According to scientific data and children's songs, everyone screams for ice cream. It's just that these spots have been screaming at that ice cream for a lot longer.
We decided to get nostalgic and look for the best old-school ice cream shops in the country, meaning everything from places that opened in the 1860s, to ones that opened even as far forward as the 1980s, but still have that certain special something. Maybe it's a checkerboard floor, or one of those cool neon signs, or, you know, A 19TH-CENTURY WORKING PHARMACY.
To help balance the list we asked editors and writers from all over the country to share their favorite deeply nostalgic picks, and then I whittled them down to the top 21. If we missed a surefire ice cream shop in your neighborhood, leave a comment in the digital Wild Wild West that is the comment section, but for now let's just get back to screaming for ice cream:
Bassetts Ice Cream - Philadelphia, PA
If I had a dollar for every story I’ve heard about a Quaker teacher making ice cream in his backyard using a mule-turned churn, I would have a single dollar, which I could then spend at that Quaker teacher’s ice cream shop in Philly. Though Bassetts is now sold all over the country, we’re specifically talking about the original location at Reading Terminal Market, which the family has been using since the farmers market opened in 1892 (just look for the big three-scoop ice cream cone sign). The pro move here is really to get a DiNic’s roast pork sandwich and then hit up Bassetts for some English Toffee Crunch, and THEN to ask people in Philly to tell you stories about throwing snowballs at Santa. They’re not sick of that, I swear. - Kevin Alexander, National Writer-at-Large
Bennett’s Ice Cream - Los Angeles, CA
You can recognize Bennett’s right away, because, in the LA Famers Market, it looks like someone just delicately placed a tiny red and white striped ice cream shop right inside. Since 1963, the Bennett family has been toiling away in this space, literally making ice cream mixed up right there in the window for all kinds of people, from celebrities and athletes to Scott Baio. Though the current owner Scott inherited the place from his uncle Chuck, he wanted to be even better than his uncle, so he went to the ice cream manufacturing program at UC Davis and learned all sorts of cool moves, which he puts to the test with creative flavors like cabernet sauvignon sorbet and Fancy Nancy, which tastes like a coffee ice cream conjugal visit with a caramel dipped banana. In other words: SEXY. - KA
Cammie's Old Dutch Ice Cream Shoppe - Mobile, AL
This charming Mobile institution has been in the capable hands of Cammie Wayne since 1998, though the location's been giving Alabamans their dairy fix since 1956 (in fact, Wayne worked in the shop as a teenager). Since she started running the place the legion of admirers has only increased, lining up for rotating flavors like a butter pecan that does NOT skimp on the nuts, and red velvet cake that's blended up with an entire damn red velvet cake. Of course, if you're disinclined to limit yourself to ice cream alone, you can level up with Amsterdam Royales (think a sundae with banana wheels rather than a split, though if split-styles you're thing they have those too!). Also, the "Meal in One," an enormous malt made with five scoops of ice cream that still costs less than five bucks, is one of the best excuses to have ice cream for dinner you'll find anywhere. - Matt Lynch, Executive Editor
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