It helps to be passionate about what you’re selling and Jeff Goldberg sure is passionate about ice cream.

“I don’t do toppings or jimmies,” the owner of the nascent Lil City Creamery says. “I promised the farmer I wouldn’t cover up his ice cream. And I don’t.”

Falls Church has apparently quickly picked up on Goldberg’s passion as his barely three-week old ice cream shop on West Broad has already earned quite a following. “The reception has been unbelievable so far,” he tells the News-Press. “And I haven’t done any marketing at all, only a Facebook page.”

Despite the lack of exposure, Lil City Creamery has been so busy, Goldberg had to close two days last week so he could resupply his inventory. Now he has to make the two-hour trip to Hockessin, Delaware weekly in order to restock from Woodside Farm Creamery. “It’s a work in progress,” he says.

The Lil City Creamery isn’t Goldberg’s first rodeo with the frozen stuff. Ten years ago he opened up an ice cream shop on Fenwick Island in Delaware just two blocks from the water. “I didn’t see the beach until the last week of summer I was so busy,” he says.

After a couple of years scooping and several more running an Internet cafe on the island, Goldberg, a 24-year resident of Lake Barcroft, returned to Falls Church year round and waited for his next opportunity. And when a “For Rent” sign went up on Broad Street, he found it.

“I liked the funky quirkiness of the building,” he says, which includes a unique stone masonry wall that extends outside the shop.

In addition to being quirky, the space is exceedingly cozy with only around 500 total square feet and most of that is in the back. The customer-accessible front of the shop is highlighted by a 12-flavor ice cream cooler, faux-bamboo counter and small table.

“This is my place, I can do what I want,” he says of his Tiki-themed nook nestled between a beauty salon and camera store. That means decorating the shop with vintage toys and naming his flavors based on inside jokes and pop-culture references like the nod to Pulp Fiction with Vincent’s $5 Shake and an ice cream tribute to NBA legend Darryl Dawkins – called Chocolate Thunder, of course.

Goldberg rotates his flavor lineup every few days which includes the standard vanilla and chocolate, crowd-favorite chocolate chip cookie dough and more eclectic varieties like a bright pink peppermint chocolate chip, neon blue cotton candy and a green-and-brown mix called Steam Oil. And while it’s just cups, cones and smoothies at the present, Goldberg wants to offer up cookies, pies and cakes down the line along with catering, too.

But for now, Goldberg says, it’s all about the ice cream – toppings not included.

Lil City Creamery | 114 West Broad Street | Falls Church | facebook.com/lilcitycreamery