As Good As It Gets

Last night Emily and I went to dinner in Uptown with some friends of ours. On the drive back, as we went down Hennepin Avenue towards I-94, Emily asked about three times if I wanted to go to Sebastian Joe's. As I kept on saying, "No, not really," it dawned on me what she was really saying. She wasn't so much asking me if I wanted to go there, but telling me to.

But I had bought bag of Oreos the night before at Wallgreen's and had eaten many of them earlier in the day. And that was really all the sugar I wanted to subject body to in one day.

Or was it?

As we got on I-94, I realized Izzy's was more or less on the way home. So I suggested we go there. In my opinion, Izzy's is that good. I had overdosed on sugar to the point that I did not feel the need to appease my wife's request for ice cream, with one exception. Izzy's is just too good to pass up.

I ordered Coffee Break with Tiramisu as an Izzy scoop. They also had Peace Coffee flavored ice cream and coffee ice cream with Fine Grind Coffee--the coffee shop next door (thanks Emily for remembering that one). Three coffee flavors. Weird.

I can't wait for the spring to get warm enough for Emily and I to ride our bikes to Izzy's. That will be fun.

So now that warm weather is upon us, it is probably time to rank the best ice cream shops in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

5. Grand Ole Creamery. Maybe it's because the way they spell the word "ole" (a reference to Scandanavian culture?) annoys me, or maybe it's just because the ice cream is actually too sweet for me (I didn't know this was possible), but there are clearly four places I would go to before I go to Ye Grande Olde Creamerye. But I'd still go there if I was in the neighborhood.

4. Sebastian Joe's. Nice range of flavors. Good atmosphere. Maybe I don't go there enough. But in my opinion their ice cream has always been very good, just not as great as the three shops ahead of them. I guess I would describe the ice cream as dutifully delicious. But the Sebastian Joe's in Linden Hills definitely has the best outdoor seating of all the places on this list.

3. Crema. Home of Sonny's ice cream. I love Sonny's ice cream. Crema could probably be bumped up to number two, but they have so many other good desserts that Sonny's ice cream gets lost in the shuffle.

2. Pumphouse Creamery. A bit overpriced, but they do a nice job of using only (mostly?) locally grown and produced ingredients. They also do a good job of reminding you again and again about this fact. But the ice cream is good, I certainly support the effort to buy locally, and they have some fun flavors.

1. Izzy's. Izzy's has it all. Outdoor and indoor seating. A nice range of flavors. Solar power. The ice cream is creamy and sweet, but not too creamy and sweet. And of course, they have the izzy scoop.