You know the saying about giving someone a fish versus teaching them to fish? I’m going to teach you how to choose an awesome ice cream stop, since unfortunately I can’t review every single ice cream place out there. (At least, it won’t be complete for a VERY long time. But I’ll try!)

Here are my top tips for choosing an ice cream stop.

1. Look For Excuses For Ice Cream

Going on a vacation? Get some ice cream while you’re there! Meeting up with a friend? Go early or stay late and add ice cream into the mix.

Work sending you somewhere? Ice cream takes maybe an extra half hour – add it in!

Basically, every road trip/travel trip is an excuse for ice cream in my book.

2. Identify Potential Locations

Once I know the area I’m heading to, I narrow down the list of towns/cities/neighborhoods I can get ice cream in. If I’m driving, I might be able to stop halfway to my final destination. If I’m taking public transportation or someone else is driving, I may be limited to one city OR I may be limited by where I can walk or get public transportation to take me to.

Narrow down the parameters so you know exactly what you’ve got to work with.

3. Google is your friend!

My favorite way to identify potential homemade ice cream places begins with a Google search. I’ll search for ice cream in each of the towns or cities on my list. Keep in mind that some of your results may be in another town. I’ll look for keywords like “homemade” or “gourmet”, highly-rated places, and names that I don’t recognize (to avoid chains).

Using this method, I’ll identify the top contenders.

4. Cross-check Google

For any spots with their own website, I will visit the website and look for an indication that they’re making their own ice cream. (They will almost ALWAYS tell you if they do.) If I can’t find a website for them, I’ll look them up on Facebook. If they’re making their own ice cream, they will almost definitely have posts talking about the new flavors they’ve created, which is a definite giveaway of house-made deliciousness.

If I can’t find it indicated elsewhere, I will read reviews to see if they mention it being homemade (never 100% reliable, but it can help), and I’ll make sure they get at least reasonably good reviews.

5. Make Your Final Decision And Go

With all this info in hand, I’ll make my final choices, in part informed by proximity, flavors that interest me, reviews, cost, and anything else I’ve gathered.

I hope this helps you plan your next ice cream getaway. Stay safe, take care, and happy eating!

P.S. Do you have your own tips? Please comment and share them below!!!

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