A sweet tooth’s dream

A new over-the-top ice cream and sweet shop has opened in downtown Birmingham. Choco Mania, located at 280 E. Merrill Street, is owned and operated by the Safar family. Family member Dani Razooqui said the Safars successfully launched their first store in Sterling Heights in 2019 and scouted a location in Birmingham due to the fact that the city was lacking in dessert shops. Razooqui describes Choco Mania as a European style café offering sweet creations from around the world. Their signature treat is rolled ice cream – a unique dessert, popular in Thailand that is created when liquid ice cream is frozen on a cold metal plate then scraped, rolled and filled with a number of decadent toppings such as Nutella, cheesecake bites, or Oreos. French crepes can be ordered 20 different ways. The Dulce de Leche Crepe features tres leche cake and dulce de leche milk. The Ice Cream Crepe is served with vanilla ice cream, strawberries, bananas, wafer and chocolates. Another popular international sweet is the Dubai Bar – a milk chocolate bar filled with shredded phyllo dough and pistachio sauce. The menu also offers an array of pastries, fresh squeezed juices, smoothies, coffees, bubble teas and acai bowls. 280 E. Merrill Street, Birmingham