The Bay Area’s ice cream scene is famously eclectic—think soft serve made with Japanese dairy, sundaes with anchovy sauce, and floats with fermented fruit soda. But one unique frozen dessert has been notably absent: booza, the centuries-old Arab ice cream famous for its chewy, elastic texture.
Now, thanks to Roast & Toast, a cozy new café in Berkeley, locals can finally taste this rare delicacy.
What Is Booza?
Booza is sometimes called the world’s first ice cream, tracing its roots back to the 15th century. It gained fame at Bakdash, a legendary shop in Damascus, Syria, that’s been serving the frozen treat since 1885. What sets booza apart is its signature stretch, created using mastic (a tree resin) and salep (a powder made from orchid root). Unlike churned Western-style ice cream, traditional booza is pounded by hand with heavy wooden mallets to activate its distinctive chew.
At Roast & Toast, tucked on Shattuck Avenue, the booza may be easy to overlook among matcha and salted caramel gelato—but once spotted, it’s unforgettable. A spoonful stretches like melted mozzarella and is finished with a crunchy topping of chopped pistachios and kataifi, thin strands of sweetened phyllo dough.
From TikTok Trend to Berkeley Treat
Owner Fadi Alhour, originally from Palestine, was inspired by a viral TikTok of a Dubai booza shop. In the video, an employee rhythmically chants the ingredients while workers pound the ice cream in a mesmerizing routine.
“It’s trending,” Alhour says. “So many people are asking for it.”
Though Roast & Toast doesn’t pound its booza, Alhour insists that the magic is in the ingredients, not the theatrics. He carefully grinds mastic by hand (electric grinders make it clump) and sources pure salep from Turkey. Just a teaspoon of each, mixed with rose water, milk, cream, and sugar, gives booza its dense, almost marshmallow-like texture.
The café currently offers classic booza and a cardamom-rose water variation, with new flavors like dark chocolate, matcha, or brownie potentially on the horizon.
A New Chapter for Ice Cream—and for Alhour
Roast & Toast is Alhour’s first food venture. Previously, he ran a mechanic shop and shipping business before his passion for coffee turned into a full-fledged café—and eventually into an ice cream experiment that quite literally broke the gelato machine multiple times.
Roast & Toast isn’t the only place to find booza in the Bay. Levant Dessert in Menlo Park, run by Maya Fezzani, also offers a traditional take—rolled into logs and covered in pistachios, flavored with orange blossom, and occasionally featured in a chocolate-kataifi sundae inspired by another viral trend.
Still, booza remains rare in the U.S.—but that may be changing.
“It’s up to the market,” Alhour says. But if Instagram engagement is any indication, Berkeley’s booza moment is just beginning.
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