It’s summer in Florida, which means it’s incredibly hotnot just hot, sweaty, swampy, gross hot. Unfortunately, not all of us can just sit in a pool all day, so here’s a few frozen treats from some of our favorite local spots to help you chill out.
Bubbles & Ice
813 N. Mills Ave., 407-895-8833
Shaved snow fits right into their mostly-chilly dessert list, and this is the only spot we know of that flavors and freezes their own ice blocks instead of buying from a distributor. (Bonus: They use soymilk, so their shaved snow is vegan.) Green tea, red bean and honeydew round out a list of almost a dozen flavors, with jellies and popping pearls on the toppings bar.
Photo by Rob BartlettChibi’s Boba
6437 S. Chickasaw Trail, 407-704-8966, Facebook
The Lee Vista gamers’ hangout boasts just three rotating flavors – like honeydew, vanilla and taro – but it’s a sweet spot to chill with some condensed-milk-topped ice while you catch some Sailor Moon and scope their displays of manga-inspired art.
Photo by YelpGoff’s Drive In
212 S. Orange Blossom Trail, 407-286-3421, Facebook
One of Orlando’s longest-running ice-cream stands – they’ve been serving for more than half a century – is also one of its most beloved, but rest assured: Goff’s Drive In will never kill off their house-made chocolate-dipped soft-serve vanilla cone.
Photo by YelpHanamizuki Japanese Restaurant
8255 International Drive; 407-363-7200, hanamizuki.us
After an epic bowl of ramen, a savory chawanmushi custard or an endless omakase at the sushi bar, the green tea shaved snow is a refreshing finale. Top yours with red beans, sweetened condensed milk and mochi.
Photo by YelpJeremiah’s Italian Ice
6864 Aloma Ave., Winter Park, 407-679-2665; 111 S. Orlando Ave., Maitland, 407-599-9991, jeremiahsice.com
Sixteen years of experience make Jeremiah’s a trusted purveyor of summertime sweets in Central Florida. Owner Jeremiah Litwack and staff throw a blend of fresh fruit, fruit puree, filtered water and sugar into soft-serve machines every day, pumping out the Platonic ideal of soft, refreshing Italian ice: not too sweet, not too crystalline. Try Scoop Froggy Frog, Jeremiah’s signature mint-chocolate-chip flavor.
Photo by YelpKappo at East End Market
3201 Corrine Drive, 407-622-0474, kappoeastend.com
The chef-owners of Kappo at East End Market, justifiably celebrated for their sushi omakase and lunchtime chirashi bowls, also have a sideline in quick-to-pick-up Japanese treats. Some are bought in (like sugary Ramune soda) but the cooler case also holds bottles of tea, onigiri (rice balls) and other small eats made in-house.
Photo by YelpNipa Hut
5565 W. Irlo Bronson Highway, Kissimmee, 407-507-3826, floridanipahut.com
It’s kind of far out there, but this is the place to get traditional Filipino halo-halo – shaved snow topped with sweet corn, sweet red beans, coconut, and tropical fruits like jackfruit, plantains or sweet potato.
Photo by YelpPeak Season Pops
North Orange Ave., Winter Park, 770-865-4792, peakseasonpops.com
Nothing against Fla-Vor-Ice if that’s all you can get your hands on, but a summer this cruel calls for a more sophisticated pop. Steven and Jana Rice use seasonal local fruit and natural sweeteners, so their product won’t give you that chemical afterburn the way a store-bought freezer pop will. Flavors like stone fruit-and-malbec, mango-chili and cantaloupe-ginger sweeten the deal.
Photo by YelpPop Craft Pops
Multiple locations, 941-706-3231, popcraftpops.com
The owners of Pop Craft take popsicles very seriously (just browse their jam-packed website for proof). Luckily, their commitment to their craft means they take the time to test and refine their product, and the quality shows. Their pops and paletas (Mexican frozen-fruit treats) – in luxurious flavor combos like blueberry-lemon-basil, strawberry-balsamic, pear-tarragon-thyme and Mexican chocolate – are heaven on a stick.
Photo by YelpPrivate Island Ice Cream
14650 Gatorland Drive, 407-433-9545, privateislandicecream.com
The ice cream served at Hunter Creek’s Private Island is super technologically advanced – each serving is frozen to order using liquid nitrogen; customers can choose from a dizzying array of ingredients (including salted caramel, candied bacon and cayenne pepper) for an ice cream built to exact specifications.
Photo by YelpRainbow Sno-Cones
3724 Howell Branch Road, Winter Park, 407-896-9105, Facebook
Rainbow has served up their specialty, New Orleans-style snowballs, to generations of Orlando families, and it turns out the saying is true: Practice does make perfect. Instead of the crunchy ice pellets of a snow cone from the fairgrounds, Rainbow’s ice has the texture of actual snow, and the syrup flavors are killer: Tigers’ Blood (strawberry and coconut) is a personal fave.
Photo by YelpIce & Bites Café
3402 Technological Ave., 407-203-6963, Facebook
The list of flavors leans tropical: pina colada, mango and honeydew snows rule, but the “original” sweet milk flavor is truly singular. And their toppings are tops, with options like Cap’n Crunch cereal and mango-flavored mochi.
Photo by YelpTwisted Bliss
1807 N. Orange Ave., 407-484-2653, Facebook
Twisted Bliss is a groovy tie-dyed shack serving up sweet slushy ices with a heaping helping of ’60s peace and love. They scoop some of the most creative flavors around: Arnold Palmer is a lemonade-and-tea summer classic, and Bananas Foster is convincingly caramelly.
Photo by YelpTwistee Treat
Multiple locations, twisteetreat.com
Although the many Twistee Treat locations around Orlando are shaped like flat-bottomed cake cups, fear not: They also serve their famous soft-serve twirled into sharp-tipped sugar and waffle cones.
Photo by YelpYum-Yum Pops
2310 N. Orange Ave., 407-895-5559, yumyumpops.net
Completely dairy-free, made with local and organic ingredients wherever possible, Yum-Yum may be the closest thing to guilt-free summer snacking. Sunshine Daydream is a credible Dreamsicle analogue, strawberry-lemonade is an uncomplicated hot-weather refresher, but chocolate sea salt, made creamy with pureed bananas, is cocoa transcendence.
Photo by YelpSammy’s Gelato and Waffles
2310 N. Orange Ave., 407-895-5559, gelattoinoviedofl.com
It’s quite European, at least in the very general sense of the word. Ingredients for their 20-odd gelato flavors are shipped in from Italy (“everything but the sugar,” I was told), then crafted in-house. The outcome is impressive, and we devoured every bit of the straciatella, strawberry sorbet and caramel cookie gelato with a rapacious vigor.
Photo by Rob BartlettFive f(x)
688 N. Alafaya Trail, 407-930-7181, Facebook
All you need to know is that they hand-fashioned a batch of honeydew ice cream ($4.99) with whole milk in a refrigerated pan right in front of us, and it was stellar. (You can opt for fat-free, almond or soy milk should you wish.) Ice cream flavors run the gamut, with “avocado,” “taro” and “spiced chai” being some of the more exotic.
Photo by Rob BartlettQuickly Boba Tea
9900 Universal Blvd., Orlando
This quick-serve boba spot offers Asian fusion fare like poke bowls and Vietnamese sandwiches. The chain was started by Nancy Yang in Taiwan, and eventually made its way over to the City Beautiful. Credit: Photo by Rob BartlettBourbon Street Snoballs
No address, it’s a foodtruck, 321-945-8742, Facebook
New Orleans perfected the art of the snowball long ago: What looks like a simple snow cone reveals itself to be an altogether more sophisticated treat of feathery fine-shaved ice drizzled with your choice of almost 50 flavors – including NOLA tributes like King Cake, Hurricane and Cajun Red Hot.
Photo by FacebookDrunken Monkey Coffee Bar
444 N. Bumby Ave., 407-893-4994
The ever-popular Mojo Jojo, a concoction of dark-roast coffee, condensed milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and a dash of cayenne, can be whirled with ice in the blender – get some brain-freeze with your caffeine fix.
Photo via YelpThe Pop Parlour
431 E. Central Blvd., 321-348-7677
The temple of popsicles has a plethora of flavors from which to choose, different every day based on what’s in season. It’s almost too hard to choose just one, but our current obsession (beating out summery vanilla-sweet corn), is the coco-cocoa: coconut milk and deep dark chocolate combined in an all-growed-up pop that’s miles more sophisticated than the Fudgsicle of your childhood.
Photo via Yelp7-Eleven
Multiple locations
What can we say? Sometimes you gotta go with a classic, and 7-Eleven’s iconic Slurpee is the undisputed master of brain freeze. Plus, at the end of May 7-Eleven finally rolled out a lower-calorie, sugar-free mango “Slurpee Lite,” flavored with diet Fanta. They’re cheap, they’re fast, they’re everywhere, and they’re not bad in a pinch. Our rec: Add a shake of cayenne pepper and go show off that sugar-free body on the beach.
Photo by YelpFleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar
933 N. Orlando Ave., Winter Park, 407-699-9463; 8030 Via Dellagio Way, 407-352-5706
A steakhouse may not seem an ideal summer hangout, but you might make an exception for Fleming’s boozy milkshake, spun from vanilla ice cream, chocolate lava cake and Bulleit rye whiskey. Find it on their bar menu and make happy hour even happier.
Photo via FacebookMamak Asian Street Food
1231 E. Colonial Drive, 407-270-4688
Get exotic with a bowl of Malaysian ice kacang – a mound of shaved ice and sweet condensed milk topped with sticky-sweet-starchy red beans, creamy corn, cubes of translucent grass jelly and juicy palm nuts, drizzled with simple syrup and sprinkled with roasted peanuts.
Photo via Yelp