The best places for ice cream in the area

December 3, 12:20 PMSouth St. Paul ExaminerRob Shirk

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Ice cream during winter?

Christmas season is upon us, the chill in the air has turned to cold, the northwest winds are unforgiving, and it's a perfect time to go to Grand Ole Creamery, 750 Grand Avenue, Saint Paul, MN (651) 293- 1655 and get some ice cream.

If you are on the other side of the Mississippi River you don't have to drive to St. Paul to get your fix of waffle cones. Although the original Grand Ave. location is a charming place in a charming neighborhood, you can satisfy your ice cream desire at Grand Ole Cremery 4737 Cedar Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN  (612) 722-2261. The ice cream is the center of their universe.

Their home made, sweet smelling, hand rolled, waffle cones, with a malted milk ball in each cone, is merely the handle for an astonishing array of flavors, all home made in over 200 flavors. Don't be intimidated, however. The flavors on display usually number around thirty. The line moves quickly and even in December there is a crowd.

There are large coolers of water for the patrons, large wooden tables to congregate with friends, new and old alike, and a steadfast belief that an ice cream parlor is a parlor, not a restaurant. Grand Ole Creamery is certainly the number one choice in St. Paul.

Izzy's Ice Cream, 2034 Marshall Avenue Saint Paul, MN 651) 603-1458 is the true idiosyncratic ice cream parlor in town. Every cone comes with an "Izzy scoop", a small scoop of your choice of flavor on top of whatever you've ordered, and you get the scoop whether it's a single or double scoop. Izzy's has a lot going for it in the way of take home deserts and specialties. The ice cream has rigorous standards by their conviction that all ice cream must have the "right" vanilla flavor. If a place can achieve that, the other flavors take off. Izzy's passes that and many more criteria.

The idea that there usually isn't room for the young ones at a restaurant is discarded and children have lots to do with room to do it. The idea of charging a kid an adult price for a cone is abhorrent to the owners. The kids get by for a buck. Period.

Izzy's is completely solar powered through their High Noon Solar Project and you are invited to be a part of taking Izzy's off the St. Paul power grid by sponsoring solar panels. You want Green? Izzy's is the place for you. The whole experience turns an ice cream cone order into an event.

Cheri Bennethum, an acknowledged Twin Cities ice cream aficionado, has above average reports when when it comes to Como neighborhood's Connie's Creamy Cone (flavored soft serve) on Maryland and Dale in St. Paul.

Sebastian Joe's Ice Cream Parlor, 4321 Upton Ave. So. (612) 926-7916 is an institution in the Kenwood and Linden Hills neighborhoods on the Minneapolis side of the Mississippi River and besides being strong across the board when it comes to ice cream, they also realize that when the temperature drops to zero or thereabouts, it's probably wise to give discounts, which they do in January and February. It warms the soul for a frostbitten treat on our frostbitten feet.

Dairy Queen is predictable. It's been around forever and there are a million of them around. I must admit, however, that their signature soft vanilla cone is sometimes all I really want without having to be esoteric and hip. They are the Denny's of the ice cream world.

We are a hardy group in the Twin Cities and we don't take temperature or wind-chill factors into consideration when it comes to ice cream or anything else. You'd think that the last thing you'd expect is to see crowds for ice cream in the neighborhoods around   South St. Paul. Think again, take a number, and stand in line.