Nothing beats cold ice cream on a warm day. If you’re looking for new ice cream places to try, you’ve come to the right place. Today we are talking about the top five best ice cream places to try in this area. I’ll suggest to you some flavors, and give you a little backstory on where the ice cream places came from.
102 S. Patrick Street
Old Town Alexandria
The best options at Jeni’s are double dough, green mint chip, salty caramel, gooey butter cake, and powdered jelly donut. Jeni’s is known for constantly changing their flavors, but they always revert back to fan favorites. Jeni’s was founded in 2002 by Jeni Britton Bauer, she started off making ice cream as an art student, and opened her first shop in Columbus, Ohio. Jeni is now a James Beard award winning ice cream maker. Their first signature flavors were salty caramel, wildberry lavender, and brambleberry crisp. Since then they have created tons more unique flavors. I would recommend Jeni’s to anyone who wants to try out new and exciting flavors.
Leesburg Pike Plaza
3527 S. Jefferson Street, Falls Church
Dairy Queen is a well known fast food restaurant, famous for their chicken tenders, burgers, and of course, ice cream. Today we’re focused on their ice cream; my top 5 choices at Dairy Queen would be the chocolate chip cookie dough blizzard, the mint oreo blizzard, the crunchin’ cookie dipped cone, the classic hot fudge sundae, or sometimes I like to switch it up with a strawberry milkshake. The first ever Dairy Queen opened on June 22, 1940 in Joliet, Illinois. A fun fact about Dairy Queen is that the ICEE was created at a Dairy Queen franchise in Kansas in 1958. Dairy Queens are now open in 49 of the 50 US states. I would recommend Dairy Queen to anyone who is looking for some classic soft serve ice cream.
The Crossing Clarendon
2831 Clarendon Blvd., Arlington
Nicecream is known for their process of making ice cream using liquid nitrogen, similar to dry ice. Nicecream focuses on classics and seasonal flavors. My personal favorite of their recent flavors was the Lucky Charms cereal ice cream for Saint Patrick’s Day! Some other flavors I recommend from Nicecream are honey lavender, peanut butter cup, and cookies and cream.Nicecream was founded in 2014, they opened their first store in Arlington, Virginia. Nicecream gets their milk from local dairy farms in Pennsylvania, and they get their fruit from local farms in Virginia. Nicecream is open seven days a week, and they rotate their flavors weekly depending on the season. Nicecream also offers catering services for anyone looking to host a summer party.
3322 Wilson Blvd., Arlington
Carvel was founded in 1929 in Hartsdale, New York when a man’s truck broke down and he began selling ice cream out of a parking lot. The founder of Carvel was a man named Tom Carvel, and he was born in Athens, Greece in 1906. Carvel is my favorite place to get ice cream cakes, their ice cream combined with the whipped topping on top is one of the most nostalgic tastes. Carvel is popular for its specialty shakes, their current special flavors are for a movie, Mary’s divine cookies and cream shake, and Winnie’s glorious cake batter shake. Carvel has over 20 milkshake flavors, so you can never run out of options. They have all the toppings you can think of including; oreo cookies, peanut butter cups, m&ms, brownie pieces, whipped cream, sprinkles, and all the other classics.
Barcroft Plaza
6353 Columbia Pike, Falls Church
Jake’s ice cream was founded by Robin Rinearson. Jake’s provides employment opportunities to adults with disabilities including Robin’s nephew Jake who has cerebral palsy. The shop was named after Jake. Jake’s says their primary goal is to provide meaningful employment and opportunities for adults with both mental and physical disabilities. Jake’s has 28 flavors, some of my favorites are: luck of the irish, samoa girl scout cookie, nutella, snickers, and strawberry. Jake’s also offers non-dairy options. I would recommend Jake’s to anyone who is looking to be politely welcomed and have a positive staff experience while getting some comfort ice cream.