall with tables and chairs that don’t match and a pile of board games greet you along with a couple coolers of ice cream with some of the most unusual ice cream flavors I have ever heard of. Sure, they have vanilla and chocolate and strawberry, but why not try the Bulldog Tracks or the Salted Caramel or the Fresh Ginger. I had a taste of the Lusty Monk Mustard. Surprisingly good, but not something you could really eat a whole scoop of. Yes, brown mustard mixed into vanilla ice cream. Try it!
I went with a single scoop of the Thai Curry. Sweet and spicy, it tasted exactly like advertised — the slight zing of Thai curry spices mixed through the ice cream. A scoop was all of it that I could handle. Not that it wasn’t good — it was excellent — but it’s a strong flavor!
I would absolutely return and I’ll go off the beaten path with their different flavors!

Love the variety of ice cream! I Cute little shop with very friendly staff. Had the spicy chocolate and the honey lavender. Hubby had the mint with Oreo chips and the coffee. I didn’t wonder why their mint flavor didn’t look green, of course it was because they didn’t use food colors! A+!
Love that they have vegan and doggie ice cream!