During a summer marked by heat, smoke and fires, finding a way to cool down has been on everyone’s mind. Our summer interns, looking to duck the heat and enjoy some sweets along the way, sampled Spokane’s local ice cream spots, finding that the history behind the spots is cooler than meets the eye. And besides, who doesn’t jump at the opportunity to eat ice cream on your employer’s dime.
The Milk Bottle
The Milk Bottle is a nearly 100-year-old staple in the Garland District, and the scoopers still serve ice cream like it’s the 1930s. The Milk Bottle offers 16 flavors plus seasonal flavors. They also offer a dairy-free huckleberry flavor.
A single scoop of handmade ice cream with a plain cone costs about $7. The cones are loaded just enough, so they are stacked without falling over.
The ice cream itself is creamy and holds its shape well, even in the summer heat.
– Elizabeth Gallagher
Pete and Belle’s
Spokane Valley’s ice cream shop, Pete and Belle’s, has more flavor options than most. Their more than 50 options include everything from old fashioned vanilla to Superman, a delicious combination of cherry, blue moon and vanilla.
Family-owned and operated since its establishment in 2013, Pete and Belle’s is named after the owners’ children, who now work there.
In addition to ice cream, they carry a wide variety of desserts: Chocolates, fudge, ice cream cakes, truffles, hot cocoa bombs, ice cream sandwiches and caramel apples are all featured on their extensive menu.
To honor their hand dipped caramel apples, I bought a scoop of their caramel apple ice cream, which I found to be creamy, rich without being overpowering, and just melted enough to be smooth, and most importantly, delicious.
– Miller Coyne
Doyle’s
Doyle’s is Spokane’s oldest ice cream shop, and they certainly play into the vintage feel.
The West Central shop was opened in 1939 by Arthur Doyle and not much has changed since, with the original working soda fountain fixtures and ice cream equipment still taking up residence. Playing into the nostalgic feel feature the shelves of antique toys and collectibles.
They only offer a few flavors at a time, but the choices rotate daily and you can spice up the offerings with options like a classic sundae or banana split.
From the second we stepped in we could smell that classic “ice cream shop” smell – which we learned when we got our ice cream was from the homemade, still-warm waffle cones. The ice cream was great, with generous scoops.
– Benedikt Larson
Volonti Gelato
The sole gelato shop on our list, Volonti Gelato is part of the larger bakery miFLAVOUR. They offer a variety of flavors, some fruity and some savory.
miFLAVOUR was founded by couple Max and Ella Piskun. The bakery has a carefully curated aesthetic: A mural in front displays wings ready to take pictures in front of, and the inside is decorated with plants and paintings.
In addition to gelato, the shop offers a variety of sweets, from chocolate bars to cakes.
To test a variety of flavors, I chose one scoop of chocolate and one scoop of raspberry basil. They complemented each other well, and I was especially drawn to the raspberry basil: the bright, fruity flavors made me feel as though I’d been transported from Spokane to an old and rich European city.
– Cimarron Waldo
The Scoop
Women-owned since 2003, The Scoop has been a colorful, family-friendly hub serving locals in pursuit of delectable soft serve ice cream and freshly made waffle cones that cater to their dietary needs. With walls painted in playful pastels, the creamery keeps a dynamic range of seasonal flavors in rotation – all churned locally using a liquid nitrogen process.
Our interns sampled a well-rounded array of fruity and savory ice cream flavors during our trip this summer – I was drawn to the refreshing, seasonal flavor sweet basil, a sweet cream soft serve infused with pungent, chopped basil leaves. Sweet basil’s unique flavor profile may seem daunting to those who prefer a tried-and-true ice cream flavor, but this light, airy ice cream was an adventurous indulgence worth the try.
Patrons can get the scoop on this Spokane-signature soft serve at the Scoop’s South Hill and Kendall Yards locations. As The Scoop receives considerable traffic during the summer, ice cream aficionados should account for wait times when planning their trip to this local gem.
– Isla Hansen
The results are in
Doyle’s ultimately won the intern’s top pick. While every place we tried had its own strengths, Doyle’s stood out for its options, both the classic and the uncommon, and the overall nostalgic feel.
The conclusive Spokesman-Review Summer High School Interns’ stance is: Doyle’s is on a generational run of ice-cream mogging. (For those of you not part of the Gen Z generation, that means Doyle’s outshines its competition).
Reporter Troy Slack contributed to this report.
