Izzy's Ice Cream

Who knew that ice cream in the Twin Cities could be such a controversial topic?

Thus, I put as second priority by personal life and instead prioritized ice cream as the goal of a date and made him cross the great divide into St. Paul to visit Izzy's Ice Cream. I do think that my blind date thought it was quite the odd location to meet up since most blind dates should involve alcohol, but considering how most blind dates are a wash anyways, I thought I would utilize it as an opportunity for blog enrichment.

On the ice cream tour last week, we actually tried to go to Izzy's but Google confused the heck out of us by saying that there was a location in Minneapolis. When I saw the location specified I was a bit suspicious and then when we rolled up, it ended up being Birchwood Café. Now, of course, I do like the Birchwood and you can get a couple of flavors of Izzy's there, but it certainly isn't like visiting the Blobby Flay's Throwdown made famous, honest-to-goodness real location of Izzy's on Marshall Street in St. Paul. As this was supposed to be the last stop on the ice cream tour, we just couldn't face any more ice cream that day and bailed on heading to St. Paul.

So, that brings me to last night. It was not difficult to figure out where Izzy's was when pulling onto Marshall - the sidewalks out front were lined with people eating ice cream. Honestly, I have never seen so many people eating ice cream at the same time and also, once inside, waiting in line. And it was a total mix of people - families, couples, groups of friends both young and old. So many people. So many happy sticky people.

I met my date inside the doors and the first look on his face was one of, "Are you kidding me?". I hope that was in reference to the place I made him meet me at and not to my personal appearance. With so many people around and also trying to be all date-like and sociable, I couldn't spend the time I would have liked peering down into the vats of ice cream available and instead dutifully went and stood in the end of the line and had to make my decision based on the flavors listed on the back wall. The line went really quickly and I was still undecided when I got to the front, but again self-controlled by not asking for samples.

Now, what is really fun about Izzy's is the crazy thing that is actually called the Izzy. In addition to your regular scoop of ice cream, you also get a mini scoop on top of another flavor. So fun! It made me think that that melon baller my mom had when we were little was finally put to some good use.

The flavor selection was pretty extensive, ranging from kid friendly bubble gum to more adult flavours like cantaloupe sorbet. I ordered the single scoop of the Dark Chocolate Zin with an Izzy of Peace Coffee. The ice cream was very smooth - not as chunky as even the basic flavors of Sonny's. It was also less cream-y rich than Pumphouse Creamery. It didn't change my world but both flavors were very good and delivered as promised on rich coffee and dark chocolate notes. I didn't get to try any other flavors because I just couldn't ask for a taste of my date's cone - that would have been just too weird.

Izzy's is good ice cream but I think there is simply just a lot to be said for going to Izzy's - it is a total scene with all sorts of happy people eating ice cream. It was by far more crowded than any other shop I visited and that provides plenty of entertainment in itself. It was probably not the best choice of location for a date because of this brouhaha going on but considering there probably isn't going to be another date, at least I got to have some Izzy's.

Thumbs Up: Good smooth ice cream, fun people watching
Thumbs Down: Crowded, Long Lines and thus less time to ponder and sample

Izzy's Ice Cream 2034 Marshall Ave St. Paul www.izzysicecream.com