It’s no secret that I love ice cream. If there’s one ice cream concoction that I love the most, though, it’s the milkshake.

I was pretty excited, then, when a friend told me about The Diner. Not only does it have what is hailed as DC’s best milkshake, but it’s open 24 hours a day and located in probably my favorite neighborhood in all of DC, Adams Morgan. It’s thus the perfect spot for a late-night bite in the local bar scene. You can tell, too: Lines burst out the front door at even 2 am on the weekends.

It’s that line that finally tempted me to enter. During a night out with the guys, I was surprised at just how wild and popular the Diner was, practically stealing people from the neighboring bars. After waiting for a few minutes, my friends and I got inside, where we were served by a rather casual waiter and seated at a plain, no frills table. While the Diner boasts a nicely moody, dim lighting scheme, that’s about all there is to see in the restaurant. One thing’s for sure: People come here simply for the food.

So I’ll get straight to the point and discuss the milkshakes. The Diner’s shakes are rather old-fashioned. They’re spun in a small, semi-classic shake machine while one of the workers simultaneously spins them manually around with a spoon—a very nice touch, in my opinion. That manual spinning procedure leaves the milkshakes extra chunky. The shakes are so thick, in fact, that you’re better off eating them with a spoon rather than drinking them. In a sense, then, this is somewhat of a combination between pure ice cream and a shake.

The shakes are also notable for their sheer flavor. Both the chocolate and vanilla I tried had very strong, classic flavors. That’s not always a good thing, though. While I liked that I could taste all the ingredients, sometimes the shakes felt bland—as if they did nothing more for the ingredients than to just show them in their purest form. While that might work for ice cream, it unfortunately doesn’t always work for shakes. There isn’t much milkiness, malt, or added flavorings (e.g. caramel) to make the shakes stand out. Instead, they really rely on the flavor of the ice cream. While some will like that, here I think it falls just a little bit short of “best of DC” quality, as the ice cream isn’t the greatest in the world, even if it is excellent. I do like, though, that the ice cream is light on the sugar, allowing the actual flavors to come through more than the sweetness.

Another factor that will satisfy most people is the sheer quantity of the shakes. They’re already good as they are, but they come with two servings—and when I say serving, I really mean the size of a tall glass. I also like that the shakes are served in two parts, one in a glass and one in the shake tin. For your second serving, you get the delight of squeezing that last little bit out of the bottom of the original mixture, which is usually the chunkiest and most flavorful part of the shake.

Overall, though, the shakes aren’t spectacular, and I’d hardly call them the best of DC. While they are big on flavor and a fantastic value, they’re just too bland for me and a bit too thick to drink. I’d personally stick to the shakes at Good Stuff Eatery or even Johnny Rockets.

What I Tasted

1. Vanilla Malt: I’ve had the vanilla shake before, and it just tasted too bland. The malt, though, largely fixes that problem, adding a good sweetness that complements the very nutty, strong vanilla accent well. I say nutty because the vanilla does actually have a very odd aftertaste that I don’t normally taste in most vanillas—a nuttiness which is both heavy and neutral. The ice cream thus comes off as very balanced, without an overflow of sugar, which I really appreciate here. The vanilla flavor is very marked, too, leaving you refreshed with an herby-sweet aftertaste, and I like that the focus is on that vanilla flavor instead of the sugar. My one big complaint really comes with the texture.  As I said, the shakes here are very thick. They’re so thick, in fact, that you need to cut through them with a spoon. It’s a shame, because it’s delicious, yet it just doesn’t feel like a liquid at all. Still, it’s a minor quibble for something so bold, delicious, and very unique for what it is. I’ve never had such a nutty vanilla, but it works well here, especially with the addition of the strong malt powder. 4.1/5.0
2. Chocolate Shake: Worse than the vanilla in my opinion, largely because it was just a bit plainer. The shake is just as thick, again requiring a spoon, and it’s just as hard to eat. The flavor is, moreover, less delicious, since it really lacks the added sweetness and flavor of the malt to liven it up. Instead, what you get here is a plain, solid, very nicely done chocolate. It’s on the milk chocolate side, almost without any bitterness to it at all. Best of all, the shake is extremely balanced, emphasizing the chocolate flavors over the sugar of the ice cream, so that this never becomes cloyingly sweet. At the same time, it’s very plain, largely because of that lack of sugar, or the lack of any added ingredients for that matter. 3.5/5.0

Scores

Ambience: 2.5/5.0. About as nice as a 24 hour diner gets. (Not factored into verdict)
Service: N/A. I was at the bar, so I can’t say much about the service. Plus, it’s not that important for a 24 hour diner.
Taste: 3.8/5.0
Value: 4.5/5.0
Verdict: 4.1/5.0

While I was in Argentina, I had some of the best gelato I’ve ever had in my life. With such a rich Italian immigrant community (in fact, it’s estimated that the vast majority of Argentines have at least one Italian ancestor), is there any doubt that Argentines would produce phenomenal gelato?

That’s why whenever I hear about an Argentine gelatería, I’m always very excited. The chance to reminisce about those old memories over a scoop of delectable dulce de leche? How can I resist?

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I was lucky, then, when I found out about Dolcezza, Washington, DC’s  only Argentina gelato store and quite easily the best gelato maker in the city, period. Surprisingly, it’s also probably better than all but a couple of the countless gelato joints I ate at in Argentina.

Word hasn’t caught on, though. Everyone instead seems to go to the far inferior Thomas Sweets, a famous ice cream shop located a block down from Dolcezza. I thought I’d take the chance, then, to spread the word about just how good this gelato is.

There are a few things I really like about Dolcezza’s gelato, along with a few that I think could use some improvement. On the pro side, the #1 factor has got to be the consistency (in the sense of the consistent excellence in its gelato). Every flavor has the same general type of texture, even if some are a bit smoother or denser, and every flavor actually tastes like what it should. In all my experiences at Dolcezza, I’ve never been truly disappointed with a flavor because Dolcezza really does have the fundamentals down. Moreover, never have I tasted a flavor that didn’t actually embody its ingredients well (except one, maybe, but just maybe).

Key factor #2 is the texture. In Dolcezza’s gelato, I finally found a gelato with some body, verging on an ice cream-like density. It’s very similar to the actual quality you get in Argentina, where the people don’t differentiate between gelato and ice cream (helado really can refer to both). I appreciate that sort of hybrid take, since it takes the creaminess of gelato and gives it some substance. Moreover, since the ice cream is so rich, it really leaves an impression on the palate, both with its intensity and with its roundness (i.e. you can taste it in every part of the mouth).

Dolcezza also has some good variety in that texture. Heavier flavors tend to be a bit thicker and richer, especially prevalent with the chocolate. The bitter chocolate, in fact, has a texture somewhere between chocolate mousse and chocolate pudding (it is as delicious as it sounds). The dulce de leche is just as mousse-like, but less thick. The fruity flavors (which are often sorbets) tend to be much lighter, almost like a smooth version of crushed ice. In general, then, Dolcezza really knows how to give each flavor the right weight and creaminess.

Finally, key factor #3—and this really is a revolutionary concept because almost nobody in the whole District can seem to manage this one all that well—is that the gelato is actually served properly, at the right temperature! This has to do somewhat with consistency, but here I’m not talking about the quality of the ice cream, but rather of the fundamentals of serving it. There’s a tendency among ice cream stores to improperly defrost their ice cream, so that part of it remains frozen, making for a somewhat frosty sensation as you eat it. That frostiness suppresses the flavors, too. It sounds like a small quibble, but it really can make the difference among good, great, and fantastic—Dolcezza’s gelato, not surprisingly, falls in the last category.

That’s not to say it’s perfect. That consistent excellence I was bragging about can, at times, be turned on its head, as the richness of the gelato can sometimes suppress flavors partially. I’m really referring to just a couple of flavors here, mainly nutty ones like pistachio and some of the vanilla-ish flavors. The richness does amplify the gelato’s impression on the palate, but it sometimes becomes the centerpiece, rather than the flavor. The flavor does come through—and intensely at that—but that’s mostly in the aftertaste, which, to be fair, is quite long.

Major flaw #2 is a bit of an odd one. I can’t really pinpoint the problem, but something about the sweetness and smoothness is sometimes off, as the gelato goes down a bit roughly. While I was eating the gelato, I really liked the sweetness, because it was so subtle that it didn’t interfere with the flavor or creaminess at all. In the aftertaste, though, my throat started to tickle with just a bit of irritation, as though there was somewhat of a cloying bit of sugar or some harshness in the gelato—almost unnoticeable too, but still there. It’s not a big complaint because it’s so subtle, but by the end of a whole cup, you may feel it a bit, especially if you had the chocolate flavors.

Finally—and this one’s not much of a complaint, but more of a downer—the gelato typically doesn’t incorporate any actual chunks of the ingredients, unless it’s a syrup or powder, such as cinnamon. I really love getting just a bit of extra crunch and flavor, especially with nuts, but you won’t get those chunks here. Regardless, Dolcezza does a good job with nailing the real flavor, and it seems as though they may even incorporate ingredients like nuts in a very small, minced or powdery form into their mixes, but I can’t say for certain.

I’ll end with a few suggestions. All the flavors are solid, but avoid the fruity ones and stick to the nuts, vanilla, and chocolates—not that the fruits are bad, but the others are just better. Special favorites are classic chocolate and/or gianduja, vanilla bean, nocciola (hazelnut), pistachio, and Sumatra cinnamon. The hot chocolate is also amazing—it has a dark chocolate focus, so it’s not too sweet, but it has a great kick at the end. It’s one of the best hot chocolates I’ve had in the District.

Overall, it all comes down to one fact: Dolcezza makes gelato that is far above the quality you typically get in DC. It may be a bit pricy compared to other shops, but it’s worth the price, considering that it’s single-handedly saving the DC gelato scene.

What I Tasted

1. Chocolate Clasico: Really a solid chocolate flavor, but perhaps the dullest and most one-dimensional of all. On the positive side, I like the texture of this a bit more than the others, since it has just a bit more creaminess and less richness to it, helping the chocolate to really show through. At the same time, though, the chocolate flavor is very plain—it really is the classic, milk chocolaty taste that you can get almost anywhere, though this one is excellently crafted. I can’t really penalize Dolcezza for that, though it is somewhat of a downer when every other flavor is so intense that this one comes off as somewhat normal. Moreover, this one seems like the sweetest of the flavors I tried and causes perhaps the most cloying of the subtle sugar spikes in the aftertaste. 4.0/5.0
2. Pistachio Siciliano: This one is perhaps the most suppressed of all the flavors, though the flavor it did have I enjoyed incredibly. A roasted, slightly salty pistachio comes through excellently. I doubt any salt was actually incorporated, but I nevertheless had a slight puckering/mouth-watering sensation that reminded me of the saltiness of some pistachios. Regardless, it isn’t quite as sweet as the chocolate or mascarpone, and that lesser sweetness suits the flavor. Even better, there is a slight smokiness that hits you at the end—very refreshing and very much like real pistachio. Unfortunately, it’s just too subtle. 4.1/5.0
3. Nocciola del Piemonte: Probably one of my favorite, largely because it embodies the flavor the best. The roasted hazelnut comes through as soon as you put it into your mouth, though it remains subtle for a while. That’s largely because the flavor itself is so bold that it can actually match the intensity of the richness of the gelato. Like the pistachio, the focus is on the nut flavor rather than the sweetness, which is always a plus in my book. And that flavor is simply delicious, leaving the palate with a very heavily smoky/roasted sensation that lasts for quite a while. It, too, faces some of the same problems as the others, though. 4.2/5.0
4. Mascarpone (with raspberry syrup): This one’s a mixed big. On the one hand, it captures the flavor very well, but that’s largely because the rich, plain flavor of the gelato itself is very much reminiscent of a traditional vanilla flavor, which is supposed to be somewhat on the neutral, plainer side. Still, there is a fair bit of vanilla/cheese flavor added in, so much so that I can taste it almost throughout, and it is especially nice that the sweetness doesn’t interfere with it. Where the sweetness does interfere is in the raspberry syrup. I really like the intensity of it, and the raspberry is easily the boldest of all the ingredients in any of the flavors I tried. However, it isn’t distributed very well throughout, bunched mostly at the top. Thus, the gelato at times tastes like a plainer, rich mascarpone cream ice cream and other times like cloyingly sweet raspberry. There is a sweet spot, though—and when I hit it, I got gelato that was both balanced and much more intense than the other flavors. 4.0/5.0
5. Honey Tangerine (Sorbet): I’m not a huge fan of sorbets, but this one hits the mark in a lot of ways. First, the lightness is just right, forgoing all the heaviness of the gelato for something that’s about as light as crushed ice, though it’s still about as smooth. Gone is the richness, but not the flavor—in fact, the flavor’s probably even more pronounced than in a normal gelato. It’s very complex as well—immediately tangy-sweet, with a bitterness that just keeps on picking up on the palate gradually, just like you’d get with a real tangerine. It tastes very similar to the real deal, and I can taste both the honey and the tangerine here, so I give them points for great flavor integration. Finally, the aftertaste is still very long and very refreshing, perhaps even more so than with the gelatos because of the lightness and fruity intensity. 4.3+/5.0
6. Valrhona Chocolate Amargo (Bitter Valrhona Chocolate): Even creamier and richer than any of the other flavors I’ve tried to this point. Like I’ve said before, the texture (and taste for that matter) here is more like a heavy mousse than anything else, and it’s so heavy and thick that it literally just sticks to the palate as it goes down—and I mean that in a good way, because this chocolate is extremely intense and extremely long in the aftertaste. I hesitated about the chocolate after the semi-blandness of the chocolate clasico, but here it is very pronounced, and while it is bitter, it isn’t cloying. The gelato does, however, have a slight harshness as it goes down the throat—again, I can’t pinpoint what it is, but it is very pronounced here. 4.4/5.0
7. Thai Coconut Milk: The crème de la crème of the crop of gelatos that I tried. This is perhaps one of the more simple flavors. It’s just milk, after all—as though gelato needs to taste any more like milk, right? Well, here that milkiness is even more delicious and marked. The gelato has a slightly thicker richness to it (nowhere near the chocolate’s mousse quality, though) which really suits the idea of milk. And the flavor is just so refreshing and so pronounced, though subtle, that I felt the need to savor this one for just a bit longer than the others. Especially nice is the little bit of tangy coconut that comes out gradually and leaves the mouth with a blast of zesty fruitiness in the end. 4.5/5.0
8. Dulce de Leche Granizado: I got a lot of great dulce de leche gelato while I was in Argentina, so I was really looking forward to trying Dolcezza’s take on it. Unfortunately, the flavor is downplayed significantly. Dulce de Leche is a very strong, very sweet, very rich flavor, and while Dolcezza gets the richness down, I really can’t taste much dulce de leche except for a slight bittersweet, caramel-like taste, which really is overshadowed by every other flavor I had. Nor do I taste quite so much of an aftertaste here. Still, I love the texture for this flavor, as it is somewhere between the heavy mousse quality of the chocolate amargo and the lighter creaminess of the other non-chocolate gelatos. 3.0/5.0

Scores
Taste: 4.2/5.0
Texture: 4.0/5.0
Value: 3.6/5.0
Selection: 4.0/5.0
Verdict: 4.0/5.0

As you all know by now, I’m an ice cream fanatic. Everywhere I go, I have to rush over and get my hands on the local ice cream, continuing my quest to find the best frozen treats across the nation. Up until now, though, I haven’t really had much luck in Washington, DC, where the artisanal ice cream parlors are not just few and far between, but are generally also mediocre. However, I think I may have finally found the one ice cream store in DC that can satisfy even my near insatiable craving: Max’s Best Ice Cream.

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On first sight, Max’s may not seem all that impressive. It’s a small storefront in the middle of Glover Park, one of my least favorite areas. While the area is safe and clean, it’s a bit bland and lifeless, without much other than a few small restaurants and a Whole Foods.

Max’s interior doesn’t help the situation either. It has a very small eating area, with only three or four tables, while the shop itself doesn’t have much flare or color. It is apparently aimed at a very young audience, with light blue and pink across the displays and endless photos of children that line the large brick wall across the back. It is, however, nice to see that Max is very much a neighborhood man, having served the same families in the community for years, and his store plays on that family-friendly quality.

And trust me, there’s a reason those families have been returning for all those years, as Max’s Best lives up to its name and serves up easily some of the best, richest ice cream I can remember eating. The ice cream here has pretty much the same texture in every flavor—a really heavy, thick, and fatty type of smoothness. It’s the type of thing that you can just swirl almost endlessly without breaking the form at all, as the ice cream just sticks together. It goes down so smoothly, though, that you barely even notice the thickness at all.

You better believe that the flavor is intense, too. Max’s Best Ice Cream is all about unleashing a burst of flavor in the mouth, and Max only makes that even better by including tons of mix-ins, all of which are distributed evenly and generously throughout the different flavors.

At the same time, that flavor barrage is very short-lived, unfortunately, as the ice cream leaves very little noticeable aftertaste on the palate. Still, with ice cream this good, who’s going to complain?

Another minor turn-off might be the flavor selection. Max’s Best has a pretty good variety—about 20 a day—but you’re probably not going to find anything revolutionary here, since Max’s is dedicated to pumping out the classics. It just does them so much better than everyone else that you can’t go back to normal DC ice cream after trying its flavors.

Finally—and this is really what sets Max’s apart in my opinion—the ice cream is consistently good. No flavor I have ever tried from Max’s has disappointed me, and in fact I’ve loved all of them. Really, this is ice cream done by a man who knows his frozen treats, and his ice cream shows a deep respect for both bold flavors and fantastic texture.

Max’s Best Ice Cream is, hands-down, the best ice cream in the District. Go now!

What I Tasted

1. Pistachio: The ice cream is just so good in itself it’s very easy to forget about the flavor, since it’s not very strong. More positively, the pistachio is both mixed in and infused into the cream itself for added intensity (thank goodness! I hate simple pistachio mix-ins with vanilla ice cream). At the same time, the ice cream does have a slightly salty undertone that I find very satisfying, and I like how tons of full pistachios are included—and I mean a ton. These pistachios are very flavorful, too, making up for the lack of a big pistachio flavor in the ice cream itself. They’re slightly salty, giving this ice cream a really nice mouth-puckering feel. They’re also very smoky, and I think they’re roasted. As a side note, I’m pretty sure they’re Persian pistachios, which are on the smaller, slightly softer side, and I think they work well here, not disrupting the smoothness of the ice cream at all. The best part, though, is by far the aftertaste, which is very strongly nutty and salty. It even lasts after the sweetness of the ice cream is gone. 4.5/5.0
2. Vanilla Bean: Very flavorful, with just the right amount of sugar to leave your mouth wanting more. You can even see the ice cream speckled with black dots—probably the vanilla bean (?). It’s really a blast of vanilla flavor in every bite, with a lot of sugar kicking in right at the end to leave you with a very sweet, very strong aftertaste. Unfortunately, it doesn’t last very long on the palate, but it’s so strong while it lasts that I really don’t mind. 4.5/5.0
3. Double Dutch Chocolate: Wow, this one hits you like a rock with a very intense chocolate. It’s very simple, being more or less that traditional chocolate flavor you’d find in the store, with no tricks at all, but it’s done so nicely that you can really taste the creamy semi-dark chocolate bittersweetness throughout, especially in the aftertaste. That aftertaste is, however, just a bit short for me again. Moreover, the palate does pick up an increasing amount of sugar as you savor the flavor, so it never feels all that bitter. Finally, this flavor probably has the best texture of all the ones I tried, with just a bit more thickness and richness that I think really suit chocolate. 4.6/5.0
4. French Vanilla: Absolutely delicious. It’s rich and creamy like the other flavors, but it also has a very pronounced vanilla flavor which gradually picks up until it’s very intense in the aftertaste. Even better, this vanilla has tons of complexity to it. For some reason, it feels a little bit nutty and extremely buttery to me. That balance and flavor make it extremely interesting, even for such a simple flavor. Moreover, the sweetness is near perfect. 4.6/5.0
5. Banana: Really, the base here is almost identical to the vanilla. Still, the banana picks up as you savor the ice cream. I wish it had been a little more pronounced, but it comes through well regardless, especially in the aftertaste. 4.4/5.0
6. Peanut Butter:  Very similar to the banana in that the base again feels just like the vanilla. The peanut butter, though, comes through much better, to the point that this ice cream feels somewhat like a Reeses peanut butter cup. It never becomes too sweet, though, and the focus here is definitely on a strong nutty flavor. 4.6/5.0

Scores

Taste: 4.5+/5.0
Texture: 4.7/5.0
Selection: 4.0/5.0
Flavor (How well ice cream captures the flavors): 4.5/5.0
Value: 4.5 /5.0
Verdict: 4.5+/5.0

Like I’ve said before, DC isn’t really much of an ice cream city, and you’d be very hard pressed to find many artisanal ice cream makers. So whenever I do hear of that rare (and I do mean, very rare) case of an independent, small-time, mom-and-pop-style ice cream joint in DC, you really do owe it to yourself to check it out. That’s the case with Larry’s Ice Cream & Cookies. It’s a small little store front two blocks from Dupont Circle, owned by a half-grouchy, really funny, old Turkish man whose been serving ice cream for what seems like decades (I could be wrong, but he just has that vibe about him, like he really knows his ice cream because of years of experience). Now you wouldn’t expect a Turkish immigrant to just open up a traditional American-style ice cream shop with much success (nor would I, since I eat Middle Eastern-style ice cream every so often and it tastes nothing at all like the American variety!), but surprisingly, his ice cream is top-notch, and he’s served up some of the most famous people around (e.g. Jay Leno), which you can see in all the photos around the shop.

In fact, Larry takes the whole concept of “American” ice cream to a whole new level. If there’s one thing that Larry’s does well, it’s in giving its ice creams character, whether it’s from tons of chunky ingredients, lots of spice (cinnamon in cookie dough? But hey, it works), a lot of chocolate, or a whole mess of toppings.  While the flavors often have odd names like Ecstasy, there’s nothing really unique about them other than the fact that the mysterious owner overloads them with really big flavors. So Praline becomes Crazy Praline, chocolate swirled into vanilla becomes Ecstasy, etc. The selection, then, not really novel, despite what it may seem at first. To be fair, though, it really does cover the whole gamut of American-type flavors and has quite a large variety. You can also find some other nice treats, like cupcakes and cookies, but I really would recommend staying away from some of the more gimmicky things, like the fried ice cream.

That said, the ice cream quality is excellent, though the texture is just a bit too tough for me. The ice cream is very rich and thick, as real ice cream should, but it’s so thick that I could barely scoop it. Instead, I had to literally try to cut through mine. Still, it didn’t melt much in my time eating it, and the heaviness really suited the richness and intensity of the flavors. Plus, the texture probably can’t be perfect, given that there’s just so many toppings mixed into it. It’s somewhat of a shame, though, because the ice cream really does go down smoothly.

To be fair, though, you shouldn’t be eating this ice cream for the superb creaminess, but rather for the flavors. And complementing all these fantastic combinations of ingredients is an ice cream that’s articulated just right so that it doesn’t mask the flavors at all but rather lets them come through easily. What I mean is that, while the ice cream is hard, it’s not icy at all, so that the coldness of the ice cream doesn’t detract in any way from the flavors, which are all HUGE. Basically, you can taste what you’re eating, and that’s nice because there are a lot of places where you really can’t distinguish the flavor of the ice cream just by tasting it (I’m looking at you Pitango Gelato!).

And I can’t finish off a review without mentioning the owner just one more time. He’s a quirky guy with an odd sense of humor and an extremely heavy accent. I’ve heard from some that he can be quite intimidating: hence, his title of “Scoop Nazi.” You won’t find any of the typical pandering customer service that you would at a chain, as Larry barely moves around the store to see if he can help you with anything. He also—and this one is quite the heresy for an ice-cream producer—enforces a strict “one try only” policy. Unthinkable, right?

At the end of the day, though, he can do all that because the ice cream is just so good that you’d be the one missing out on it if you didn’t give it a shot. While Larry’s isn’t one of the best ice creams I’ve had, it really is excellent, especially in terms of true American flavors. So if you’re ever in Dupont, and you’re craving a frozen treat, this is definitely the place to go.

What I’ve had:

1. Crazy Praline: This is flavor! It’s extremely chunky and has tons of chocolate chip and praline for an intense, but not overly sweet, fresh caramel and chocolate taste. It’s very good. It even has what seems like a cinnamon kick (although I’m sure it’s just the pralines). Overall, it’s a solid flavor if you like lots of mix-ins, but otherwise, it’s a bit overloaded for me. 3.7/5.0
2. Ecstasy (Vanilla[?] with a cakey chocolate swirl): This is an amazing flavor, with an excellent balance. The sweet creaminess of what seems to be a vanilla is combined with a nice, cake-like, gooey, and intense chocolate (I think it’s actually just a very soft, thick syrup) blend together perfectly to balance out sweet and chocolate. It just melts in the mouth, too—great consistency in general. 4.5/5.0
3. White Chocolate with Chocolate Chip: The texture is much better than with the crazy praline, as there isn’t so much crunch or chunkiness, meaning it’s not quite as hard and goes down much more smoothly. There is a great counterbalance going on between the two chocolates, as the white chocolate has a fantastic sweetness to it that the chocolate chips counteract with their dark chocolate bitterness. The flavor is bold, and the improved creaminess only means that you get to really taste it. 4.5+/5.0. Best of the whole bunch (just a hair better than the ecstasy)!
4. Chocolate Ice Cream Fried in Almond Shell (topped with caramel honey and whipped cream): This is just an innovation that, when I saw, I just couldn’t resist. I’ve had fried ice cream before, and it’s actually quite common in Japanese cuisine (i.e. green tea ice cream fried tempura style in a muffin exterior). This version, though, is completely different, as the crust is rather thin, emphasizing the nutty crunch of the almonds—i.e. it’s more like a topping than a doughy batter. The shell is, indeed, right on, combining the crunchy nuttiness with the fantastic sweet caramel glaze. Unfortunately, that’s about all that’s good about this creation. The whipped cream is just normal store-bought cream, so it’s very bland and boring. The chocolate ice cream isn’t good either. It’s a bit bland, without much sweetness. It has an intense muddiness to it, though I will say that its texture is still nice and that the flavor is still big. Really, the ice cream is saved by the dough and the caramel. It’s also a HUGE rip-off—about $7 for one flavor, store-bought whipped cream, and some caramel, whereas 3 huge scoops go for $6. 1.5/5.0. 0.5 when adjusted for value.

I’ve also had the following in the past (no score awarded):

1. Cinnamon cookie dough is their signature flavor and was very good surprisingly. It had a nice spiced sweetness to it, giving it a slight grittiness that gave it a weirdly nice texture, and the sweetness really gave a nice kick to the typical doughy, starchy cookie dough. I’m not a cookie dough fan, but this was a unique, fantastic flavor that I would consider getting again.
2. The chocolate was a bit too much—I wouldn’t get it again. Way too dark, and it has almost no sugar.
3. Vanilla bean was pretty good, but tasted too nutty and weirdly tart

Taste/Flavors: 4.2/5.0
Texture: 3.8/5.0
Selection: 3.5/5.0. Gains points for so many unique combos, though the selection is limited to about 25 flavors. Still, you won’t find anything too out of the ordinary.
Overall Score: 4.0/5.0

When I was still a young college freshman and had just moved to Georgetown in DC, I really didn’t know much about the culinary scene, so I had to go by a lot of hearsay from the other students. So I remember one day near the end of my freshman year, I was really craving some ice cream, and I asked a friend of mine if there were any really good ice cream parlors nearby. He just looked at me with a bewildered look and asked, “Seriously? You need to ask?” That night, he took me to Thomas Sweets, somewhat of a local student landmark, where you can get the “best”—or at least the most famous—cup of homemade ice cream in the Georgetown area. It was then that my love affair with T Sweets began, and I was an addict for the month or so left in the school year.

Times have changed, though. After studying in Europe and especially Argentina, I returned somewhat of an ice cream/gelato connoisseur, and I just couldn’t really take the traditional overly sweet American ice creams that I typically get at chain brands anymore. That’s why I returned to T Sweets—I wanted to see if it was as good as I thought it had been, or if I had just not known any better in my youth.

As I thought, the ice cream actually is a notch up from the chains, but it didn’t quite live up to the expectations of my youth. There are some positives, to be sure. The texture and consistency tends to be good, as most of the ice cream is a bit on the milky, creamy side. It melts very quickly, but because it’s so soft, it has a really satisfying smoothness to it that really lets some of the flavors come out well. Still, this mostly applies to the more common/popular flavors, particularly the ones with a vanilla base. The more exotic or uncommon flavors often feel harder or more frozen, even to the point that they feel a bit like ice. These odder flavors are also often times weak, uninspired, or just plain bad.

The selection also leaves something to be desired. While the store offers a large variety of flavors, you won’t find anything that you’ve never seen before, and the flavors are often just combinations of toppings with pre-existing flavors instead of flavors based on the taste of the ingredient itself. That may sound confusing, so let me clarify. The pistachio, for example, is not actually a pistachio ice cream, but rather a vanilla ice cream with pistachios mixed in. It’s still great, but it’s hardly what I’d call pistachio.

That all said, if you stick to the basics here, i.e. vanilla or chocolate flavors, you’re in for quite a treat. Otherwise, given the lack of true variety and the sub-par flavors, this ice cream will come off as nothing special or even just plain disappointing.

Flavors I’ve had:

1. Pistachio: This isn’t really a pistachio, but rather a vanilla with pistachios mixed in. That said, it’s really quite good. The vanilla is creamy and smooth, to the point that it’s practically melting in the cup itself. It also has a milky taste to it that really suits it, letting its richness speak instead of its sweetness (i.e. it’s not overly sweet, but the milkiness gives it a nice flavor). The pistachios, though, give it a nice, nuttiness, so that it has a buttery texture and taste to it, with some nice crunch to it. The pistachios help to neutralized a lot of the natural sweetness of the ice cream, making it very distinctively nutty for a vanilla. Still, it’s just not a pistachio ice cream. 3.8/5.0
2. Vanilla with chocolate almonds: Nearly the same as the pistachio ice cream, but the smaller almonds blend just a bit better than the pistachios. The flavor is in general sweeter because of the extra chocolate and since it lacks the nutty fattiness of the thick chunks of pistachio (the almond doesn’t give as much nuttiness and takes up less space in general), but there’s really not much difference. 3.8/5.0
3. Swiss Chocolate Malt: My favorite flavor, hands down. This is again misleading—rather than a chocolate, it’s a vanilla malt flavor with swiss chocolate chips mixed in. Like I said for the pistachio, the vanilla is incredible. All the milky, creaminess comes through again, but this time it’s even smoother, especially since the mix-in flavor suits it so much better and is so much smaller, so the combo just melts in your mouth. The malt flavor really adds a nice refreshing sweetness, too, but it’s not cloying at all. The combo of chocolate, sugar, and milkiness really is a delight. 4.4/5.0
4. Pumpkin: This is horrendous! How a flavor could be so bad, especially after I had such a masterpiece as the swiss chocolate malt, I really just don’t know. The ice cream was hard and frosty, so it clotted up into blots. It was like eating a pumpkin mash instead of ice cream. And the flavor was horrible. The pumpkin barely came through, and what did come through just seemed overshadowed by the frostiness and the gritty texture of the mash. I couldn’t even finish it. 0.0/5.0
5. Café au Lait: This is a light coffee flavor, and as the name implies, it’s extremely on the light side, such that the flavor of the coffee, while noticeable, really doesn’t come through well. While the flavor wasn’t that bad, though, the texture really couldn’t compare to the better ice creams. The texture was much better than the pumpkin’s texture, but it was still on the hard, frosty side, so that it didn’t have the creamy milkiness that made the other flavors a pleasure. 1.0/5.0
6. Chocolate with Chocolate Chips: This is another fantastic flavor. I’m not a fan of chocolate chips, but they do really work well in this combo, as the chocolate base is a milk chocolate with a rich but not overly intense flavor, so it’s not a chocolate overload. In fact, the base chocolate has the same milky taste to it that the vanilla did, and it’s almost as creamy and rich. The milk chocolate flavor is just right, and the focus is never on the sweetness, but rather on the chocolate, which comes through very well. 4.0/5.0
7. Dulce de Leche: This was quite a good flavor. It was a tad cloying because it had actual dulce de leche swirled in, but the sweetness wasn’t that bad. The dulce de leche really was blended in very well, so that the ice cream stayed just as smooth, if not even smoother. And I like that you can actually taste real dulce de leche, which you don’t get in a lot of these dulce de leche flavors. 3.0/5.0
8. Pralines and Cream: I can’t say I was too impressed by this flavor. The cream or vanilla base has the same qualities as some of the other ice creams, but in this case the praline flavor is just cloying. It’s so sweet that it really dominates the smoothness and milkiness of the ice cream in your mouth. 1.7+/5.0

Taste/Flavors: 2.5/5.0
Texture: 3.0/5.0
Selection: 2.0/5.0. Very inconsistent in terms of quality.
Overall Score: 2.6/5.0

The nation’s capital, as expected, has some of the best food you can get on the East Coast. Unfortunately, that doesn’t apply so much to ice cream. So it’s only rarely that I really hear about a gelato place around that I just have to try. Pitango Gelato would be that exception. It’s not surprising, though. Most importantly, it’s one of only 2 gelato joints that I’ve even heard of in DC, so it’s practically monopolizing that market. Just as importantly, though, it’s pretty centrally located right near Dupont Circle. Needless to say, I was pretty skeptical when I heard about this place—it’s not as though there’s much better gelato to compare it to, so obviously it’s got to be “one of the best.” Anyway, upon returning from a nice meal at a bistro, I decided to stop by just to see what all the fuss was about.

I have to say, for a brand I’ve never heard of (and yes, it is a chain, though a small one, so beware!), Pitango served rather good gelato, though it was not something particularly special. The one aspect that did, however, stand out was the texture. Unlike most gelato specialists, Pitango doesn’t focus on making its gelato super creamy or airy. Rather, the gelato comes extra thick and heavy (for a gelato that is), so the consistency is a nice compromise between that of a very light gelato and normal ice cream—i.e. it’s thick but not overdone. Moreover, it is on the very gooey side, but for the whole time that I ate it, it maintained its form without melting at all. To top it all off, every flavor tends to have its own special texture to suit its need—that is, the texture is modified just slightly for each flavor to give it more heaviness or more lightness, depending on how heavy the flavor itself is (i.e. dark choc is thicker, cinnamon lighter). Really, Pitango hit the texture and consistency right on the head.

Unfortunately, while the ice cream feels right, it doesn’t always taste right, and I suspect that this in large part has to do with the very fact that Pitango makes its ice cream so thick. I found that most of the flavors retained a bit too much iciness. That’s to say that they were so icy that the taste of the ice actually interfered with the taste of most, if not all, of the flavors in the gelato. At the same time, I’m sure it’s that iciness that allows the ice cream to maintain its texture. So there’s the classic ice cream trade-off for you: taste or consistency. In Pitango’s case, I think they overdid it in favor of the latter. Not surprisingly, the flavors are more or less masked on the first taste and only begin to really emerge in the aftertaste.

I do have to say that I did find some of the flavors to be nice, particularly the nut flavors (hazelnut was a particular treat). That’s partially because nutty flavors are so bold that they come through even if they’re covered up a bit. Other than those, though, I really didn’t find much of note. The chocolate was almost always a bit on the muddy side, mixing the unsatisfying iciness with an intensely bitter chocolate flavor that often gave you the sensation that it really didn’t taste like anything (the one exception—and it’s a big one—was the chocolate noir, which was great). The vanilla/creamy flavors were actually a lot smoother than the rest and not quite so icy, but they were typically overly sweet.

Nor did the selection really astound me. There were a good 25 flavors total maybe, but only about 15 of those were gelato (made with milk), while the rest were sorbets (made with water). And of those 15, nothing stood out as anything new—it was mostly a couple of chocolate, a couple of nuts, and then typical flavors like coffee.

All in all, then, don’t expect Pitango Gelato to floor you, as it offers a relatively uninspired selection and, at times, confused or bland flavors. That said, it really does have a great feel to it, and if you can get over the iciness, you’ll probably really enjoy a couple of the flavors, particularly the nuttier ones.

What I’ve tried:

1. Hazelnut: This is real hazelnut flavor. It’s rich and heavy, but the hazelnut comes through very well. The one problem is that it’s a bit icy, covering up the intensity of the nuttiness. But it does have a nice somewhat milky sweetness that combines with the intensity of the aftertaste for a true hazelnut experience. 4.2/5.0. Best flavor I had here.
2. Pistachio: awesome texture and intensity again. This time, though, I do have a bit of a problem with the flavor—it’s just a bit tangy, distracting from the true pistachio taste. And again, the iciness of the gelato, even more than in the hazelnut, covers up the pistachio at first, as does the sweet milkiness of this ice cream (oddly enough, it wasn’t a problem at all with the hazelnut). I will say, it’s still a good quality ice cream, but the flavor is just not a proper pistachio. On the positive side, there is a nice, slight roasted or smoky flavor in there. 3.5/5.0
3. Crema: This may sound odd, but it tastes a bit too much like actual cream, as it’s a bit too sweet. Tastes very milky, much more than the others, but otherwise, there’s not much flavor other than that sugary milkiness. It’s a bit much to handle after a while, though it is still a relatively good quality vanilla type ice cream. 2.4/5.0
4. Orange Dark Chocolate Sorbet (a sample): Muddy and confused. I really can’t tell what it’s supposed to taste like, because it’s just a bitter glop with just too intense of a flavor. The strong orange really clashes with the intensity of the dark chocolate, too. 1.0/5.0
5. Chocolate with Chocolate Chip (a sample): This is a milk chocolate flavor, but even so it just doesn’t have enough sweetness, and the chocolate tastes a bit muddy in general, just like with the orange dark choc. Very bland and one-dimensional, but it does get a couple more tenths for its intense chocolatiness. 1.5/5.0
6. Chocolate Noir (Dark Chocolate): Finally, the chocolate flavor they’ve been going for all along, but which has been constantly muddled in the other flavors. Note that this is also the best-selling flavor, and for good reason, too. It has the taste of real dark chocolate—bittersweet, with that nice bitter, long aftertaste that leaves you wanting more. And the texture is right on—it’s a bit heavier and richer than the others, which I think is fitting for such a strong bomb of a flavor. It only loses points for the iciness, which, unsurprisingly, really clouds the flavor in the beginning. 4.6+/5.0
7. Cinnamon: It looks like a weak flavor, since it looks just like another vanilla, without a strong coloring or anything. But the taste really is there, and the flavor is much more pronounced than most others. In this case, the flavor seems better integrated, largely due to the greater milkiness and sweetness of the ice cream, which seems to control for the iciness that clouds the other flavors and which allows for the flavor to appear stronger in comparison, since the actual texture of the gelato isn’t so imposing and heavy. It’s milky but also tastes of spice, and it has a great extra kick of herby sweetness. It’s satisfyingly light and creamier than the rest of the flavors, which I think suits the cinnamon very well. 4.0/5.0
8. Stracciatella: Decent, but only decent. It has a good sweetness and milkiness to it, but really every flavor does here. In comparison it’s bland. And the chocolate chips are way too bitter, to the point that it seems to be clashing with the gelato. 2.0/5.0

Taste/Flavors: 3.0/5.0
Texture/Consistency: 4.3/5.0
Selection: 2.0/5.0
Overall Score: 3.2/5.0