Lizzy's Ice Cream

The other night I met some friends for dinner in Cambridge. We had a lovely meal at Charlie's Kitchen, and then as we were headed towards the T, Rachel, Tara, and I decided to stop for some ice cream at Lizzy's on Church Street.

Lizzy's was started in 1995 by Nick Pappas who came from the corporate world, but clearly found his true talent and passion in ice cream making. I have been plenty of times to the Lizzy's in Waltham, but had never been to the newer Cambridge location. The Cambridge location is quite small -- it is basically a counter. (The Lizzy's website actually calls it the "Harvard Square Take-Out Shop.") The Waltham shop is much larger with tables and chairs and even some nice "living room" furniture in the front of the store. I guess that real estate on Moody Street in Waltham comes much cheaper than that in the heart of Harvard Square. Nonetheless, the addition of Lizzy's in Harvard Square is quite a treat for the urbanite.

The three of us took a few minutes to decide from the 40 flavors that Lizzy's offers...

Tara had coffee oreo which I think she liked, but haven't gotten her review yet -- if she sends one, I will add an addendum to this post with her review!

Rachel had a scoop of ginger and a scoop of sweet cream and had this to say about her first Lizzy's experience:

"Last night I had a small cone (which was two huge scoops! I really think that ice cream shops could stand to use a smaller scoop and then just charge less for the ice cream... the size of a small cone is really ridiculously large)...It was good, but I wasn't blown away. The Ginger flavor -- I kind of wished there was more ginger flavor to it. The chunks of candied ginger inside it was good. The texture was good though, nice and creamy. Not overly sweet.

The Sweet Cream was a little bland. I have to admit that Sweet Cream is one of my favorite flavors, and that my favorite Sweet Creams come from Christina's in Inman Sq and from Haagen Dazs. This one, from Lizzy's, just was kind of not here nor there. It wasn't overly sweet (which they can sometimes be) but it also wasn't much sweet at all. I think I'd have been disappointed if I got it alone, but it was a good pairing flavor. Texture was good."

I, knowing that for my own annual homemade ice cream shindig I was going to have to pass up making the black raspberry ice cream for red raspberry ice cream, decided to try Lizzy's own red raspberry chocolate chip ice cream. I don't think I have ever had red raspberry ice cream/frozen yogurt and I wanted to know what I was in for if I did indeed try my own hand at it in a couple of weeks.

The frozen yogurt was very good and quite refreshing, but clearly frozen yogurt, not ice cream. As is true with most frozen yogurt, it was much less creamy than Lizzy's ice cream, and I have a feeling in general that red raspberry ice cream just isn't as rich as black raspberry (both in flavor and in color). The serving was huge, and the price for a small was four dollars and change. Similarly to Rachel, I could have gone with a smaller size at a lower price -- next time I think I will try the kiddie cup size and go for the actual ice cream.

Next time I will go with my old Lizzy's standbys: mint chocolate chip and cookies 'n' cream. No fault of the raspberry chocolate chip -- great tasting and great combo of flavors, but I think I was just in the mood for rich, non-fruity ice cream on that summer night. But if you like fruity frozen yogurt, I would say it's definitely worth a test!

In general, I love Lizzy's. I am glad that if Waltham only has a handful of ice cream shops, that Lizzy's is one of them! It is among my favorites. And a plus to loving Lizzy's is their adorable cow (see left) mascot. In the Cambridge location, this adorable animal greets visitors from above the door.

Live in the Greater Boston Area but not near one of the scoop shops? Don't worry, check out this list for a number of other locations that carry Lizzy's ice cream in cartons.

*All images are from the Lizzy's site as it was late at night when we went and my dark cell phone pictures just wouldn't do the charming Lizzy's justice.*