There’s a little dessert spot in town that has been tickling the minds of sweets-lovers and anyone curious about its unique concept—think dark and twisted.

Perverted Ice Cream (797 Thurlow Street) is making its debut today (May 16). The soft-serve ice cream establishment is not your average happy-go-lucky, pastel-walled frozen treats shop. You’ll find dark tinted windows, a black-coloured interior, and plenty of cheeky catchphrases that could either make you laugh or blush.

Its social media channels feature hashtags like “everytime I come ice cream”, and phrases like “with our tongues in our cheeks” and “nothing vanilla about us”.

But if you feel taken aback by its concept, think again. Because there’s really nothing perverted about Perverted Ice Cream.

“Perverted means to take something from its original form and twist it. That’s what we’re doing because it’s soft-serve, [and] you twist it,” explained Jade Ratcliffe, brand creator and mastermind behind Perverted, to the Straight by phone. “The whole fun thing is that you go into your own perversion and your own issues when you think the name is perverted, when it’s not. It’s just a name.

“It’s actually not what you think. It’s cheeky but it’s as perverted as you are.”

Ratcliffe wanted to shy away from creating something that traditionally gears toward kids—cute and cheery vibes didn’t really appeal to him.

“There’s this whole other side to ice cream, the crying in your sweatpants and [the] broken-hearts, which is an adult thing,” he added. “There’s a dark side. In a fun way, I wanted to play with that.”

So what can guests expect to find inside the intriguing 180-square-foot space? According to Ratcliffe, amazing soft-serve ice cream made with organic milk and no artificial stabilizers. Its waffle cones are handmade every day, and there are plenty of embellishments to add to your treat.

“We’ve created our own proprietary soft serve and toppings. The flavours are custom and they all go with the theme,” said Ratcliffe. “You’ll read on the menu cheeky names, but is the name cheeky or is it just you?”

Its soft-serve options include cream, chocolate, and swirl. Signature creations range from Brand Spanking (cream and chocolate swirl soft serve with black Perverted crumble, black chocolate shell, gold leaf, and a black chocolate wafer), Misfit (cream soft serve with matcha-white chocolate pizzaz, pink roxy dust, salt & vinegar crumble, and a black chocolate drizzle), and Poutine Me On (cream soft serve with toasted french fries, torched cheese curd, “gravy”, and sea salt).

For its soft-opening period, the new ice cream spot will be offering a “4 Days of 4 Play” deal. Four flavours will be offered on the menu, and each item will be $4 (regularly $6) for the first four days.

“I’m not reinventing the wheel, it is soft-serve, but it’s good. It’s not super sweet, [and] we’re not here for Instagram attention,” said Ratcliffe. “I want people to be obsessed with the ice cream, and crave it.

“It’s a cool little place. Everything about it is all about having a good time, and not taking itself so seriously like what people think. I think it’s super fun because it’s a conversation starter, and the bottom line is that it’s not gross ice cream.”

Ice cream-lovers will be happy to know that this dessert shop will open late—think as late as 2 a.m. on weekends.

If Perverted ice cream provokes you in any way, just remember one thing: it’s not them, it’s you.