by Steven Doyle
The big news hitting the streets of Texas is that Blue Bell is making its comeback in a very large way after experiencing a disaster which affected the health of many people. Although the ice cream is still only available in limited areas in Texas, places like Pokey-O’s, which makes a dreamy ice cream sandwich using homemade cookies and a selection of Blue Bell, actually made a trip to Austin to procure enough ice cream to sell a dozen of the sandwiches Thursday night (September 3rd) for sale to benefit the North Texas Food Bank. The ice cream sandwiches will set you back $25 each.
For those wishing to find Blue Bell, as it has been blasted across the media, you will soon have all the flavors you have come to enjoy at a store near you.
Charity aside, we are going to make a very unpopular stance: Blue Bell Ice Cream just isn’t that great. Especially considering the competition. We made a list of places in the DFW area that should be on your ice cream licking list. Go local!
Carnival Barker: Now located in Oak Cliff with their flagship store, Carnival Barker sells housemade ice cream that is not only innovative, but filled with fun. Fun flavors such as a recent version made with Sailor Jerry’s rum and raisins, Nutella and so much more besides the usual chocolate and vanilla. You will also find Rice Krispy Treat sandwiches, floats, shakes, and chili dogs. Check with them about hours, they are often open until midnight which should keep your ice cream passions in check.
Henry’s Homemade Ice Cream: Located in Plano and a transplant from Philly, Henry’s is one of the most popular local ice cream makers. Although you may not have sampled his ice cream in his shop, there is a huge chance you have tried his product in one of over 700 restaurants across North Texas where Henry’s produces custom flavors. His client list is among the elite and includes such places as Parigi and Fireside Pies. You may also find pints at Jimmy’s Food Store in East Dallas. Henry has a long time slogan that states ice cream makes you pretty.
Paciugo: Located all over the city and now stretching across the United States, this local gelato maker has hit the big time with dozens of unique flavors. The quality is controlled by using a central offsite kitchen to divine the flavors, then actually make the gelato at each location fresh each day. The lemon custard is one of our favorites.
Kate Weiser Chocolates: The super cute chocolate maker also makes her own ice cream at her Trinity Groves shop. Look for interesting flavors and a totally unique macaron ice cream sandwich that will make your toes curl.
Old Town Creamery: This Plano ice cream shop has the most unique flavors of all the stores mentioned so far. Owned by Ayesha and Hussain Kedwaii, the couple have 35 flavors on hand with about a dozen that never change. Sure there is chocolate and strawberry to enjoy, but go for the saffron, oolong or mango flavors. Be adventuresome.
Chocolate Secrets: This beautiful chocolatier also serves sandwiches, pastries, and ice cream. Go for a scoop in a cup or cone, but also enjoy a beer float (yes!), sundae, milk shakes or even a sorbet and champagne float. All made lovingly in house and delicious. Go for our favorite, the pistachio. Notice it is not bright green. Notice it is delicious. Go on a Friday or Saturday evening and enjoy that champagne float while listening to live jazz. Great date.
Sweet Firefly: Richardson also has one simply amazing ice creamery that is a bit off the beaten path, but once found you will be stricken with desire. Find cups and cones of fun flavors, but our go to ice the sea salt caramel or the toasted coconut. Interesting enough, nearly every visit we see a few high end chefs hanging out with their families.
Melt Ice Creams: Located in Fort Worth, they are making their way to Dallas through pop ups, and most likely a spot of their very own soon. Enjoy totally unique flavors such as Salt Lick (salted caramel), Boozy Buccaneer (housemade pineapple jam with a rum and cinnamon caramel swirl), Planet of the Grapes (vegan sorbet with freshly juiced black grapes and housemade mint syrup), and Piece of Cake (vegan German chocolate), Beans (Madagascar Vanilla Bean), and Chocolate Chocolate (Dude Sweet chocolate).
Wild About Harry’s: Also part of our favorite hot dog list, Wild About Harry’s has fast become an institution in Dallas, opening in 1996. Seems like so much longer, doesn’t it? Harry’s has a new location in Deep Ellum which just recently opened to serve that neighborhood, or visit the mainstay located on Knox. Great flavors, super creamy and always delicious. Plus , you know, the hot dogs.
I absolutely disagree with this. To who wrote this article, are you even Texan?????
I totally agree!!! Nothing else comes close! I cannot WAIT for Blue Bell to return and I am SO EXCITED right now because TODAY my husband saw one of their TRUCKS in DALLAS! HOOORAY!
We are happy you enjoy something that had less faith in you as you in it, and God bless.
I expected some backlash, and appreciate your devotion to Blue Bell. And yes, I was born and raised here. Go local!
for all the people who don’t like blue bell that is great- it leaves more product for the blue bell lovers to have- IF everyone liked the same things we would be eating plain vanilla with NO flavoring- each to his/her own opinion- cause you know what they say about opinions-?? everybody has one-
welcome back BUE BELL
Yes ma’am! Brenham, Texas is local enough for me! 🙂
Headquartered there but made in Alabama.
I agree. Blue Bell is good, but all of those are better!
Also born and raised in Texas, and I also agree that there is way better ice cream out there than Blue Bell. Sorry, y’all, it’s just the truth. I also don’t trust a company that knew they had listeria for 2 years and didn’t do one damn thing about it until people started dying.
Bravo! Sheer greed…..
Blue Bell is overrated. Go local!
Amy, what a question! The author is sharing local, Texan-owned businesses. How much more Texas can you get? As for Blue Bell, they knowingly put their customers at serious risk, continuously shipping off tainted products with full awareness of the listeria presence. I’d say that’s about as un-Texan as you can get.
I will never eat BB again! I bet if you or I killed three people and almost killed 12 others we would NOT be given a time out and then be welcomed back with such fervor! I equate it to celebrating the release of Charles Mansion. Killer corporations should not be allowed to prey upon us all ever again. For goodness sake I gave this poison to my Grandkids! You can celebrate the return of Blue Bell, while I will just SMH at the the insanity of the phenomenon.
You probably shouldn’t look into the other companies you give your money too because you will end up not being able to buy anything from anyone with that mindset.
It appears that the wonderful ice creams you list here are probably not available at your local grocery store. I’m sure they are wonderful, but if I can’t get them at Tom Thumb, chances are I’ll never try them. I have tried several different brands while waiting for my beloved Blue Bell to return. I couldn’t finish any of them. They were okay, just not great. It just makes me long for it more. If you don’t get that, then don’t slam the people who do. I can’t wait until they bring back Caramel Sundae Crunch and Moolenium Crunch, in addition to several others. If you don’t like it, fine. As for me and my family, WE LOVE BLUE BELL AND NO OTHER! Deal with it!
I would be thrilled for them to bring back their Key Lime Pie ice cream.
That stuff tasted just like eating some of the best Key Lime Pie I’ve had at restaurants!
I hope they didn’t pay Doyle for this tastless review. He must have been raised on Blue Bunny ice cream.
🙂
Still waiting for the check. Sigh.
Opinions! There are a lot like **********, everyone’s got one. In my meager opinion, Blue Bell is delicious. “Paciugo” , is ok, but it has a ton of sugar in it. The other places, well, I haven’t tried them. I’ll get around it, eventually.
As for “Listeria”, your government has poisoned and killed more people than Bluebell, and yet people are still voting the same people in to office day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year.
Laughing my butt off at this post cuz its so true. As for me and I suspect alot of people in Texas Blue Bell is the best hands down. Also I read their explaination on the contamination, and I accept their answers. It was unfortunate what happened to those people, but I’m convinced it won’t happen again.
UPDATE: A year later it DID happen again.
I find your anulogy offensive. Blue Bell Ice Cream is a contributor to the economy of Texas and other communities. I think you could have stated your thoughts in a more diplomatic manner. All of the other purveyors of ice cream present wonderful products. However, most are too expensive for the averige family.Blue Bell produces a quality product that is well received and can be purchased by most families.Think twice before you speak in such harsh terms again.
Let me see….. contribution to the economy verses human life…… really! Are you willing to sacrifice your family member ?????? Have you heard the saying people over profits? What is wrong with Oak Farms?
You are so right about going local. The fact is that Blue Bell isnt the highest of quality ice creams either. When you mass produce anything, you lose something in the process. Dryers has a full staff of expert tasters who make sure that every single gram of their ice cream is to the highest quality. Hagendaz, although made in New Jersey, by Nestle, is just as good with their 5 ingredient ice creams, but the best hands down is Ben and Jerry’s. They do no skimp on using cream as an ingredient and it shows in the love they put in their pints. If you want true ice cream though, any restaurant who makes it from scratch with eggs, cream, sugar, and milk is the real winner. It is an art to make it from scratch each day. I remember working for a Catering company in Miami where I made ice cream from scratch each day. Only difference was another company made the base for me on a larger production scale based on my recipe. Used to make black truffle ice cream that I sold to stores around town. That stuff was sooooo good. Real truffles in it, I guess that is why it was so expensive, but the customers bought it and dished it out. Was never impressed with Blue Bell, never will be.
Man with all those expert tasters you would think they could make ice cream better than blue bell. I have yet to find a commercial brand ice cream that is good. I’ve tried the others but really didn’t like them at all. I agree that fresh made is the best though
Pretty lame way to pimp some ice cream and “hip dog” shops. Couldn’t you simply title this artecle what it really is like… “Hipster Ice Cream Jontes you’ll only want to visit once”. Come on, I bet when you tell the cute girls or guys (whatever flavor you may be trending this week) behind the counter of these shops that you wrote an article about them, they will still smile big at you and give you a free come. Oh, you might want to fire your proofe reader as well.
Erm…
Well for the price and considering I don’t have to drive all over dallas to find it, I think I’ll keep eating bluebell. If I happen to be close to one of the other places then great but to act like there is no difference in what a grocery store sells and what a ice cream shop will sell is ignorant. Of course an ice cream shop will be better but it’s not nearly as convenient at stoping at kroger when you get off at 10 o’clock and want a bowl of ice cream. It’s like saying, “you should never eat out because cooking at home can be soon much better.”
My absolute all-time favorite is Ben/Jerry’s Chunky Monkey. No. 2 is Haagen Dazs Rum Raisin, No. 3 is Kroger’s Amaretto Burgundy Cherry (which I suspect was made by Braum’s). Now, Kroger is using “red” cherries, just not the same. No. 4 is “finally” Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla and Peaches.
Haagen Dazs Rum Raisin has been #1 for me since 1979!
hands down, all of krogers private selection, i Vavent found a flavor i dont love and theyyre overloaded on ingridents and so so so creamy you can tell they use cream not milk
While I enjoyed Blue Bell when I lived in Texas in the 80’s and 90’s, I have had the opportunity to buy it in recent years in travels from Iowa to Texas and Florida. However, my sentimental taste buds were overruled by my fiscal sensibilities, finding it overpriced to comparable ice creams and refusing to buy it…and even less likely to do so now. I agree. Support local businesses when you can. If in the Blue Mountain Beach FL area, be sure to try Blue Mountain Beach Creamery.
I am with Lucy. There is a difference between foods found at the grocery store and the same foods made by a specialty restaurant. If Cane Rosso isn’t better than the Pizza I get at the grocery store, then it’s not so special is it? Blue Bell is a Texas home staple. Many people have it in the freezer for those moments when you need a fix but don’t want to venture out into the concrete jungle to get some specialty ice cream. Its a great mass market product.
Although the Listeria problems are concerning, many companies have placed the American Public in harms way. I will be cautious in buying Blue Bell, however they are not unlike any of the other mass market companies.
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Eat what you like but as far as i’m concerned, I will take blue bell’s homemade vanilla over any other.
We have tried every brand that is sold in stores over the last few months!! Blue Bell is definitely the best!!! Had some friends bootleg it back from Houston! Man was it worth the trip! I have made homemade all summer….but I am tired of cooking!! The places you named sound really good, but as others have stated, they are not convenient! I don’t won’t to dry all over Dallas for ice cream!
Bring on the Blue Bell!!
I think that,like me,many people love Blue Bell because it is available in our stores.Not just in areas where minority’s rarely venture.Maybe if it was more available where you don’t have to travel to the ‘burbs or pay to park,you would get more local support.I have lived in Dallas for years and have never heard of any of these places.Get the word out and not just online where more people can see it and that might boost awareness.Good luck to you all.
Bluebell and braums are my favorite….ha ha no take backs
I agree that the places mentioned are not convient for everyone. I tried the other in store brands this summer. I wasnt happy with them. Waiting for blue bell. Im hoping it is as good as before. The people who were responsible for the outbreak are in prison. I just read about it last week. Many other company’s have caused death and illness to people and our pets. The fast food chains use meat that have been raised with antibiotics. That causes death and illness too since antibiotics in our meat makes us more resistant to it when we really need it. All the other companies have been forgiven. To my knowledge no one has ever been prosecuted for their wrong doings. So what if its made in Alabama. Its still the south.
Let us be the judge of blue bell when it returns. There is no comparrasion to homemade in anything we eat but its a busy world. People don’t always have the time. However if I don’t like the new blue bell I will be making my own for the freezer. I say bring it on. The consumers will determine if its worthy of all this hype.
Blue Bell is also made in Brenham Texas not just Alabama.
Not now.
None of these places are sold in the grocery store. How do you choose local when your shopping at Tom Thumb or Kroger? Blue Bell is still Texas born.
…true, but shopping at Kroger or Tom Thumb is no longer “local” either. Go truly Texas and shop at Minyards, H-E-B or Market Street, along with many other neighborhood markets and you will find some outstanding Texas produced sweets….
The only problem I have with this piece is that it attempts to compare products aimed at two entirely different markets as though they were not. Blue Bell, like every other brand sold at your local supermarket, is marketed as something to pick up while you’re grocery shopping, taken home and kept in your freezer for when you want to have ice cream without going out for it. The others, while quite good (and I’ll even agree that many are better, at least in some cases) are ice creams that you enjoy when you’re out-and-about, generally doing other things.
Oh…and gelato (which I quite like, and ate a metric ton of while on family vacation in Italy) isn’t even “ice cream” as that term is used in the U.S. So citing that as a superior ice cream is like citing someone’s turkey as a superior chicken.
Tried Henry’s Homemade Ice Cream some years back and made a mental note to avoid it (creamy but bland). Tried it again last year… Yes, it’s creamy and it’s very good, but it’s all pretty much the same bland, nondescript flavor. I forget the names of the two flavors I ordered, but they tasted the same – only way I could tell which one I was eating was by the color. There’s a Henry’s next to my local Tom Thumb (on the west side of the TT), but I never get my ice cream there.
Can’t ever eat blue bell again.scared of it.love blue bunny and heb creamy sensations.i think they taste better.