By Avani Singh
One night during the first week of school, I was reminiscing about summer and realized I forgot to do one thing my last week at home. I’d forgotten to go to my favorite ice cream stand, gotten a chocolate dipped strawberry-pistachio swirl cone and said goodbye until November. If you’ve ever been to Marvel Frozen Dairy in Lido Beach, New York, you know what I mean. No beach day is complete without walking up to the old-school window (it has barely changed since it opened in 1951) to order a treat. Well, that night while dreaming of Marvel, I thought to myself that there must be something similar in Syracuse. I was more than right. As I googled and yelped “ice cream, Syracuse” I was met with an overwhelming amount of options. I was ecstatic. However, trying to pick a shop to go to that night was extremely difficult. All the places sounded delicious, but which one was the best? After trying to figure that out virtually, I came to my senses and realized the only way to tell is to try all the places I had found. So here it is, my 315 ice cream shop bucket list:
1. Sno Top
Sno Top, located on Fayette Street in Manlius, opened in 1957 and was built in the style of a Dairy Queen. Yelp reviewers rave about their ‘dole whip’ and flurries which consist of ice cream or yogurt blended with various candy choices.
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Marcellus Lanes Ice Cream is not only an ice cream shop but also a bowling alley and restaurant. Located at in Marcellus, they are known for their huge portions, soft serve flavor bursts and dipped cones.
Right around the corner in Downtown Syracuse, The Ice Cream Stand is serving up soft serve and hard ice cream including vegan and dairy free flavors. According to Yelp, their S’mores flavor comes with roasted marshmallow on top!
4. Big Dip
Big Dip offers everything imaginable. Milkshakes, more than 10 soft serve flavors, hard ice cream, flurries, slushies, floats, frappes and of course, dipped ice cream cones. Their seasonal pumpkin soft serve sounds amazing.
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Gannon’s Isle is known for their homemade hard ice cream. With flavors like ‘Cuse Trax’ (vanilla based ice cream with a fudge swirl and mini peanut butter cups) and ‘Chocolate Bavarian Torte’ (chocolate ice cream with a caramel swirl and fudge pieces) every SU student must go to one of their two locations at least once. They also offer soft serve, sherbet and sorbets.
Located in the south side of Syracuse, Arctic Island has been operating since 1948. They serve about 15 homemade hard ice cream flavors including Peanut Butter Espresso Oreo and Peppermint Patty. They also offer vanilla and chocolate soft serve.
Abbott’s Frozen Custard is a frozen custard chain with a location in Syracuse. Yelp reviewers praise the ice cream’s rich, creamy and dense consistency. The Chocolate Almond flavor seems to be a popular favorite.
Right near campus in Liverpool, Antonio’s Ice Cream is a hidden gem. They offer soft serve, shakes and hard ice cream like every other shop but their menu stands out from the rest with the addition of Italian ices, gelato and specialty dip flavors like toasted coconut.
While this bucket list only has 8 places right now, I’m sure it will expand over the next four years. Although we all miss our hometown ice cream shops, I’m confident I’ll find something just as good (or maybe even better) in the 315.
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