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Who has the area's best ice cream?
No shortage of ice cream shops in Warren County when you want to beat heat.
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By Justin McClelland and Ryan Cook,
Staff Writers
Updated 10:32 AM Thursday, June 4, 2009
As warm weather arrives, the center of activity for most towns will soon be ice cream shops and those who dole out cool, heat-beating treats.
From a simple soft serve of vanilla in a cake cone to a complex concoction of brownies, sprinkles and whipped cream, if it serves ice cream, it’s the place to be. In Warren County, residents have numerous locations to choose from.
“We were hot and needed a cool treat,” said Ashley Buhrlage of Lebanon, who took daughters Elizabeth, 6, and Haley, 2, to Whit’s in downtown Lebanon after Elizabeth’s taxing field day at Bowman Primary. “After running and playing all day, it’s delicious.”
A few doors down at the Village Ice Cream Parlor, Sandy Fuston works as precisely as a chemist in a nuclear reactor, measuring the exact amount of bright red liquid and shimmering white ice cream in a frosted glass to perfect a cream soda float.
John Poe is living every child’s dream. He lives above his very own ice cream shop, Miranda’s, in Morrow, which was a converted bank built in 1865. Poe said he receives a lot of bike trail traffic, but on weeknights just as many local families stop by for a dip of the unique flavors he special orders or one of the picture perfect sundaes on display in a front counter.
In Mason, the back up for Tucker’s Whippy Dip can cause traffic jams near its downtown location.
“I used to come here as a kid and now I work here,” said Candace Philpot, who is working her second summer at the Whippy Dip. “It’s just a happy place. Everybody knows it, everyone’s familiar with it, and everyone loves it.”
Here’s the scoop on some of Warren County’s finest ice cream options:
Double Dip 126 S. Cherry St., Lebanon: The only place in the county to make their own ice cream on-site, Double Dip recently won several “best of” awards from the National Ice Cream Retailers Association for its vanilla and chocolate flavors. “It’s whatever the mind can think of,” said co-owner Jeff Myers of his homemade creations.
Myers recommends the fruit-flavored gelatos and the peanut butter fudge ice cream, his most popular flavor. The gelatos are a low fat alternative and are offered in eight flavors. Myers created the Warrior crunch — raspberry with chocolate crunches that matches Lebanon high school’s colors — for an event at VanDeGrift Stadium this year.
Miranda’s 205 Main St., Morrow: Located in an old bank built in the late 1800s, Miranda’s offers a variety of parfaits and ice cream flavored to the specifications of owner John Poe. He gets his ice cream from Ashby’s, but he dictates how much butter fat goes into each flavor, providing them with distinct tastes. “I want people to come in and let us serve them,” Poe said.
Among the many unique flavors at Miranda’s, Poe is particularly proud of the banana pudding, which reportedly brought an entire Blanchester church congregation to his store after their pastor recommended it. Other unique flavors include coffee nut, majestic milky way and key lime. The wall of sundaes out front also will give your hungry eyes pause.
Village Ice Cream Parlor 22 S. Broadway, Lebanon:
The oldest ice cream establishment in Lebanon offers a nostalgic trip to a bygone era as well as shakes, sodas and floats. Despite the name, the Village Ice Cream Parlor offers meals including hamburgers and sandwiches.
Co-owner Sandy Fuston recommends the milk shakes and ice cream sodas. For the adventurous visitor, try the float in red cream soda flavor.
Whippy Dip 127 E. Main St., Mason: “Everyone knows it, everyone’s familiar with it, everyone loves it,” said Candice Philpot, who grew up on their ice cream and has now worked there for two years. This Mason drive-through is so popular it often has trouble containing all the cars coming for a cone in its large parking lot. Our advice? If you are in the area, just walk there and shed a few of those calories you’ll probably pack on from one of their swirlies — a soft-serve ice cream treat mixed with the candy of your choice.
“We have a plethora of options,” Philpot said. The Whippy Dip’s diverse ice cream menu includes gourmet sundaes, banana boats and frozen cappuccino drinks. There also are fat-free Wow Cow products.
Whipty-Do 2529 U.S. 22/Ohio 3, Deerfield Twp.: Joe Fields and his wife, Kristen, followed their dairy dreams and opened Whipty-Do in May. “At the end of the day, we’re putting smiles on people’s faces,” Fields said. Whipty-Do offers soft-serve creations that can be mixed with flavor bursts to create psychedelic-looking cones laced with neon lines that add a fruity taste to an already magnificent vanilla. If you’re looking for something new, try the glacier, which combines a fruit slushie with ice cream for a uniquely textured drink/dessert.
Whit’s Frozen Custard 6 S. Broadway, Lebanon: Not ice cream per say, Whit’s Custard is the new kid on the block . Yes, there’s a difference between custard and ice cream, but whatever that is was lost to the growling of our stomachs. Gourmet sundaes will fill you to the point of explosion. Whether it’s a chocolate and caramel concoction over a chewy brownie or strawberry sundae, these monstrosities will send you to custardise. For the less hungry, Whit’s offers a smorgasboard of flavors. Most popular, according to owner Leslie Moeller, is the Buckeye blast — vanilla custard with chopped-up peanut butter cups.
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1:25 PM, 7/15/2009
12:31 AM, 6/5/2009
2. The Cone (West Chester)
3. Village Ice Cream parlor
4. The Double Dip
5. Whit's
6. UDF
7. Sonic (Montgomery)
Haven't been to Whippy Dip...always too crowded to park there.
4:03 PM, 6/4/2009
~~~~~~
That would be because they are sooooooooooo unbelievably slow at Whippy Dip. My God, it is torture to go there. There is such a need for a competitor to Whippy Dip it's not even funny.
7:37 AM, 6/4/2009
7:32 AM, 6/4/2009