It’s about that time again, Spring is here and so are the treats that come with it. With the plethora of ice cream places, it can be hard to find the perfect sundae. Navigating the bias and budget of finding a new ice cream spot can be challenging, which is exactly why we’ve created a concise guide and review of local ice cream joints. 

(For each ice cream sample, we asked the server for their recommendation) 

Coldstone: At Coldstone, I ordered a small Mud Pie Mojo which cost $5. Warning! This ice cream has nuts and peanut butter in it! If you are allergic I do not recommend getting it. 

The dish was made out of coffee ice cream, roasted almonds, peanut butter, chocolate sauce and Oreos. The ice cream was nice and rich, and had a bit of salty flavoring that gave off a sweet and savory taste due to the roasted almonds. I found that the coffee ice cream paired well with the peanut butter and chocolate. The occasional Oreo was also a pleasant surprise while eating. The only issue that I had with it overall was the nuts did tend to interrupt the experience with the toughness of the nut. Other than that, I was quite happy with the amount of roasted almonds that was given to me. I was also pleased to find a small pile of chocolate that had congregated at the bottom of the dish. Overall, I give this ice cream a 9/10. 

Dairy Queen: I got the small Oreo mocha fudge blizzard at Dairy Queen, which cost $3.96. This ice cream is probably the cheapest on this list, so if you’re on a budget, Dairy Queen is the place to go. First of all, I’m going to put it out there that it did not meet my expectations. The ice cream melted quicker than I anticipated, which left me catching the drips more often than not. I did not find a lot of Oreo bites, but when I did, they were mostly just cut in half, making it difficult to have both the ice cream and the Oreo on the spoon at once. However, just like Coldstone, a lot of chocolate had pooled at the bottom of the cup, letting me have my daily dose of chocolate and the ice cream had a nice chocolate taste. Overall I give the Oreo mocha fudge blizzard a 7/10. Definitely not the best thing that they have on their menu.

Milk & Honey:

I got one scoop of the chocolate overload on a cake cone. It was $4.25, but if you wanted a waffle cone, it would be an extra dollar. The chocolate ice cream was nice and rich and creamy, but still didn’t compare to Coldstone’s richness. I did, however, like the bits of chocolate and buckeyes (at least I’m assuming they were) in the ice cream. It did get a little messy, however, which was why I was thankful that they handed me a napkin with my cone. All in all, there’s not much to say about this ice cream because it’s just plain and simply good. 8/10

Pav’s: 

I got a couple scoops of cookies and cream. It’s one of my favorites, and the stakes are pretty high. Lucky for Pav’s, they’ve perfected this classic flavor. I opted for the bowl because I’m neither a fast nor efficient eater. For someone who’s not a big fan of sweets, I really enjoyed it. The atmosphere was really nice and an overall pleasant experience. Pav’s also features plenty of unique and exclusive flavors each month. It’s similar to the blended nutrition type places, a high price tag in exchange for a cool flavor and an obligatory social media post. Just hope that you can capture its beauty before it melts. Paying $7 for a couple scoops isn’t necessarily affordable. Granted, these scoops are HUGE. Overall, I’d give Pavs a 7/10.

Taggarts:

I thought I would stray a little bit from the chocolate ice cream when the Unicorn Sundae caught my eye. It consists of blue moon ice cream, marshmallow topping, something called unicorn bark (which tasted like white chocolate) and a unicorn horn which was just an ice cream cone covered in sprinkles. There were also so many other cool sounding sundaes, but I opted for the one that sounded the most interesting. This sundae was $6.30, and you have the choice of 1,2, or 4 scoops of ice. Personally I chose two because I love blue moon ice cream. The dish was very aesthetically pleasing and had a nice pastel color theme. The whole dish was very sweet, and with so much sugar in the whole thing was a sweet tooth’s paradise. It was a little messy at first but only because I hadn’t thought of taking off the cone until then, so the cone was eaten separately. The ice cream was very creamy and smooth that I liked a lot even though I got sick of the sweet taste quite quickly. Overall, this dish is a sugar high that I fully agree with. A nice change from all the chocolate ice cream dishes that I have been having. 8/10

Handel’s:

As a GlenOak native, Handel’s is right in our backyard. Not only do they have treats for us, but furry friends too. I had a strawberry cheesecake hurricane. At $3.75 for a small serving, the price is hard to beat. The ice cream was satisfying, especially right after a day at school. Handel’s does lack indoor seating, which can be a doozy if you enjoy ice cream on a chilly evening. Though the line wasn’t long when I stopped by, it’s not uncommon to see 20 people in line (at least). The ice cream hit the spot, and this was a unique twist on classic strawberry scoops. 9/10 for reliability and convenience.