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Spring has sprung!
I know that Southeast Idaho has been soaking in that sun the last few days! You know what would make these warm days feel even better? Have you ever heard of Karie Anne’s?
Ahh yes, the glorious mix of Italian ice and custard brings only one thing…divine gelati.
Gelati is essentially a stack of Italian Ice, Custard, Italian Ice (depending on the size). Usually, this refreshing treat is found on the east coast, but luckily enough, one local decided that Southeast Idaho needed to taste what he was tasting.
The Initial Start of Karie Anne's
Back in 2010, a young IBC (integrated business core) student at BYUI created this business from scratch.
For those of you who are not familiar with IBC, it is essentially created and run by students.
This young man lived on the east coast prior to the start of his business. There he fell in love with the Gelati dessert. Once he decided that this cold treat would make a heck of a dessert, he presented the idea to BYUI for approval for his IBC business. Only thing left was the name…
The young man decided the only thing that would make this gelati sweeter, would be to name it after his adored wife, Karie Anne.
He was able to get permission to take it off campus and had it near neighborhoods. One woman and her family began seeing the buzz of Karie Anne’s and knew they had to check it out.
Meet Jesicca Mortensen
When Jessica’s youngest child was about to start kindergarten, she decided to start looking for something more to occupy her days. It was then that she began searching for business opportunities.
She was lucky enough to stumble upon Karie Anne’s little dessert truck parked just around the corner from their home and was instantly in love with it.
Once the student ran it for a couple summers and then graduated college, she offered to buy it from him.
From 2012- current, it has been owned, operated, and grown by this super star of a woman! Jessica explained, “One of the biggest reasons my husband and I wanted to purchase Karie Anne’s was so that our 3 kids would be able to learn a thing or two from running a business”. You may be lucky enough to catch some of her kids working on the dessert truck.
Location
The location this food truck used to dwell in for many years was parked just east of Rexburg’s Dairy Queen. That lot was unfortunately bought out by U-Haul. So, Karie Anne’s adjusted and moved their location to directly behind the Walgreens in Rexburg, ID. This is the first season in which they will dwell here, luckily for locals, it is closer to walking distance.
The original Karie Anne’s of course started out in Southeast Rexburg, Idaho. However, due to the success of Karie Anne's, two more locations were added for the benefit of the customers, one in Logan, UT and one in Pocatello, ID.
1. Rexburg, ID
32 S. 2nd E.
Rexburg, Idaho
83440
(behind Walgreens)
2.
Logan, UT
1655 North Main St
Logan, Utah
84321
3.
Pocatello, ID
465 Yellowstone Ave.
Pocatello, Id
83201
Community Outreach Efforts
Jessica expressed that what she loves most about food trucks, is that they do only a few things, but do them very well. Their prime focus is the Gelati dessert, but also offer solo italian ice, or solo custard if you are feeling something more simple.
Jessica enjoys and takes pride in making sure that all of their ingredients and dairy are super high quality and fresh. You can definitely taste the nature of that within every bite. Karie Anne’s is so unique and special because of what they serve and how they serve it. Don’t be fooled by their cute bright yellow food truck, they provide the utmost care and respect. The employees are always very kind, helpful, and happy to be there (which says a lot about a business).
What I enjoyed learning about Jessica was that she likes to give back to the community and invite live local bands to come play and entertain her guests. She recognizes the value in a strong community and even participates in city council meetings to ensure that we do the best we can for the people here.
Because this was an original student-run business, Jessica feels loyal to the students of BYUI and often hires interns to help teach about growing and running a business. You may have even seen her in a BYUI classroom voluntarily teaching a thing or two about business management.
Jessica believes that there are so many amazing homegrown opportunities and businesses here and has great optimism for the future of Southeast, Idaho.
The Nitty Gritty of Running a Business
Karie Anne’s business owner knows that nothing good comes without its challenges. One of the frustrating parts of owning and operating a food truck business is that you can’t dictate the weather. Food trucks are an outside restaurant, so sometimes the weather scares customers away. Despite the weather's efforts, Karie Anne’s does its best to ensure comfort for all those who come by providing a sturdy canopy tent protecting the seating and customers under it. Rain or shine, comfort and hospitality is their offering.
The Future for Karie Anne's
Karie Anne’s is currently working on merchandise to sell to their customers. Currently they are selling stickers but looking to add on to that. Their goal this season is to me more consistent with their live music and continue to add new weekly flavors.
*Weekly flavors change every week (these are written into the menu). Be sure to keep up on their new flavors by following them @karieannesdesserts
The Menu
Their most popular flavor is Tiger’s Blood or Pina Colada.
Wondering what to choose? Let me let you in on a little secret menu item…The Dragon Slayer. That is a mix of the two most popular Italian Ice flavors mixed with your choice of custard mixed in. SO GOOD! Jessica’s go to is raspberry Italian Ice and chocolate custard (she’s a tarte lover).
I went yesterday (my second time in less than four days!) and I chose their weekly flavor of salted caramel custard with Tiger’s Blood Italian Ice. AMAZING. My husband chose a vanilla based custard with their weekly special Southern Belle Italian Ice flavor, he too loved it!
I love that there are always new flavors to try out, and they are happy to let you sample before you try.
My Experience:
Overall, my experience and love for Karie Anne’s Italian Ice and Custard grew due to the kindness of the staff, the quality of the ingredients and flavors, the entertaining and welcoming atmosphere, and the amazement I got from meeting Jessica Mortensen, the great business owner of the one and only, Kari Anne’s.
Business Hours:
This is a seasonally run food truck which means that it is typically opened during the spring and summer. More specifically, the first week in May through the last week in September.
Run weekly with the hours shown below:
M-Th 11am-10pm
F-Sat 11am-10pm
Sun Closed
Contact Information:
Rexburg (208) 821-1130
Logan (435) 760-1167
Pocatello (208) 244-2078
Thanks for reading! Make sure to follow me on more.thanpotatoes