Inspired by my contribution to the the lunch counter thread (and the recent and pending heat waves on the left coast)…
What’s your local ice cream parlor/shop? What’s their specialty?
Baskin-Robbins seems to be nationwide, but my family has always gone there for their ice cream cakes for birthdays.
The really awesome place I grew up with was Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor*. They had a several locations and they all seemed to have some common furnishings: A player piano; a special room full of candy (usually near the cash register); a drum, alarm bell, and siren for grabbing everyone’s attention when birthday songs were sung or other embarrassing announcements needed attention. They had a basic grill, but their specialty was their sundaes. Their main claim to fame (they had several unique offerings) was the World Famous Zoo sundae (we liked to think it was inspired by the opening of the San Diego Zoo) which had like a dozen scoops of vanilla ice cream with every possible syrup on top (in different areas), all covered with whipped cream and decorated with little plastic zoo animals. It was always a birthday favorite among groups, and of course, the kids got to keep the animals as part of their birthday party favors.
Okay, so reminisce!
—G!
*Now I think there’s only one left, up around Magic Mountain in California, and it was quite a tiny place in comparison to their 1970’s heyday.
I know the one I miss the most: Swensen’s. There are none in my area or anywhere close anymore, but I used to love their Frosted Chocolate Malt sundae.
Now I usually go to Cold Stone for my ice cream fix, or else get a pint of Ben and Jerry’s and eat it at home.
The gold standard around here is Malley’s, which has several locations, and also sells candy. Most of their candy is pretty steeply overpriced, but they also do a lot of fundraisers with schools and the like where you can buy a really good chocolate bar from a kid for a buck. The chocolate bars, in turn, always have a coupon for a hot fudge sundae (the ice cream parlor’s specialty) on the wrapper.
There’s also a new place near my mom’s house called Sweet Moses (named after Moses Cleaveland, founder of the city). It’s very well-regarded, but I’ve only been there once, and don’t know what their specialty is.
When I was a kid growing up Silver Spring, there were four fantastic ice cream places:
Giffords. Awesome sundaes, especially with hot “Swiss Sauce” (Milk chocolate fudge).
Weiles. Over-the-top sundaes, before Farrell’s. Green whipped cream, anyone?
“The Reindeer Place.” As far as I can remember, it didn’t have a name. We always called it that, because they had two reindeer on the roof. Best custard ever. Demolished for the Silver Spring metro station.
Margie’s is the only one I’ve found near me. Absolutely delicious. But I hope **pulykamell **pops in to tell me that there are others around, because parking near Margie’s is…adventuresome.
The closest thing to it is a self serve fro-yo place that’s pretty good. Used to be a gelato shop just down the street from it, but they folded their tents. And of course there’s the local DQ not far from here.
Farrell’s is making a comeback in Southern California. Went to one just a few weeks ago and had a mighty fine sundae. Still nothing will beat the time back in the nineties when four hungry college students went out looking for the local taco shop only to make a wrong turn and get lost. After 20 minutes of driving in circles we happened upon a Farrell’s just before closing and there was much rejoicing.
You’ll be happy to hear that Farrell’s has opened some new shops in the last few years, including a new one in LA and one in Sacramento (not sure about the rest.) Their “chicken dinner” is a lot of fun- a realistic looking dinner of “chicken” with mashed potatoes and peas made out of ice cream and candy.
Farrell’s was the one I grew up with. Never really been a replacement for it, although there was a small chain (2 stores?) called Leatherby’s that was sort of like a Farrell’s without any ambience. (Bright lights, uncomfortable heavy chairs, hospital diner flooring, tables and decoration.)
I don’t recall going into a Farrell’s after September 24, 1972, though. Those were classmates of mine, including a girl I had a crush on.
Out here, we’re lucky to live close to the UConn Dairy Bar. Best fraggin’ ice cream in five states.
I grew up (mostly) in Aurora, Illinois, and Oberweis Dairywas where it was at. The retail store in the black and white picture holds fond memories for me as a kid from the 70’s and 80’s, but it’s gone now. Their ice cream is in the local grocer’s freezers, though, so a taste of nostalgia is still available. Oberweis still does fresh milk doorstep delivery, and uses glass bottles. Kinda nifty.
These days, the closest parlor I walk to is Lickity Split with frozen custard and many things on the menu.
If you’re visiting South Florida and want a treat…go to Jaxson’s. Fresh made ice creams. Tons of flavors. Big portions. Also serves regular food, like burgers.
Locally owned, private shop in the same location since 1956.
Fentons. I haven’t been there since my early college days ( think mid-late 1980’s ), but it figured prominently in my childhood. My father used to take me there for ‘Black and Tans’ as early as 3rd grade.
As a young child, we used to stop at a little hole in the wall place in Juneau, AK. They had the usual choc and vanilla, but they also had butterscotch, which was always my choice. I’ve had a love affair with caramel-y stuff ever since. But I’ve never found butterscotch ice cream that was worth a damn since then.
If you find yourself in Niles on a hot day, try Village Creamery. The website is kinda sucky but they have lots of unique flavors. See LTH’s take on it.
And it is across from Super HMart.
When I grew up, it was the Sweet Shop. It was a combination ice cream parlor/lunch counter; I used to eat lunch there every day when I was working in the summers. They had a big board listing all the sundaes they served (in addition to the basics): two names I recall were Southold Delight and Zombie. There was no description of what they were, and there were 40 or 50 listed.
I remember one customer going over the choices and finally picking one. The waitress – who had been there for years – had to ask about how to make it.
The one I miss from my childhood is Isaly’s, home of the Klondike Bar and the Skyscraper Cone . . . in addition to their Chipped Chopped Ham. There wasn’t one near us, but it was worth it to drive cross-town to the nearest.
Today, there’s East Coast Original Frozen Custard on Mayfield. They’ve got a great selection of original flavors. Great quality too.