Screaming for ice cream? Twin Cities shops offer local flavor

Noah Rice
The Pumphouse menu includes classic favorites and new flavors that are often linked to other local businesses: lemon bar ice cream with bars from The Baker’s Wife and coffee from Peace Coffee are just two examples.

Pumphouse Creamery provides unique flavors

Located halfway between Lake Harriet and Lake Nokomis on 4754 Chicago Ave sits a small ice cream shop. Pumphouse Creamery offers visitors a nice relaxing venue with an industrial chic vibe. The actual shop itself is small, it only has one indoor, table, but great outdoor seating is offered as well.

Pumphouse has a selection of 20 or so flavors, ranging from classic cookies and cream to some definitely more unique flavors consisting of lavender or blue cheese. If blue cheese in ice cream doesn’t sound super appealing, don’t worry because they have some great fruit flavors like rhubarb and grapefruit sorbet.

This ice cream shop is also a great place for people looking to find dairy-free ice cream. Pumphouse uses coconut milk as a substitute for regular milk. After tasting the dairy-free ice cream, it is almost indistinguishable in flavor from ice cream containing milk. The only differences being that the consistency of the coconut milk based ice cream was a little denser than normal, and the sweetness was much less that what most people are used to.

Noah Rice
Milkjam Creamery, on Lyndale Ave in Minneapolis, offers a colorful menu selection but the must have item is the donut ice cream sandwich.

Milkjam Creamery offers ice cream in a doughnut

Located right next to World Street Kitchen (WSK) Milkjam is an ice cream shop offering unique flavors and ice cream sandwiches. Milkjam offers customers a new modern environment, with crazy flavors and even crazier names. All displayed on a TV monitor, the flavors have names like “Uma Thurman” or “Waka Flocka.”

The ice cream itself is amazing and full of flavor, but even better are their ice cream sandwiches. Made with Glam Doll donuts, the ice cream sandwiches are their signature dish. The visitor chooses the flavor of the doughnut and ice cream, and then a doughnut is cut in half, warmed, and ice cream is smashed in between the two halves to create something of true culinary genius.

Noah Rice
The Edina Creamery carries a ’60s vibe with its red vinyl booths and chrome decor.

The Edina Creamery is a blast to the past for visitors

In the heart of the 50th and France shopping area lies a time portal to the ‘60s, The Edina Creamery. Red vinyl booths line the shop, and a wrap-around bar with fixed stools greets you as you walk in the front door. The Edina Creamery creates an experience like stepping back in time.

They have a great selection of classic flavors, but also some exotic ones that pay homage to the founder’s home country of Vietnam. Visitors can order mountains of candy on their cone or sundaes, and of course chocolate sauce and freshly made waffle cones.

The ice cream is airy and light, and has great taste. Most of the flavors are fairly generic, but some are very interesting and unique, like durian or green tea. Come for the amazing atmosphere and cool decorations and stay for the delicious ice cream.