A storefront with a bright sign reading "Full Tilt Ice Cream" and a neon "OPEN" sign. A child is visible through the window, sitting at a table with ice cream. The building has a red brick facade with graffiti and neighboring businesses. Metal planters with flowers are in front of the shop.
Community

One Final Scoop at Full Tilt Ice Cream in White Center

The beloved ice creamery will permanently close its flagship location on Sunday, May 26, following the death of cofounder Justin Cline.

by Jas Keimig

After 16 years, Full Tilt Ice Cream’s presence in White Center has come to an end.

This Sunday, May 26, will be the last day of operation at the ice cream store’s flagship location. The closure comes after the death of beloved, larger-than-life Full Tilt cofounder Justin Cline, who passed away on March 2 following a heart attack on Feb. 5. His fellow cofounder and wife, Ann Magyar, announced the closure on April 8 in a Facebook post, writing that it is “time for Full Tilt as we know it to end.”

“He ran everything, and so without him around, I was never involved enough to kind of know how it all works. A lot of the reason he was able to give it so much time was because I was home with the kids, and so now I’m parenting on my own and I just, I can’t run a business full-time,” said Magyar in a recent phone call about the decision to shut down Full Tilt in White Center. “It just seems like the smartest thing to do and the best for my family moving forward.”

In addition to closing the White Center location, Full Tilt’s wholesale production arm is also wrapping up shop. However, the only other remaining Full Tilt, the Columbia City location franchised by Lenore Sharp and Ken Anderson, will continue their operations and source their ice cream from Snoqualmie Ice Cream as reported by Eater Seattle. In the Facebook post announcing the news, Magyar also mentioned that Full Tilt Columbia City will not accept gift cards, coupons, or birthday party certificates from other locations.

A man with a bushy beard and orange glasses stands in front of a purple and green wall. Above him is a colorful mural of a wizard-like figure with a pink cone hat, juggling orbs. Behind him, Full Tilt Ice Cream T-shirts are displayed on the wall.
Beloved Full Tilt cofounder Justin Cline passed away on March 2 after suffering a heart attack. (Photo courtesy of Ann Magyar)

Since it opened in 2008, Full Tilt’s White Center location has served as a neon ice cream oasis for family, friends, and ice cream-heads alike, replete with arcade games and live music concerts hosted in store. At one point, the Full Tilt empire stretched to neighborhoods like Capitol Hill and Ballard (though these locations closed in 2019 and 2023 respectively) and even operated a vegan taco truck in 2015.

Their wild, inventive array of flavors often reflected the community they were part of — Mexican Chocolate, Ube, Sub Pop (“grunge flavored” with chocolate, coffee, and caramel), and Thai Iced Tea. Cline was well known for his commitment to various causes like reproductive rights and standing up against police brutality, churning out pints like Stout Your Abortion and donating money to Black Lives Matter following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Most recently Full Tilt whipped up some “Pints for Palestine,” an Arabic Coffee with Cardamom flavor, with proceeds going to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF).

Over the years, Full Tilt has also been host to tons of cool live events. Magyar remembers one highlight being the Mudhoney concert the shop hosted in 2013 after Cline — a huge music lover — concocted a Mudhoney flavor (cinnamon honey ice cream with a fudge swirl) in honor of the band’s 25th anniversary and jokingly invited them to play — an offer they took him up on. Over 300 people showed up for the concert.

“To see Mudhoney at this tiny little show where teenagers are two feet from [Mudhoney vocalist and guitarist] Mark Arm yelling requests, it was like going to small shows back in the day,” Magyar said.

After Full Tilt announced its closure last month, White Center location regulars have been rolling through for one last scoop and stocking up on pints for the future. Full Tilt’s last day will serve both as a last call and also a wake of sorts for Cline for those who knew him and/or loved his ice cream. On May 26 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., Full Tilt will have an evening of art, music, tattoos, and merch (bring any shirt, tote bag, or fabric for a free heat transfer) to commemorate the store and Cline’s legacy.

“It’s been part of our life for 16 years now, so it’s like an extension of our house. My son is 13 and finally old enough that he can go in and scoop ice cream and work a little bit,” Magyar reflected. “We had all our birthday parties there, met up with friends there all the time, and I just could always go there and see people I knew.”

Full Tilt White Center’s last call is going down May 26, 2 p.m.–8 p.m.

Jas Keimig is a writer and critic based in Seattle. They previously worked on staff at The Stranger, covering visual art, film, music, and stickers. Their work has also appeared in Crosscut, South Seattle Emerald, i-D, Netflix, and The Ticket. They also co-write Unstreamable for Scarecrow Video, a column and screening series highlighting films you can’t find on streaming services. They won a game show once.

📸 Featured Image: Full Tilt Ice Cream in White Center is shutting down for good, with May 26 as its last day of operation. (Photo courtesy of Ann Magyar)

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