Salt & Straw in downtown San Diego's Little Italy opened its first San Diego scoop shop in 2017 on India Street, extending a Portland-born, family-run ice cream company founded by cousins Kim and Tyler Malek in 2011. Every flavor is churned in five- to ten-gallon batches using all-natural cream from Scott Brothers Dairy, a century-old family operation in Chino, California — the same farm-to-cone sourcing philosophy that connects local ingredient partnerships at restaurants like Kettner Exchange on nearby Kettner Boulevard. San Diego-exclusive collaborations have included Avocado & Oaxacan Chocolate Fudge and a Peanut Butter Stout with Chocolate Chicharrón developed with Belching Beaver Brewery, layering regional flavors onto a rotating monthly menu that has produced more than 300 original recipes chain-wide. The shop's waffle cones are pressed in-house, and a pint counter lets guests skip the scoop line — a format that feeds the post-dinner dessert traffic flowing from the cluster of Little Italy restaurants and cafes including Influx Cafe Little Italy up the block. The most involved seasonal releases pair multi-component mix-ins — candied fruit, cave-aged blue cheese crumbles, hazelnut butter fudge — into single scoops that function more like plated desserts than traditional ice cream.