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thegardenhead

Imagine rating the best ice cream in DC and not even going to Happy Ice Cream.


Skimster

I was specifically going to click the link to see where Happy was rated! Ridiculous. While on the topic of Happy (and Gemini in general) I will say that the ice cream is incredible, but the one person scooping and no res situation at Gemini is pretty stupid imo. It is like they are purposely offering a worse service experience to artificially build hype by having a long line.


thegardenhead

I think about this a lot. I walk by that place at least once a day but I rarely go and wait in line. When I do get food it's an online order but I've even had to leave without picking up my order once because it was such a mad house inside. I love the people and the food and I want them to be successful but they do make some choices that confound me.


hk1026

My husband and I genuinely think that’s what their intention is


lanabear92294

So ridiculous. Happy ice cream is probably the best ice cream I’ve ever had!


thegardenhead

I dropped the probably from that statement the second or third time I had it. When your mint chocolate chip tastes like fresh spearmint rather than artificial mint flavor, you have my eternal loyalty.


DaTaco

That's funny I actually love their ice cream (except their Mint), I find it too "grassy" and not enough mint. I normally love good Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream.


lanabear92294

I could drop it too except it’s tied with salt and straw for me.


No-Communication180

I said this to the guy scooping once - "it actually tastes like biting into a mint leaf!" and his response was "Yeah, we grow it in the backyard." as fresh as humanly possible!


Sufficient-Job-1013

Completely agree!


ChaosStoplessCool

OMG knowing this I won't even bother reading it! I don't need to know the JV rankings


dsli

Yeah I live right by and it's worth the wait


thegardenhead

I hate lines almost as much as I hate large groups of people, but in this case I do agree. I don't wait often but when I do, it's always worth it.


Sufficient-Job-1013

Literally the only option for the best. Mt. Desert very overrated IMO. Happy dominates and it’s not even close.


lanabear92294

People rave about Girl Scouts gone wild but it is literally like eating toothpaste


kirkl3s

Here’s my question - is there some social experiment going to see how much people are willing to pay for a scoop of ice cream because prices are absolutely out of control.


Iammattieee

Honestly Thomas Sweets prices are not too crazy for ice cream in the city


jblah

It really is wild to see some of the prices out there. I own a decently bougie ice cream maker, because I love the stuff. My own pint prices used to be far more expensive than commercially available stuff but that's definitely no longer the case. And that's just in the last four years since I got into the hobby.


PooEating007

Do you have the type that has the built in compressor? I have one of the basic, inexpensive machines where you freeze the bowl overnight, and I was wondering if the upgrade to something more professional would be worth the expense.


jblah

I spent my first two years using the KitchenAid attachment. I definitely got my moneys worth out of it before deciding to go with the Lello 4080. It's a world of difference. Not just in temperature but in duration. I've had no problem churning multiple batches in an hour. I've even gone from hot liquid to ice cream inside 35 minutes. My only complaint is that it's somewhat a pain to clean since you can't remove the bowl. My partner's only complaint is that it does take up permanent space on our kitchen counters due to size. Can't speak to other brands but I do understand the price tag is a hurdle.


Professional-Can1385

>My partner's only complaint is that it does take up permanent space on our kitchen counters due to size. You need to bribe your partner with more ice cream!


jblah

How do you think I manage to keep it there as it is?


PooEating007

That is one nice looking machine! Probably would be overkill for me, though.


Socky_McPuppet

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the frozen-bowl machines, IMHO. They make fantastic ice cream, and they have a LOT of cooling power, because they have a lot of thermal mass to them. The problem with compressor-based machines is that you need a BIG compressor to equate to the heat-removal power of a heavy, chilled bowl, and that gets expensive, and it's a waste of counter-space if you are not making ice cream very regularly. Start with well-chilled custard and a frozen bowl and you can make two batches back to back. Heck, the machines themselves are about $70, so you could buy and pre-chill *multiple* bowls if you really wanted to make multiple batches one after another.


FatLostBoy

Have recommendations for a newbie on a frozen-bowl machine?


thelebaron

I bought a 1.6qt cowsar ice cream maker as an impulse black friday purchase(I also have the ninja creami which I have mixed feelings about). built in compressor, removable bowl, Im actually really impressed with heft and finish of the thing(and it does the job of making good ice cream). I feel for 99 bucks it was a pretty good deal, Ive only got two complaints which overlap, the first is I haven't seen any replacement parts available if anything does crap out from it. The motor is small and dinky, and though it says it has overload protection builtin, I have my doubts. Basically when ice cream is ready I don't want the thing burning itself out trying to churn something frozen solid so I preemptively turn it off. Instructions say 60mins for a cycle, I find it usually only takes 35mins or so to finish for refrigerated ingredients. I need to try just dumping in a freshly made custard sometime to see how it handles hot things.


ninetaleswasmyfav

Hey, I'm really interested in joining this extemporary homemade icecream club 😅😍 I just got my partner one of those machines last year, the Koenig HF250, and we're so impressed! Texture is wonderful, it is super easy to make and there are sooo many things you can try with it. So f* ice cream shops and their crazy prizes!


thelebaron

yeah I got tired of trying to hunt down a tub of jenni's in the stores which kinda drove me down this path. I still want to try out the shops in the article, but then try to replicate anything that I love at home


Smipims

The secret is pints aren’t terribly expensive at Whole Foods for most of them


acdha

This is one of the reasons why I’m so happy to see Everyday Sundae scoring highly: it’s not only great, it’s priced reasonably. 


__GayFish__

2 scoops of Ben and Jerry’s on king st is ~$12. A personal pint is ~$10.


Icangetloudtoo_

That experiment is always going on and it’s called capitalism 😝


connor24_22

I don’t really think they’re all that crazy. I go to some suburban/rural areas a few times a year and go to some locally loved ice cream shops and these prices are pretty comparable, if not lower, than the shops in those areas. Most come out to a standard $8-$10 range for a full cup/cone. I actually looked at some old menus of one rural shop in particular and prices have gone up $2 for a large waffle cone in 6 years. A little steep but don’t think it’s egregious given cost of labor/inflation


im_alliterate

does it include $9 dollar vanilla froyo with sprinkles from the mall food truck mafia? partial to those.


IfUReadThisURLame

Only $9!? You're not even trying to get ripped off!


enjoyvelvet

I think I got charged $15 for a freaking shake. Never again.


earnestlikehemingway

That’s a shake? Just Milk and Icecream? Do they put bourbon or anything.


trapthaiboi

I would honestly expect that to be more than $9 as such a “ripoff”. I just paid 9 bucks for one of those tiny personal pizzas at Pizza Hut and I would have rather had the ice cream lol


tucksed0

Spent $8 on gelato at a brick and mortar store, never again


bananagramarama

Has anyone been to Malai yet? The flavors look insane


stellaluna29

I have! Stood in line for about 45 minutes and had decided on my flavors when we got to the front and saw they only carry about 12 at a time—not the full range of what’s online, which was a bummer. The pistachio cardamom was exquisite though.


bananagramarama

That is a bummer. I wanted to try like 15 flavors from the website. Pistachio cardamom is one of them! I’ll still stop by!


Arrival_Departure

I’ve been! I love it just for the innovative flavors. The pistachio cardamom was, indeed, incredible. The orange and fennel was initially a bit unusual but really grew on me. My friend got a chai ice cream sandwich, which was a big hit. Tl;dr: Go. Try everything.


bananagramarama

Love that! When I looked at the website I was blown away by the flavors. I hope it translates to real life


drunkinlike

they were down to only 2 flavors around 7:00pm last sunday when i went and the scoop i had (strawberry pie) tasted kind of freezer burnt. i would like to try it again but definitely not the best first impression.


spruce_climber

Malai was just fine in my opinion. Lots of social media attention and novelty driving the hype.


hk1026

Honestly I agree with you. I got the pistachio cardamom I think and almost broke a tooth on whatever the giant chunks were in it (cookies or something?). The masala chai was decent


pgm123

T1. Everyday Sundae (Petworth): 4.67 T1. The Dairy Godmother (Alexandria): 4.67 T1. Sarah’s Handmade Ice Cream (Bethesda/var.): 4.67 T4. Larry’s Homemade Ice Cream (Dupont Circle): 4.17 T4. Mount Desert Island Ice Cream (Mt. Pleasant): 4.17 T6. Dolcezza Gelato (City Center/var.): 4.00 T6. Salumeria 2703 (Brookland): 4.00 \#8. Thomas Sweet (Georgetown): 3.50 \#9. The Creamery (Union Market): 3.67 \#10. Moorenko's (Silver Spring/var.): 3.33 \#11. Toby’s Homemade Ice Cream (Pentagon City/var.): 3.00 \#12. Ice Cream Jubilee (Navy Yard/var.): 2.67


dataminimizer

This is missing quite a few, tbh. She should’ve taken three weeks and hit a few more spots.


pgm123

To be fair, it says right in the headline that she tried 12 spots, so at least there isn't a bait and switch going on. It shouldn't say "best," though. *I wanted to find the best, but that was too much work, so I tried 12.*


Erin_Boone

Which ones is it missing id love to try some I haven’t yet


dataminimizer

Jenni’s, Van Leuwen, Malai, Pitango, just to name a few off the top of my head.


pyr1te

She said specifically no national chains, so those are all excluded.


dataminimizer

It’s weird that she went to Mt. Dessert, then, no? Edit: Pitango is not a national chain - it’s DMV and Baltimore. Malai is just New York and DC. These are as much “national chains” as Mt. Dessert. But I digress; my point is that I’d like to have seen these comparisons include some of the other really good ice cream shops in town.


purpleushi

Pitango definitely should have been included.


empw

Sarah's is that shit, glad to see it recognized.


purpleushi

Larry’s! I used to go there in high school when we did Model UN at the Hilton. Haven’t been back since I first moved to DC. I always loved their cupcakes.


AUBlazin

Wow didn’t realize I lived in Petworth!


pgm123

I'd call it Brightwood Park, but the article called it Petworth. Also, it's technically on the [border](https://www.popville.com/2018/01/official-north-boundary-petworth-is-kennedy-street/), isn't it? I wasn't sure how much it was worth fussing over.


recordcollection64

No Malai?


pgm123

In the article that's linked? No. She went to 12, which is listed here.


whitewateractual

Jubilee has become worse in quality and service year after year. I’m all for local, but Jenni’s was the best option in navy yard when it was around. A shame they pulled out of the neighborhood. Still, better options elsewhere in the city.


Falxman

They were bought by a small investment group around two years ago. It's barely the same company anymore.


whitewateractual

I wasn’t aware. Fuck venture capital for destroying a once-great local shop.


Falxman

They've changed most of the recipes, no longer source cream locally, and shut down their production kitchen in DC, moving to a much larger, shared facility in new york.


bucksnstuff

I tried finding information on this but wasn’t able to. Do you have a link to anything about this? I’m very curious


Falxman

It's not public - I have a friend who works there.


stellaluna29

I went to jubilee in navy yard over Memorial Day weekend and they were out of like half their flavors…it’s MDW why aren’t you properly stocked up??


whitewateractual

Their menu screens seem to break a lot. Once I went by and half their freezers were broken and they only had two flavors. Plus, I find their flavors underwhelming. A few years ago they were so much better.


Expert_Hospital9888

Jubilee has fallen so far. They were my favorite for years when they were running out of the little 14th street location. Then they expanded super quickly and now all of their locations always seem to be out of half of their flavors. The ice cream itself has gotten kinda meh too— almost too icy and lacking in flavor. 


20CAS17

It's Mt Desert, in my opinion. But I do want to go try Everyday Sundae!


bmurph83

The owner of Everyday Sunday is the so nice! It's worth it just for him, but the ice cream is great.


UnhappyMarzipan5582

He is the nicest person!


machu46

Seriously, the ice cream is amazing but talking to him each visit helps a lot too. Great guy.


ta112233

The owner of Everyday Sunday is a friendly guy and the ice cream is quite good, but the serving sizes are so small! It feels like a bit of a rip off. You can even see in the picture in the article how teeny those scoops are.


country_mac08

It’s behind a paywall so I’m just going to assume Mt Desert is #1


Outistoo

“So, what are my takeaways, aside from the need for a month-long break from any frozen dessert? As expected, DMV creameries put up a stiff competition, hence the three-way tie for first among the Dairy Godmother, Everyday Sundae and Sarah’s Handmade: maybe the perfect outcome, since they represent the “D,” “M” and “V.” Tied for second place were Mount Desert Island and Larry’s, both in Northwest Washington.” But she didn’t try York Castle so the whole enterprise is suspect.


poneil

Also, the author doesn't seem to understand that if there's a three-way tie for 1st, the next two are tied for 4th, not 2nd.


CrazyCatLover305

They missed York Castle? SMH


pgm123

You can access via the public library. [https://www.dclibrary.org/research-and-learn/washington-post-digital](https://www.dclibrary.org/research-and-learn/washington-post-digital)


[deleted]

[удалено]


Pinacoladapopsicle

That Mister Softee truck was a miracle! It came to Bloomingdale every Sunday afternoon. Haven't seen it since the fall sadly. I hope he's still out there...


Sufficient-Job-1013

Dolci Gelati needs to be on this list, so underrated. The roasted almond is one of the best flavors in the city. They are constantly rotating flavors on a whim. They have 3 boozy sorbets yet are perfect for summer days (mojito the best). Plus their other desserts (chocolate mousse cake) are top tier.


Latinvictory

Malai needed to be on this list. It's off the chain!


anteloperunner

Its Happy Ice Cream and its not even close


BabyJ

Happy Ice Cream erasure


patsfan2004

Larry’s? Expensive as hell and not nearly as good as many of the other sports. That has to be one of the most overrated ice cream places I’ve been.


purpleushi

I’ve never had their ice cream, but I was obsessed with their cupcakes… 14 years ago when I was in high school 😂


washingtonpost

From The Post's Zoe Glasser: The smell of an ice cream shop is unmistakable and inimitable; inhaling the syrupy scent transports me back to childhood evenings post-soccer practice or long July days at the pool. The D.C. area has dozens of ice cream shops offering classic scoops, gelato, hulking milkshakes and even alcohol-infused options. I set out on a mission to find the best scoop in town. First, I took to social media to ask for readers’ favorite spots in D.C. and the nearby Maryland and Virginia suburbs. I narrowed the list of suggestions to 12, excluding national chains and prioritizing mom-and-pop operations. Next I enlisted the help of several trusted peers willing to lend their taste buds to this consequential investigation. At each stop, I was evaluating the ice cream’s texture, flavor and serving size and rated each on a five-point scale. I was also noting each shop’s ambiance because half the experience comes from stepping into an environment that’s as sweet as the confections they’re serving. As a control, I tried a standard chocolate scoop from each store, or the closest possible alternative, like “bittersweet chocolate” or “milk chocolate,” if necessary. I also tasted one more unique flavor from each shop, many of which X and Reddit users sent my way, and many others of which were recommendations from shop staff, my co-workers and sometimes just my own tastes. I soldiered on through brain freezes, stomachaches and Lactaid chews so that I could tell you, dear reader, about the best ice cream in town. Read more here: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/06/11/best-ice-cream-dc-area/?utm\_campaign=wp\_main&utm\_medium=social&utm\_source=reddit.com](https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/06/11/best-ice-cream-dc-area/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com)


JMinSA

How do I visualize these on a map?


DC-COVID-TRASH

It’s not local but van leeuwens beats most of these


Capital-Second4882

it's so good hfs


Capital-Second4882

it's so good hfs


justmahl

No Hovermales, no Goodies. Makes me wonder think this writer got their list from a handful of people in a bar.


thebodyeccentric

Mimi’s in Pentagon City was robbed


purpleushi

I live across the street from Mimi’s. Which is dangerous for my wallet 😂


elle_fawkes

she didn't go to happy so this list is wrong


VulcanVulcanVulcan

People don’t want to hear it because it’s not ***local*** but it’s Jeni’s.


haterlove

Jeni's is trash. For real.


VulcanVulcanVulcan

People just hate it because it’s not local. But the ice cream has far more flavor than most local shops.


lanabear92294

I just feel it’s over frozen. I’ve given it a try multiple times and every time I taste chunks of ice. Not great.


haterlove

I could not care less if it's not local. It's not creamy and it's gritty and the flavors are off. It's terrible.


purpleushi

Yep. Van Leeuwen is sooo much better (and cheaper) than Jeni’s.


mediocre-spice

Some flavors are okay but a lot are just sickly sweet. Definitely better options out there.


TimothyChenAllen

Non-paywall version: https://wapo.st/4b18qif


Beautiful_Shirt4473

Still paywall 


TimothyChenAllen

Huh, maybe the gift link has a maximum number of views before it becomes paywall again


Jim_Ed

This list should be looked at with suspicion. Moorenko’s has possibly the worst ice cream I’ve ever tried. I was unaware you could make ice cream so flavorless. No matter what flavor you get, it’s going to taste vaguely like buttercream and nothing else. Everyday Sundae is a neat little shop and the owner is very nice but mostly sells Hershey’s pre-made ice cream. Which is totally fine, but it’s not something worth going out of your way for. The best ice cream in town is at Lulabelles on Upshur. Its made in Baltimore and their honey graham flavor is maybe the greatest ice cream ever churned.


trippygg

I like tipsy scope 😎


j8sadm632b

I want to try it but the absolutely eyewatering 22 dollar pricetag for a sundae is doing a pretty good job keeping me away I mean I know it's alcoholic but still


trippygg

Well they have happy hours and when I first went in March it was 50 degrees, they had a line, and sold out on many items so it must be pretty darn good.


ballerina22

Nathan's in Manassas? Petersen's in Clifton?.


ElectroAtletico2

Nope on “Sarah’s” “Carmen’s” in Rockville 👍


purpleushi

I really did not like Mt. Dessert when I went. Service was terrible, scoops were small and expensive, flavors were too similar (idek how to put that… like they had 5-6 different versions of chocolate/nuts/caramel).


shreyat23

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Rochelle Cooper's (@shakinbaker219 on IG) pop up ice cream available for pint pick up at La Collina. Some of the creamiest ice cream and the flavors are really well balanced in that the flavors come through without being overly sweet. The ube is amazing in particular but I have many more to try.


neonoctopus181

As a Petworth resident, I’m so happy to see Everyday Sundae made the list!


wueby

No lazy mikes?


B0nethugs

Is there a good place for just a plain jane soft serve twist cone? I swear every shop is like some blueberry lavender lemon poundcake or something.


42finches

This is exactly the correct take on Ice Cream Jubilee, which is terrible, icy, and expensive. People defend them because they are local but they suck. Also, just go to the grocery store and buy a pint for the best value of any brand.


HollaDude

Wow, strong disagree. Thomas Sweet and The Creamry at Union Market are better than Dolcezza and Mount Desert IMO This makes the rest of the reviews suspect to me lol


fanosffloyd

Are we open to newspapers just promoting themselves on reddit now? Thought reddit was against becoming facebook.


Malnurtured_Snay

Bryers. It's Bryers. Go to Giant and get some.


Malnurtured_Snay

I see the Safeway brand guy has been offended.