Best Summer Ice Cream Businesses?

[Anonymous]

I am the 9:55 poster. Here is a place I found that looks like it might fit the bill. Have to go out to Manassas though!

http://www.yelp.com/biz/klines-freeze-manassas

[Anonymous]

9:55 - you KNOW it! NP here.

10:01 - WTF is your problem? You think there is one person from New England stuck with the likes of you? There's lots of us, to your dismay. You probably work for us. Not for long. GO SOX!

OP, we should start a New England thread, but the Miserables would undoubtedly not MYOB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where do you go out for ice cream in the summer here? Share your hidden jems!

Back home, we had a great classic summer ice cream stand that served good old soft serve with rainbow jimmies, with outdoor seating. I haven't been able to find anything similar in the area. Every place I know of is a strip mall store front with a couple chairs on the sidewalk or in a mall.

Any suggestions of places with personality? Doesn't matter if it's fro-yo, soft serve, regular ice cream. I'm in Northern Virginia, but would be interested (and others might be too) of hearing other options as well.

Your use of the term "jimmies" tells me that you hail from New England, Land of Great Ice Cream Readily Available at Small Independents With Personality. I too grew up there, and didn't know that this Ice Cream Presence was not the norm, until I left.

Sorry - you are not in New England any more. People in this area don't know, or produce, good ice cream. As you say, the ice cream shops are largely strip mall store front with a couple chairs on the sidewalk or in a mall.

3 years in Chelmsford, MA ,as a kid, and I still call them jimmies.
I spent most of my formative years in Upstate NY and I really miss all the great places to get a soft serve cone. Mostly though, I miss Stewart's ice cream and am always disappointed that you can get their soda here but not their ice cream. I have yet to find a comparable chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Giffords is coming back. There is one open in Chevy Chase. Not sure if the Bethesda one has reopened yet.

There is Yogiberry in Bethesda that let's you serve your own frozen yogurt and toppings. It is priced by the ounce though and can be expensive if you load up with goodies.

The one in Bethesda is changing to be the new Hagen Daz

[Anonymous]

It's not a custard/dairy stand but the Tropical Ice Cream places in Silver Spring are pretty good. There's one that used to be called York Castle but changed names, and one in the White Oak strip. They have great flavors.

[Anonymous]

This is very far but Carl's in Fredricksburg, VA.

[Anonymous]

The York Castle up in Rockville is the best ice cream in the area, but not much atmosphere (especially as it's next to Cameron's Seafood).

A few year's ago I could have recc'd the Lazy Sundae in Clarendon but not since it moved.

Moorenko's in Silver Spring is ok, but not worth a roadtrip.

There's someplace on the way out to Shenandoah NP but I don't know if I'll find it again

[Anonymous]

We grab ice cream at the Broad Branch Market in CC DC. It's good (not great) ice cream, but the ambiance is just great. And it's across from the park, so after you eat your ice cream outside the store, you can head over to the playground.

[Anonymous]

Not from new England but jealous! Wish we had a cute place for great ice cream

[Anonymous]

Try SweetLeaf in Mclean (used to be Lazy Sundae). Not just ice cream but they've got a pretty big selection of soft serve with various toppings and a great outdoor patio. Parking stinks but they have extra parking in an adjacent property.

[Anonymous]

I'm from Chicago and I've been thinking about the exact same topic. Loved the ice cream stands that were closed all winter and only opens when it gets warm. I would even settle for Dairy Queen but like pp said, there aren't a lot of those -- only in the malls.

[Anonymous]

Anywhere have blue moon ice cream?

[Anonymous]

I am not from New England but the Midwest, and I am nostalgic for the places that operated only in the summer out of basically large sheds, and served soft-serv with "crunchies" on top, or dipped cones, or Blizzard-esque things called Tornados or Cyclones. Not good quality ice cream, but ahhh the nostalgia.

I don't know that there are places like that here, but I do think DC itself has a lot of great ice cream/gelato/fro-yo places these days. For ice cream: Thomas Sweet in Georgetown. For gelato: Pitango on P Street across from the Whole Foods. For serve-yourself-pay-by-the-ounce fro-yo, I like Frozen Yo (lots of locations, including the one in Columbia Heights that's right by the fountain that kids like to play in.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not from New England but the Midwest, and I am nostalgic for the places that operated only in the summer out of basically large sheds, and served soft-serv with "crunchies" on top, or dipped cones, or Blizzard-esque things called Tornados or Cyclones. Not good quality ice cream, but ahhh the nostalgia.

I don't know that there are places like that here, but I do think DC itself has a lot of great ice cream/gelato/fro-yo places these days. For ice cream: Thomas Sweet in Georgetown. For gelato: Pitango on P Street across from the Whole Foods. For serve-yourself-pay-by-the-ounce fro-yo, I like Frozen Yo (lots of locations, including the one in Columbia Heights that's right by the fountain that kids like to play in.)

This is so true! Those are exactly the types of stands I went to in NH as a kid!

[Anonymous]

Summer Delights in downtown Takoma Park