At the Independent, many things change every year: the headlines, the bylines, the deadlines, and, for a few, the hairlines.
But some things never change. Independent writers are back in line at ice cream shops all over the Outer Cape, reporting for the sixth annual ice cream roundup.
Here are our unprofessional assessments of soft-serve, gelato, and ice cream; our takes on sprinkles, swirls, and samples; and our reflections on the generosity and verve of the scoopers we depend on. It’s the time of year for unabashed ululation: I scream, you scream. Ice cream rarely changes much, and that’s something to celebrate. —Dorothea Samaha
PROVINCETOWN
Lewis Brothers Ice Cream
310 Commercial St.
Open daily, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
I love breakfast, and I love ice cream. But on a sluggish afternoon in Provincetown, only one of those things was socially appropriate. I ducked into the shelter of Lewis Brothers, where the ice cream is made behind the counter and scooped with gusto.
And another thing: the Brothers offer a flavor called Grape Nut: cereal-milk-flavored ice cream with real Grape-Nuts cereal mixed in. It’s ice cream, but it’s also breakfast! I win, and I win.
Nobody understands why Grape-Nuts are good. They’re sort of like gravel. But they are good, especially softened by milk. And in ice cream they’re even better. I got a kiddie cup for $5.50 and added rainbow sprinkles for 50 cents. The first bite tasted like morning: new, cool, calm.
Outside, a musclebound man wearing only denim underwear (junderwear?) strode down the street pulling a massive suitcase. He was leaving town, departing by ferry. I hated to see him go, but — you know how the song continues.
A teenager dressed head to toe in black (leather boots, leg-warmers, gloves, long sleeves, shawl) followed their beachily clad family down the street. They carried a lacy black parasol to match.
Where else can you eat Grape-Nuts with a view that suggests awakenings of all kinds? —Dorothea Samaha
The Nut House
237 Commercial St.
Open daily, 10 a.m.-midnight
In the summertime, working in Whaler’s Wharf at the Independent can require patience. Exiting to Commercial means navigating a bottleneck of ambling vacationers. The only option for the reporter on the go is to muster some serenity until there’s a break in the logjam. If you let the constant commotion wear you down, you could end up like the Nut House’s be-wigged mascot who guards the back door: a she-peanut whose dissociative expression says, “I have seen too much.”
Signs inside reflect that sentiment: if you drop your ice cream, there will be no free replacement. (How many dropped scoops did it take for the Nut House Diva to crack?)
On a recent evening, while I deliberated on my order, there was plenty of happiness on both sides of the ice cream counter. After tasting the one labeled “for Garden Lovers” (too garden-y for me) and the one labeled “for Flower Lovers” (too flowery!), I landed on Bourbon Peach, a blend of Moose Straight Bourbon Whiskey from South Hollow Spirits in Truro, butter-sautéed peaches, and a locally sourced peach jam, whipped into an all-ages treat by Mary DeBartolo of the Local Scoop in Orleans. A small cup was $6.26 with tax. If the label is to be believed, fellas, my thorough enjoyment of the treat makes me a certified “Rich and Smooth Lover,” just so you know. —Joe Beuerlein
Spiritus Pizza
190 Commercial St.
Open daily, 11:30 a.m.-2 a.m.
Most people don’t know they can order a banana split at Spiritus Pizza until 2 a.m. I spotted painter John Dowd ordering one a couple of years ago and that’s how I found out. The banana split is $10, cash only. Don’t forget to tip your ice cream man (usually Frankie or Tim).
Pistachio ice cream is a savvy choice for the split — a little late-night nuttiness matches the crowd outside — and it complements the chunks of banana. Pistachios contain an antioxidant called zeaxanthin that keeps your eyes sharp, so you can navigate Commercial Street after the bars get out. The pistachio ice cream is made by Lewis Brothers, but many flavors offered at Spiritus are Gifford’s or Häagen-Dazs. Toppings are an extra 50 cents to $1. I chose chocolate sprinkles because I’m a grown-up.
Whole cherries also appear in the split during cherry season, which runs through July. The hot fudge is just enough. The ice cream itself has calcium for your bones, but you already knew that. 9.8/10. —Pat Kearns
Twisted Pizza & Ice Cream
293 Commercial St.
Open daily, 11 a.m.-2 a.m.
My trip to Twisted was one of necessity. This review was due, and I’d lost half my body weight in sweat under the sun. As I turned onto Commercial Street, I spotted my target: a building guarded by a five-foot statue of a soft-serve cone and a much shorter slice of pizza.
Twisted’s interior has the cozy feel of a hallway café, with tables lining one wall and a steady flow of customers navigating the narrow walkway between the seating and the counter. It’s snug — but that’s because they’re juggling a large menu: ice cream, pizza, sandwiches, and wraps all in one shop.
Luckily, Twisted’s ice cream counter, serving Gifford’s, is front and center. I ordered my favorite: one scoop of cookie dough in a cone with rainbow sprinkles. A small cone is just under $6. Given the prime location and generous portions, it’s a sweet deal for a summer day. —Sam Church
Sundaze P-Town
207 Commercial St. #5
Opens at 10 a.m. daily; closing times vary
The first thing you notice at Sundaze is the art: paintings of dancers, elephants, and SpongeBob Squarepants clustered along the northwestern wall.
They’re all by owner Tiana Elliott. She gets her ice cream from Polar Cave in Mashpee; you can also buy popcorn, waffles, acai bowls, smoothies, or, if you’re feeling avant-garde, a bag of Doritos.
Elliott also designed the store’s logo, a cutesy pink ice cream cone holding hands with a blue sundae bowl. Both figures have bright red “blep” tongues and huge sparkly anime eyes: it looks more like something you’d expect to see in Tokyo than in Provincetown.
But maybe that’s appropriate. Like any respectable Tokyo establishment, Sundaze also serves crepes. They’re soft and sweet, made with cinnamon and vanilla from Elliott’s own recipe.
I got Nutella and a scoop of salted caramel truffle on mine ($7.50 for a small); I threw on the latest album by Pas Tasta while I ate. It wasn’t quite Harajuku, but close enough. —Parker Mumford
TRURO
Days Market & Deli
271 Route 6A
Open daily, 8 a.m.-7p.m.
The market across from the famous “flower cottages” of North Truro has sported a deli counter and ice cream bar since 2020 — making it one of only a few places on the Outer Cape where you can get both a lobster roll and an ice cream cone. The ice cream ($4.95 for a small, two flavors) is from Lewis Brothers in Provincetown, so it has a velvety softness based in abundant cream and balanced flavors that seduce the palate rather than overwhelm it.
It feels great to grab a scoop while snagging other essentials: the market also sells batteries, salad dressing, cocktail mixers, bug spray, kitchen tools, and wine. Then there’s the view: outdoor benches and picnic tables face one of the most painted scenes on Cape Cod, a palette of white shingles, green shutters, and blue water that lends a timeless quality to even a brief summer visit. —Paul Benson
Endless Sundae
11 Shore Road
Open Mon.-Sat., 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun., noon-7 p.m.
Endless Sundae’s bright pink-and-yellow ice cream trailer helps set the mood during summers at Truro Vineyards, when the Outer Cape’s only winery turns into an all-ages picnic ground.
The ice cream is from Lewis Brothers in Provincetown, and elaborate preparations are the name of the game here. Although tempted by the root beer float — it’s good with spiced rum from the bar, a tipster says — this reporter went with a double-scoop hot caramel sundae ($10) with bourbon-peach and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.
The bourbon-peach was woodsy with a hint of floral: subtle and delicious. The salted caramel sauce pooled around the cookie dough ice cream, forming an extravagant gift for one’s inner child. There are also $2 “pup cups” for canines — bacon-flavored whipped cream with a peanut butter dog treat. Although everyone working there had tried the bacon whipped cream, reviews were mixed on whether it works well on sundaes. —Paul Benson
Savory & the Sweet Escape
316 Route 6
Open daily, 7 a.m.-9 p.m.
An unpleasant memory: getting up from this shop’s outdoor seating last summer I discovered that my butt had been bitten through the mesh chair and my blue jeans by 10 ravenous mosquitoes. The memory dissipated at Sweet Escape’s gigantic flavor board: everything from classic to quirky to dangerous (Death by Chocolate?), all made in-house.
I ordered a cup of Wicked Mud Flats (coffee base with cookie dough, toffee bits, and fudge swirl) and pomegranate dark chocolate (tart pink base with chocolate chunks). There are four sizes: child, skinny, regular, and ultimate. I got a regular for $7.75 (cash only).
I sat outside despite my prior posterior experience and listened to trucks roaring by on Route 6. Twin toddlers made a sticky mess at the next table over. I didn’t care. Was this the “escape” in the shop’s name, I wondered? A spiritual escape from worldly concerns like traffic noise and bothersome children? It was certainly not a physical escape — as I devoured a chocolate chunk, I noticed a large mosquito devouring my bicep.
I slapped the perpetrator and returned to my ice cream. Perhaps a mosquito bite is inevitable when dining outside here. It was worth it for a bite of my own. —Eve Samaha
WELLFLEET
A Nice Cream Stop
326 West Main St.
Open daily, noon-9:30 p.m.
Bring cash: there’s an ATM — but when you’re paying $6.87 for a small cone, you won’t want to add the ATM fee to your night out.
This spot on Main Street has been in town as long as I can remember. The uneven brick patio, handwritten flavor board, and secret-garden vibe is classic Wellfleet summer: pretentiously unpretentious, charming, and sort of magical.
I chose Peach Cobbler, one of the rotating flavors of ice cream made by Emack & Bolio. It was creamy and peachy and tasted like summer. My gamble on this first-time-for-me flavor was worth it — they don’t do samples, so choose well.
My pro tip for stingy, broke locals like me who don’t want to spend like a tourist every time you go out with your family: order a double scoop for $8.18 (you can get two flavors), ask for an extra cup, and split it between your two kids. That comes to about $4 for what is essentially a small, which starts to approach a reasonable price. Hopefully, extra cups won’t be prohibited — like samples and credit cards are — anytime soon. —Abraham Storer
Bob’s Sub and Cone
814 Route 6
Open daily, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
Every year, grocery store Big Ice Cream offers increasingly elaborate combinations of discordant flavors and textures. Last week, I opened a pint to find a half-inch thick layer of hard chocolate, which I had to use a meat tenderizer to break through. These days, I am often left asking: “Why is there so much going on?”
At Bob’s, what you see is what you get. The joint has picnic tables, a red-and-white awning, neon lights advertising Coors, and American flags hung from a crosshatched fence. It’s a remnant of Cape Cod’s past, when ice cream experiences were simpler. Bob’s offers 20 flavors, the hard ice cream mostly from Gifford’s. The soft-serve (chocolate, vanilla, or twist) is from Hood.
I ordered soft-serve vanilla ($3.99 for a small) with a touch of rainbow sprinkles. It was simple, but it did the job. In a world of overloaded sundaes and flavor explosions, Bob’s lets its ice cream speak for itself. —Odie Adelson-Grodberg
Gelato Joy
3 West Main St.
Open Mon.-Sat., 9 a.m.-9 p.m.
We never think of ice cream around here until (a) it’s Sunday or (b) it’s at least 9 p.m. So, when Gelato Joy first arrived in this little town our excursions usually involved disappointment.
But this week we got in a Friday, 8:55 p.m. groove. “Don’t get the roasted almond. Not enough flavor,” the guy ahead of us mutters as he scrapes the last drops from his cup.
I step up to the counter before he gets out of earshot and announce, “A cup of roasted almond, please.” The shop uses delicate Italian flavorings (worth a prayer re tariffs) in such a way that one generous scoop ($6.50) is just right. They mix them with real milk and cream. (Light on the cream, they say, thus, gelato.)
My companions pair sweet cream and raspberry or coffee and salted caramel and they seem glad. Anika Valli, a senior at Nauset High come fall, hands us our cups. She’s been tasting gelato since well before her parents opened the shop in 2020. Dark chocolate, she says, makes her happy.
The word “joy” is on a copy editor’s watch list at the Independent for overuse. Blame Marie Kondo, the tidy guru who wants you to look at every item you own and ask “Does it bring you joy?” Since then, people seem to be finding an awful lot of joy lying around. But I’m typing it here: Gelato Joy brings it. —Teresa Parker
Mac’s on the Pier
265 Commercial St.
Open daily, 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m.
In line at Mac’s on the Pier, I marveled at my professional advancement. Here I was, reviewing ice cream at the site of my first job. Instead of a sticky, chocolate-stained T-shirt, I wore a crisp button-down.
Honestly, I was hoping to find proof that, without me, the service and quality at Mac’s had taken a nosedive. Maybe I would be given Reese’s Pieces instead of Peanut Butter Cups or the worker would make skin contact with my scoop (a violation of the sanitary code ingrained in my training). I ordered Moose Trax because it’s hard to scoop and often breaks the cone.
But when my tongue met the vanilla, frozen fudge, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, I grudgingly acknowledged that the Mac’s on the Pier experience was as creamy and dreamy as ever.
Moose Trax is one of the 20 flavors from Leiby’s Ice Cream. A small ($3.99) is 1.5 big scoops.
What truly sets Mac’s on the Pier apart is its location. Though the Wellfleet Pier might be a little more blackened and charred than usual, the harbor views are still unmatched. —Odie Adelson-Grodberg
PJ’s Family Restaurant
2616 Route 6
Open daily (except Wednesday), 11:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m
I stared at the sun-faded lineup of ice cream flavors on PJ’s menu. Standing on my tiptoes — the window is too high for anyone under 5’3’’— I asked the cashier for the most unique flavor and received a swirl of black raspberry and coffee soft-serve in a cake cone. The contrast between tart fruit and bitter coffee was confusing but strangely addictive — even harmonious.
The soft-serve is from Hood, but coffee and black raspberry concentrates are mixed into the ice cream in the shop. By my third bite, my hand was sticky. As my ice cream buckled in the heat, I returned to the window to ask for a cup and a spoon.
Would I come back for this $5 cone again? That’s no longer a rhetorical question — I returned to PJ’s just a week later, this time opting for the less adventurous but equally delightful $6 scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream. —Grace Yoon
EASTHAM
The Landing
491 Campground Road
Open daily, 8 a.m.-9 p.m.
The Landing reminded me of summer camp with its casual, effortless quality: bright sun; the smell of sunblock; people heading down the road behind me toward the beach. A brown dog named May Boots, belonging to the owners, greeted me in front of the ice cream window. I brushed curious gnats from my arms. Sticking with the animal theme, I ordered a small scoop of Purple Cow for $5.75. On a whim, I got it on a waffle cone (add $1.25).
The ice cream is made at Acushnet Creamery, says owner Stephen Roderick, filling in for one of “the ice cream girls,” who was “on vacation or something.” It was purple (my favorite color), thick and luxuriant, with Oreos mixed in. If I had dropped it, they’d have replaced it for free. “As long as it’s really an accident,” says Roderick.
May Boots wanted a lick, but I kept it all to myself. —Dorothea Samaha
Nauset Ice Cream
4550 Route 6, Town Center Plaza
Open daily, noon-10 p.m.
Little has changed at Nauset Ice Cream, and that’s good: the owner is still Joanne Cremins, in her 29th year in the little shop on the highway with the line stretching out the door into the parking lot. The 28 flavors (plus daily specials), all made on the premises, are the same, and the cheerful servers offer unlimited tastes. The servings are still big, though the prices have gone up a bit.
Most important: the ice cream is still dense and old-style satisfying.
Fans have their favorites here, including the excellent rum raisin, maple walnut, coffee Heath, ginger, and mint chip. The pistachio is stellar, with lots of whole nuts and no weird green coloring. Some swear by Rainbow Monster; I’m not tempted by vanilla with Oreos, cookie dough, and rainbow sprinkles mixed in.
For chocolate lovers, however, one Nauset specialty stands out: the chocolate mousse. It’s unlike any other chocolate ice cream and, for my money, is the best on the Outer Cape. The custardy texture perfectly complements the deep but not overpowering or too sweet flavor of cocoa and cream.
On my last visit, they were out of chocolate mousse, so I tried the chocolate peanut butter cup. It was very good, but still a runner-up to the mighty mousse.
The “kiddie” cone or cup is large at $5.25; “small” ($6.25) is very large; “regular” ($6.75) is huge. —Edward Miller
Ben & Jerry’s
50 Brackett Road
Open daily, noon-10 p.m.
Ben & Jerry’s is classic for a reason. When it comes to interesting flavors, nobody has them beat. The newest offering, UltraViolet, is colored purple with spirulina, a substance derived from algae. The flavor is vanilla with marshmallow, fudge flakes, and gluten-free cookie pieces. That might sound like a lot, and it is.
Scoops run about 50 cents more than the same sizes at Nauset Ice Cream down the road, but the flavor selection makes it worth it. My favorite is the Tonight Dough: a chocolate and caramel base with peanut butter cookie dough and chocolate cookie swirl. If you’re feeling mean, ask your scooper for Phish Food: it’s got marshmallow and caramel swirls, which make it thick and sticky and nearly impossible to scoop.
How do I know? My first job was at this Ben & Jerry’s; over a decade later, I’m still trying to wash chocolate out of my shirts. —Parker Mumford
Poit’s Family Restaurant
5270 Route 6
Open daily, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
Poit’s has a thing for lighthouses. You see three of them as you drive in, all standing watch over the adjacent mini golf course. If you’re smart, you can take a fourth home.
I’m talking about the legendary Lighthouse Ice: a parfait of vanilla soft-serve between two layers of Italian slush. The result, served in a transparent cup, looks like a lighthouse.
“There’s another name for Lighthouse Ice, but you can’t use it in the article,” says owner Donna Poitras. It’s a reference to how addictive the stuff is.
Poit’s opened in 1954 as Cape Cod’s first drive-in restaurant. All of the ice cream is soft-serve. Poitras is secretive about where the vanilla comes from, but the other flavors are mixed in-house. A small costs $6.95.
Check out the pinball arcade near the entrance to the golf course. It’s run by David Poitras and features more than a dozen wooden machines from the 1970s, all of them restored by Cape local Vince Veary. Their clattering is the perfect antidote to brain freeze. —Parker Mumford
ORLEANS
Ice Cream Cafe
5 South Orleans Road
Open daily, noon-10 p.m.
I don’t like making decisions. I’m a “pros/cons list” fanatic. It took me two years to pick a major. I hate the Cheesecake Factory.
So, you can imagine my panic when confronted with 40+ hard-serve flavors — all made in-house — at Ice Cream Cafe. What was the difference between Chocolate Mint Oreo, Cocoamint Chip, and Mocha Chip? Should I try soft-serve? A sundae? Frozen yogurt? Sorbet? A smoothie? A cappuccino?
A kind employee suggested Brownie Batter Swirl. I got it.
The portion was substantial ($6 for a small). The chocolate flavor was prominent but not overpowering. The brownie chunks tasted like brownies! I can imagine the words “too much sugar” leaving my mother’s lips. No problem for me.
I turned to my fellow fellows for more nuanced takes: Sam Church found it “delightfully moist.” Anna Salvatore wanted to know why I was begging her for “an analysis of the flavor profile.” Grace Yoon did not immediately respond to the Independent’s requests for comment. —Chloe Budakian
The Knack
5 Route 6A
Open daily, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
There’s an epidemic in this country, and its name is “hollow soft-serve.”
Plunge a spoon into your average chocolate-vanilla swirl and it collapses inward, its twists concealing emptiness. You have had this experience.
The Knack, however, does not kneel at the altar of hollowness. Ask for a cone of soft-serve ($4.75) and your wrist will buckle from the weight. “It’s heavy,” you’ll mutter, surprised and pleased. This impression only deepens as you make your way through the thickly piled cone, whose outward plainness is far outstripped by its inward integrity. Who needs a hollow turret when you can have a stocky, delicious torch?
The ice cream is delivered from somewhere else, says one employee. He’s not sure where. But he says that the Knack adds its own vanilla syrup and other ingredients. As far as I’m concerned, the soft-serve can come from anywhere — hell, it can be 3D-printed — if it tastes this good and sits so solidly on the cone. —Anna Salvatore
Smitty’s Homemade Ice Cream
210 Main St.
Open daily 1-10 p.m.
Smitty’s 48 flavors include standards as well as a handful of intriguing choices, all homemade in the Smitty’s in East Falmouth. I decide on Red Raz Truffle: creamy raspberry ice cream with chocolate truffles filled with raspberry. Chocolate sprinkles put the treat right over the top on the palate-pleasing scale.
A single scoop is $6, cash only, and if that ice cream topples from the cone on the way to the picnic area, Smitty’s policy is to replace it free.
Dedham resident Priscilla Pouliot, my server, is staying with her grandmother in Orleans for her summer break from Providence College. Smitty’s menu, she says, offers some Cape-specific flavors that have become customer favorites, such as Nauset Mud, which is coffee ice cream with fudge, almonds, and chocolate chips; Shark’s Tooth, black raspberry ice cream with white chocolate chips (the teeth); and Cape Cod Crunch, vanilla ice cream with Grape-Nuts, craisins, and chocolate chips.
Looking at Smitty’s quaint exterior with its broad, striped awning, as I leisurely eat my ice cream, I recall fond memories of my long-ago family vacations in Maine. —Christine Legere
Emack & Bolio’s
80 Cranberry Hwy.
Open daily, noon-10 p.m.
With a ’70s origin story and mellow attitude toward mix-ins, Emack & Bolio’s reminds me of the custom-blended New England ice cream institutions of my youth, like Herrell’s or J.P. Licks. On the recommendation of two servers, I order a double-scoop cup ($8.18) of Deep Purple Chip (black raspberry with white- and dark-chocolate chips) and Grasshopper Pie (mint with chocolate chips folded into a spiral of crumbled Oreo cookies).
Feeling adventurous, I add an item from E&B’s “espresso bar” specialty menu: a blended drink of coffee ice cream, milk, coffee syrup, and a double-shot of coffee dubbed an Emackaccino ($10.28).
Deep Purple Chip was sweet, if berry-forward, and the Grasshopper Pie was delightful, but the Emackaccino was where E&B’s truly dazzled. Coffee ice cream can’t match the real thing. But the Emackaccino combined it with dashes of hot espresso, traveling beyond a basic frozen coffee or milk shake and into the lactose stratosphere. —Tyler Jager
Mandy’s Cape Creamery
14 Canal Road
Open daily, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. “or later”
There’s no one on Cape Cod as excited about scooping ice cream as Mandy Signorelli, who dances behind the counter of her ice cream parlor, gleefully recommending sundaes with names like Funky Monkey and E.T. Cone Home.
Every year, people tell Signorelli there’s no way she’ll maintain her energy through the tourist season. They’re always wrong. “They come back in September,” she says, “and they’re like, holy mackerel!”
Most of the ice cream comes from Gifford’s, but the 24 flavors of soft-serve (including pumpkin, cranberry, and espresso) are mixed in-house. Signorelli also offers a “Nor’easter” — her take on a DQ Blizzard. She likes to scare customers by presenting it to them upside-down. A small, or two scoops, costs $5.50. I got toasted coconut and Graham Central Station: a graham cracker-flavored ice cream with chocolate-covered honeycomb mixed in.
For Signorelli, summertime is a family affair. Her mother owns the gift shop next door; her brother owns a bike shop a stone’s throw in the other direction. Her father owns the mini-golf course across the street. “Me?” she says. “I’m here for the people who want straight sugar.” —Parker Mumford
