I scream, you scream … okay, you know where this is going. Lucky for us, we don’t have to scream very loud (or at all!) to find a frozen treat in this town. Here are 11 of our favorite hot cold spots.—SS
Ben & Jerry’s
Barracks Road Shopping Center
They had us at Cherry Garcia.
Chaps Ice Cream
Downtown Mall and UVA Corner
A trip to the Downtown Mall isn’t complete without a scoop of coffee raspberry in a waffle cone from Brenda “Granny” Hawkins. (A second Chaps recently opened on the UVA Corner.)
Cold Stone Creamery
1709 Emmet St. N & 5th Street Station
Just-made ice cream is thwapped on a frozen granite stone (hence, the shop’s name), where a variety of mix-ins (fruit, nuts, candy) can be added. Sounds Berry, Berry Good to us.
Dairy Queen
1777 Fortune Park Rd.
Five words: Chocolate chip cookie dough Blizzard.
Kilwins
Downtown Mall
It’s tough to resist a cup of Blue Moon ice cream with a side of just-made sea-salt caramel fudge.
Kohr Brothers Frozen Custard
1881 Seminole Trail
Less fat and sugar than ice cream, a light, silky texture, several twist flavors (vanilla and orange sherbert, please), and a merry-go-round.
La Flor Michoacana
601A Cherry Ave.
We once likened leaning over the shop’s store-length cooler filled with an array of brightly colored popsicles to gazing at the treasures in a jewelry store’s glass counter—but Rum and Raisins on a stick is much tastier than a diamond ring.
Moo Thru
Dairy Market
Schlepping an hour north to the red barn on James Madison Highway became history in 2021, when more than a dozen flavors that change with the seasons (come to mama, Blackberry Merlot!) arrived on Grady Avenue.
Splendora’s Gelato
The Shops at Stonefield
Trays of ever-changing, custom-crafted gelato flavors (check out the store’s Instagram and Facebook pages for the week’s offerings) and vegan chocolate and vanilla cupcakes. We’ll take some (okay, a lot) of each.
SugarBear Gourmet Ice Cream
1522 High St.
Emily Harpster’s made-from-scratch, locally sourced flavors (Wild Woman Whiskey, Vanilla Plum Blackberry, Mayan Hot Chocolate), once available only at specialty stores and bakeries, got a brick-and-mortar location this year.
Timberlake’s
Downtown Mall
Step back in time at this back-of-the-drugstore soda fountain, where the dessert menu includes ice cream floats and sodas; shakes, malts, and sundaes (how’s about a Hannah Banana Split?); or a double dip in a cup or cone.