School’s out, the thermometer is rising, and lines get longer at area ice cream parlors. Who doesn’t crave the creamy cold sweetness of ice cream on a summer’s day? The ice cream cone is thought to have become popular (not necessarily invented) at the 1904 St. Louis Louisiana Purchase Exposition — the same fair that popularized iced tea, Dr. Pepper and the hot dog. The legend has it that an entrepreneur was running out of bowls and substituted wafer-like pastries from a neighboring vendor as a vessel for his ice cream.
Charlotte has a number of ice cream outlets and notably many of the city’s better restaurants are producing their own ice cream.
A perennial favorite is Ben & Jerry’s, for the superlative creamy taste and for the remarkable manner in which chunks and swirls are evenly distributed throughout the cream. While many people don’t enjoy the thick density of Ben & Jerry’s ice creams, having less air whipped into the cream makes this mixture less susceptible to a quick meltdown on hot days, an important consideration when you’re driving with a cone.
Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt, 507 Providence Road; Arboretum; 7800 Fairview Road; 202 S. Main Street, Davidson.
Marble Slab Creamery, a franchise operation from Houston, provides ice cream aficionados the opportunity to create unique flavors. Marble Slab has 38 flavors and a variety of mix-ins, allowing customers to be inventive. Their ice cream is made in-store and the cones are exceptional. In fact, this light and crisp cone may be the best in town.
Marble Slab Creamery, 2233 Matthews Township Parkway (Sycamore Commons); 7800 Rea Road (Stonecrest); 1600 E Woodlawn Road (Park Town).
Bruster’s Real Ice Cream is my dog’s favorite ice cream shop. Not only does this store offer free cones for children under 40 inches tall (there’s a measuring board), but dogs receive a free scoop of vanilla ice cream (in a cup) with a dog bone buried within. Bruster’s is a quickly expanding PA-based franchise operation whose new CEO is former TCBY President Jim Sahenes. This shop offers 24 flavors of ice cream made in-house daily and freshly baked waffle cones. Bruster’s has walk-up windows with a few tables outside.
Bruster’s Real Ice Cream, 545 W. John Street, Matthews. Other area locations are in Cornelius, Mooresville, Indian Trail, Monroe, Rock Hill and Concord.
Locals in Mint Hill stand in line for the ice cream at the Carolina Creamery. This ice cream shop is locally owned, and the ice cream is made in-house. The owner gets his dairy products from an Atlanta dairy and offers 40 flavors. There’s no seating inside, nor is the decor trendy, but the ice cream is inexpensive: 99 cents for a single scoop. Cones are the standard issue.
Carolina Creamery, 11300 Lawyers Road, Mint Hill.
This article appears in Jun 8-14, 2005.
