Dairy-free ice cream brand Seemingly Overzealous is expanding to a second location, according to an Oct. 3 Instagram announcement.
The spot will open at 1308 The Plaza in Plaza Midwood, a location that was formerly home to Cold Hearted Gelato.
Seemingly Overzealous started out as a hobby project in 2022 for couple Garrett Tichy and Jessica Berresse. They opened a brick-and-mortar location in Camp North End in 2023. The brand is known for being dairy-free, gluten-free and egg-free.
“We’re allergy-sensitive, and a year into this, we’re realizing that market is wildly underserved,” Tichy said. “On top of that, in a city as big as we’re in, there’s just a lack of ice cream. Plaza Midwood has been on our radar along with a few other areas in Charlotte, and we came across that opportunity to dive into that space. The response has been really positive and people seem excited to have us [coming to] that side of town.”
The spot in Plaza Midwood will be 1,200 square feet — about double the size of the current shop at Camp North End. As a result, the owners hope to expand both their products and experience. They plan to introduce an expanded menu, with ice cream flights, baked goods and non-alcoholic beverages. They also hope to install an 8-foot Lite Brite in the space for kids visiting the shop, according to a release.
Tichy said they aim to provide an experience in addition to delicious ice cream offerings.
“The way we want people to feel when they come into our shop is big feelings. How do we, in a full experience, make people feel something?” Tichy said. “Ice cream is the easy part. We’re going to make something delicious. There is a detail in every single corner no matter where you look.”
The spot will also feature work from local artists, including a mural by local artist Eulises ‘Eulizerd’ Orellana covering the entire back wall and an exterior mural designed by Mad Goat Studio and painted by muralist Maddy Ebert.
Tichy and Berresse will maintain their current model of a rotating menu with 12 ice cream flavors available, along with gluten-free waffle cones. Their current menu features unique names like 2nd Place Cookies (chocolate chip cookie dough), Never Tear Us Apart (classic butter pecan), Can’t All Be Cookie (cookies and cream), i Needed Someone To Feed (brown sugar cinnamon) and Grey Blobbin’ (earl grey with honey & lemon).
“We wanted to go beyond [just ice cream] and make people feel something,” Tichy said. “Ice cream should be joyful.”
The spot in Plaza Midwood is slated to open in the first or second week of November.
