Although summer is winding down, it is still warm outside and a great time to try some unique ice cream flavors made locally. The old standbys – chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry – can be found anywhere. When it is time to cool down, sometimes you just need to try something totally unique. Here are five local ice cream shops that provide flavors that are a bit different.
Janarty’s Homemade Ice Cream
111 Front Street
Smyrna, Tennessee
Phone: (615) 918-0085
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Ice-Cream-Shop/Janartys-Homemade-Ice-Cream
Hours: Sunday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.
Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. until 10:00 p.m.
Unpretentious in appearance on Front Street in Smyrna, Janarty’s offers small batch homemade ice cream. Owners Marty Schiff and Janelle Alice know what they want, to make the best ice cream available locally. After Schiff retired from the road as a musician in 2013, the two of them spent four months straight pretty much eating ice cream. They have even spent time traveling to renown ice cream establishments all over the country to research what they wanted to make.
“We want to do one thing great,” said Schiff, “not a lot of things okay.”
They offer three unusual flavors that are suggested over and over again by happy customers. These flavors are: Spicy Chocolate, Cinnamon Brown Sugar, and Sweet Lemon Cream. They use no preservatives. And they make their own waffle cones to top off the deliciousness.
“You really need to go try them out if you haven’t because you can taste the TLC in these goodies,” exclaimed one reviewer. “They are insanely delicious.”
Hattie Jane’s Creamery
116 North Church Street
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Phone: (615) 203-3531
Website: hattiejanescreamery.com
Friday and Saturday, 12:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.
Located on Murfreesboro’s city square, Hattie Jane’s Creamery (HJC) is the perfect place to go for a scoop before taking a stroll around the city and looking in the stores. HJC uses the freshest Southern flavors and many local ingredients to create small batch ice cream. Even all the milk comes from Tennessee!
As one reviewer said online after a family trip to Hattie Jane’s, “Let’s just say that everyone thought their ice cream was the best.”
On their current summer seasonal flavors, they offer two really unique flavors: roasted Peach and Bourbon and Sweet Corn and Blackberry. The peach is made with roasted Tennessee and Georgia peaches blended with Bulleit Kentucky bourbon. A reviewr favorite is the Honeycomb Ice Cream, which is on their regular menu.
“It was our first time here today and we tried the honeycomb ice cream,” said another reviewer. “It was fantastic! I would have taken a picture but we ate it much too fast.”
Scoopy’s Natural Ice Cream
1002 Memorial Boulevard
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
(615) 410-3004
Website: http://Www.lmicecream.com/
Hours: Monday through Sunday, noon until 9:00 p.m.
Scoopy’s ice cream is all made in-house. Owner Antonio Alonzo chose to create his best-selling flavors from his other locations – opened under the name La Michoacana — and bring them to Scoopy’s. Flavors include Kit Kat, Snickers, Reese’s Cups, Ferro Rocher, rice cinnamon, and white chocolate raspberry. He also has unique flavors he has created, like Superman, which is a blend of banana, watermelon, and bubble gum.
While these may sound like very unusual flavors, his most one of a kind flavor is Queso Cheese. Yep, that favorite chip dip has been made into ice cream.
“I realize I needed to differentiate myself from my competition if I wanted to succeed,” said Alonzo, “so I created one of my best-selling ice cream flavors — Queso cheese. Yes, it’s made with real Queso Fresco! At first customers felt curiosity about it, but most of them like it.”
He gets his knowledge of making unique ice creams from his father, Salvador Alonzo. He shared his sixty years of experience making ice cream from fresh, natural ingredients with his son, and helped him bring michoacana Mexican style ice cream to Tennessee.
Black Box Ice Cream
Website: https://blackboxicecream.com
Slowly making their way around Middle Tennessee, including Murfreesboro, Black Box Ice Cream Truck has some totally unique flavors that they make fresh and serve in homemade waffle cones. The truck ijust launched a few weeks ago and it is available for events.
Their flavors are inspired by international wanderings, childhood favorites, and “late-night cravings” of the owners. While they have many traditional flavors, they offer some of the most unique flavors around, including Ube, Wasabi, and Olive Oil. Ube is made from a purple yam that comes from the Philippines and tastes a bit like sweet potato pie. Wasabi is best explained by what they say on their website, “Say what? This spicy Japanese flavor will bring the heat and then cool you down. And Olive Oil creates a creamy ice cream with a “sophisticated flavor.”
