New Cones on the Block

Greater Lafayette is becoming the hot spot for small, privately owned ice cream eateries. These businesses use locally sourced ice cream and ingredients to offer what big business chains cannot – love in every cone. Let’s explore a few of the newest shops on the block.

Every’s Ice Cream

Making its debut on Main Street in December 2024, Every’s Ice Cream is creating a buzz downtown with unique flavors to delight folks of every age. Banana Pudding, Bourbon Trail, Fruity Pebbles, Wow Now Brownie Cow and of course, Vanilla are a few of the featured flavors. All are made with 16% butterfat from JB’s Barnyard, a small dairy farm in Evansville, which began making and selling handcrafted ice cream in 2023.

Anna and Tanner Schwartz wanted to start a small family business in Lafayette. Together with Tanner’s parents, they purchased a storefront near Two Tulips, Tanner’s parents’ store. The younger Schwartzes utilize their talents in graphic design and development to create a unique, clean and inviting space that welcomes residents and visitors of every age downtown.

Partnering with JB’s Barnyard to ensure a fresh, high-quality product was their first step toward success. Offering rotating selections keeps it fresh. There are 22 everyday flavors and six rotating seasonal flavors.

In honor of Lafayette’s Bicentennial, Every’s is featuring a special concoction of French Vanilla ice cream (symbolizing our French connection), chocolate flakes (representing Indiana farmland), gold sprinkles (for Purdue), and served in a blue corn waffle cone (honoring Indiana agriculture). Another special offering is the affogato, its take on the Italian dessert made from gelato drowned in espresso. This treat is the perfect way to energize in the afternoon or complete a night on the town. Fresh espresso and drip coffee are available all day long. Lactose intolerant? Try dairyfree options made with coconut oil. Lactaid tablets are sold for those who are ice cream adventurers yet lactose intolerant. If you want to try several flavors, try a flight of three small dips served on a sectioned dish.

Another special aspect of Every’s Ice Cream is how it is embracing the downtown community. The shop is open during Mosey Down Main Street evenings, the East End Block Party and Summer on the Square. So far. Although there is limited inside seating, ice cream is the perfect on-the-go treat for people and pups. This small business has quickly become a favorite downtown destination for ice cream lovers.

Every’s Ice Cream

840 Main St., Lafayette Summer hours: Tuesday-Thursday, noon-9 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, noon10 p.m.; closed Monday

Pizza Uncommon

Speaking of gelato, if the Italian confection is what you’re craving, try the Uncommon Creamery’s ever-changing selection of mouth-watering delights. Pizza Uncommon already is renowned for its unusual and delicious pizza combinations. Adding sweet pairings of handcrafted gelato just made sense to Dave Long, a longtime resident of Greater Lafayette. The gelato is created in the flagship Westfield location, using cream and slow churning to make the rich, dense frozen favorite. The two West Lafayette locations feature five regular and two rotating gelato flavors to complement pizza or serve as a stand-alone treat. Indie Coffee Cold Brew gelato is a fan favorite, using local Indie Coffee Roasters’ cold brew to infuse the sweet, creamy base into the ultimate coffee experience. Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookie gelato is sourced locally (from a West Lafayette Girl Scout) to make a chocolatey, minty, crunchy, creamy combination. Salty Vanilla, plopped on top of any warm summer fruit dessert, makes your taste buds cry just thinking about it. Long is always cranking out new flavors, depending on his fancy, to keep it interesting. Dairy-free options are made with 100% vegan coconut milk. Dine in, dine out. Just come in and try a taste of summer.

Pizza Uncommon

103 W. State St., West Lafayette or 1522 Win Hentschel Blvd., West Lafayette. Summer hours: Monday-Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sunday, noon-9 p.m.

Miss Sugar Dessert

Fun and funky. The West Lafayette campus location is unlike any traditional ice cream experience. You’re not just coming in for ice cream; you’re coming to see a show. All 15 Thai-style ice cream flavors are custom-made while you watch. Examples include Strawberry Lady, featuring strawberries and syrup; Piña Colada, with pineapple and coconut flakes; and Cheesecake Wonderland, which combines strawberries and cheesecake.

Step one: Co-owners Heng Li or Huanpeng Liu chop fresh ingredients that go into the mixture with precision, skill and speed on a freezing-cold stainless steel work surface. Next, they squeeze a healthy dose of liquid vanilla or chocolate-flavored ice cream base onto the table and rapidly mix it with metal spatulas back and forth as it thickens and takes shape. They spread it out for its final freeze, then shave the ice cream into artistic rolls and place them in a cup.

Step two of the process is picking out toppings to adorn the creation. Customers can choose up to three toppings, ranging from fresh fruit and cookies to gummy bears and popping boba, from the list of 28 options. But that’s not it.

Step three is adding a drizzle on top: chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, condensed milk or strawberry syrup.

Each generous serving takes about five minutes to create. It is great entertainment and a delicious treat.

Another unique ice cream alternative it offers is ice cream teas. The entrepreneurial owners make homemade ice cream drinks in-house featuring Matcha, Taro, Jasmine or Thai teas. These are only two of the beautiful and unique treats made by Miss Sugar Dessert. Come in for an unusual and tasty international experience.

Miss Sugar Dessert

107 N. Chauncey Ave., West Lafayette. Summer hours:

Wednesday-Monday, 11 a.m.-.10 p.m.; closed Tuesdays

West Side Scoops

Libby and Brad Schwartz realized their dream of owning a small business by opening West Side Scoops two and a half years ago. It has really taken off by offering customers a diverse menu of flavor combinations, including hard-packed dairy, non-dairy, no-sugar-added/ reduced-fat ice cream, yogurt, sherbet and sorbet options. The shop features quality Hershey’s ice cream and novelties. Although not made locally, Hershey’s Ice Cream has been around since 1894 with a sterling reputation. The Schwartzes add a hometown touch by incorporating Triple XXX root beer in regular or blended floats, as well as delicious cookies from Two Guys Bakery in Brookston for Ice Cream Sammies. Flavors include Oatmazing Super Berry Acai, a dairy-free dream of blended blueberries, elderberries and oat crumbles that leaves lasting, happy memories. Turtle Sundae is a guilty pleasure featuring chocolate, roasted pecans and creamy vanilla ice cream, all with zero added sugars and nonfat milk. With 64 delicious flavors to choose from, it isn’t easy to decide where to start scooping. Each flavor is thoughtfully crafted to ignite the taste buds and fulfill the Schwartzes’ mission of “providing a welcoming environment where our customers always leave full and feel like family.”

West Side Scoops is creating community excitement by taking ice cream on the road. You can arrange to have a traveling ice cream trailer appear at schools, weddings, parks, Purdue or special events. Back at the West Lafayette store, enjoy discounted daily specials and novelty items (like Sammies), or get healthy by adding protein powder to your milkshake. Head to the spacious, clean shop in West Lafayette’s growing north end to enjoy an unforgettable taste sensation. ★

West Side Scoops

2060 Sagamore Parkway W., Suite J, West Lafayette. Summer hours: Monday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-10 p.m.

Hats off to the oldies but goodies

Greater Lafayette is fortunate to be home to so many local, family-owned ice cream establishments that have been serving up sweetness for decades. We can’t help but recognize our older beloved ice cream shops: Original Frozen Custard (1932), Budge’s Drive-In (1942), Igloo Frozen Custard (1998), and Silver Dipper (2001). It’s great to know that the community loyally supports old favorites but also enthusiastically encourages the newest cones on the block.