Ice Cream Tours
Due to popular demand and inspired by one of our most active tourists, a lady named Brenda, we now offer ice cream tours. We have certain criterion to be considered:
- It must be locally produced.
- It must have been recognized in some poll or recommended by our clients.
We want to give you unique experiences that you will not find anywhere else. Thus, to the disappointment of some of our clientele, we generally do not visit shops for Blue Bell ice cream or go to the Marble Slab or Ben & Jerry’s, unless requested. However, Amy’s will mash and mix your ice cream with lots of toppings or with other ice creams, similar to the Marble Slab. This tour will explore different parts of the city in search of the best local and fresh ice cream.
How many better pastimes are there in Houston on a hot and humid day? Heck, ice cream tastes good in winter and throughout the year.
Did you know that ice cream was once only available for the wealthy and seasonally? Don’t you feel special now?
We typically go to four ice cream parlors, shops, or restaurants within the three (3) hours for groups of 1 to 9 people. Allow more time for larger groups. (You also will be larger at the end of this tour.) Sometimes, we can fit in a fifth location. Because one normally needs time to ask questions, sample, and then indulge for 15 to 20 minutes to eat one scoop of ice cream, we allow about 30 minutes per site. Sometimes people need more time to consume the ice cream when they ask for two or more scoops. We want you to have sufficient time to relax and enjoy your sweets.
All ice cream and food should be consumed in the premises of the store or shop and not while it is melting in the vehicle. We will wait for you to consume all of your ice cream at each stop before we enter the vehicle.
On November 20, 2013, the Houston Press published an article titled “Rest of the Best 2013: Top Ten Ice Cream Spots.” Of those ten, one was in Galveston, one does not have a storefront, and two have gone out of business. Only six of them are still in business in Houston with their own shop to enter and eat.
A July 28, 2014 Zagat article titled “The Best Ice Cream Parlors in Houston” identified seven such locations. They were all covered in the Houston Press 2013 article. One ice cream is the one without a storefront and one went out of business; thus, this leaves only five options.
We can swap out the various ice cream parlors. Just let us know in advance of the tour to customize it so we can plan an efficient route. Some of these shops are of greater distances in different directions.
Each of these shops makes small amounts of ice cream daily and as such it varies. Do not expect to always find the same ice creams at each site all of the time.
Typical Sites in Alphabetical Order:
- Amy’s Ice Creams – many selections and toppings. Female owned.
- Chocolate Bar, The – 24 selections. Gay owned.
- Cloud 10 Creamery – 10 selections. Asian owned.
- Fat Cat Creamery – 12 selections.
- Hank’s Ice Cream – 16 selections. African American owned.
- Pollo Bravo – 1 ice cream selection. Peruvian and Mexican owned.
Recommendations:
- Try free samples before ordering. The Chocolate Bar, Fat Cat Creamery, and Hank’s Ice ream give free samples. Cloud 10 Creamery limits samples to only 3 when it is busy. Amy’s Ice Creams is often too busy to give samples. One can find over 50 people in line to buy ice cream at Amy’s. It is a popular spot for high school and college students. Pollo Bravo is a Peruvian restaurant with the unique helado lucuma as a dessert. Try some samples to determine what you want to order.
- Buy a small order. Most of the small orders come with two large scoops. Ask for two different flavors to indulge. If you are with someone else, you two can share the two flavors or order two small ice creams and share 4 different scoops. If you order a small cup of ice cream, this will also enhance the opportunity to go to more shops.
- Decide in advance if you want a waffle cone. They generally range from $0.50 to $1.50 extra. Hank’s has sugar cones for free with the purchase of your ice cream.
- Give your stomach enough space to have samples and order ice cream at each site.
- Sign up online to Amy’s Ice Creams email list to get news blasts of free offerings and sales.
If you purchase a small order at each site, expect to pay $3.00 to $6.00 per order.
We can be flexible on the time. Some of the shops do not open until 12:00 PM. Hank’s is opened the fewest hours. It does not open until 3:00 PM on Sunday, is closed on Monday, and closes every other day by 8:00 PM. All other venues are open everyday and stay open until between 9:00 PM and 12:00 AM/midnight.
The tours normally start and end at the Visitors Center in downtown unless you want it customized at a higher price. The price of the tour only includes the transportation. Bring money for the flavors and toppings that you want to taste. Appreciating ice cream flavors is a highly subjective topic.
Did you know that July 19th is National Ice Cream Day? Schedule a tour on this day for two or more people and one person gets to go for free! Schedule an ice cream tour on any other day of July and get 10% off.
Trivia:
Do you remember the following eight names of places that served locally made ice cream: The Burger Guys at 12225 Westheimer Road, Dolce & Freddo at 2611 Augusta Drive, Eatsie Boys at 4100 Montrose Boulevard, Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour in the Galleria, Almeda Mall, and Northwest Mall, Neal’s Ice Cream Bar, Rumpleheimer’s in Westbury Square, Stucchi’s at 3957 Richmond Avenue, and Swensen’s at 9708 Hillcroft Street?
Optional: