Coralville is getting a bit sweeter.
The national cookie chain, Crumbl, will officially open on Friday, March 28, at 2797 Commerce Dr. in the same strip as Kohl's and Famous Footwear. Signage for the cookie shop first popped up in January.
Local franchisees Aricka and Michael Hilton opened their first Iowa location in Dubuque in 2022. The couple was introduced to Crumbl while living in Utah, where the brand started in 2017.
Co-founders Jason McGowan and Sawyer Hemsley teamed up “on a quest to bake the perfect chocolate chip cookie." In the eight years since, Crumbl has expanded to include more than 1,000 bakeries, making it the fastest-growing cookie company in the U.S., according to its website.
The Hilton's love for cookies and making people happy inspired them to open a second store in Coralville.
“I saw the impact on the community, how excited people were, and the joy and happiness it brought," Michael Hilton said. "If someone had a bad day, came into the store, got cookies, when they held that box, everything changed.
We saw people experience joy from these cookies. It became more than just a business; we fell in love with it.”
The Coralville Crumbl location is the ninth in Iowa. Crumbl has two locations in the Des Moines Metro area and other bakeries in Davenport, Ames, Dubuque, Cedar Falls, and Cedar Rapids.
What to expect at Crumbl
Crumbl specializes in 5.5-ounce cookies using familiar ingredients such as sugar, flour, butter, and eggs. After two hours of baking, Crumbl considers the cookies "out of code." Each cookie is about the size of your palm, and the bakery has an open kitchen so customers can watch the baking process. The store also offers mini desserts and chilled cookie varieties.
Crumbl rotates its flavors weekly, selecting new ones from a cookbook of 170-plus recipes. Customers can find the current selection on a "sizzle reel" on the Crumbl Cookies website. The menu always features the milk chocolate chip, along with more innovative varieties like the Fruit Pizza cookie and Dirt Cake, inspired by the dessert Mud and Worms. Crumbl also sells ice cream and milk.
“(One of my favorites) is Boston Cream Pie, and I've been to Boston and had a Boston Cream Pie, but this cookie is better,” Michael Hilton said.
The baked offerings come in single servings or packaged in pink boxes filled with four, six, or a dozen. Each cookie is frosted and topped as they're ordered from an iPad screen in-store. They can also be ordered online for pickup.
“(If people have never had Crumbl before), they need to be prepared that they're going to be tasting one of the best cookies in the world,” said Dylan Posada, the manager of the Coralville location.
Crumbl is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and is closed on Sundays.
Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and education reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at[email protected] or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rishjessica_