With the convenient superstores such as Wawa, Sheetz and Buc-cee’s slowly creeping into Greater Cincinnati, our hometown hero, United Dairy Farmers, seems to be upping its game. Some of the new locations now being opened are the size of an old Kroger and offer everything from pizza to meatball subs to breakfast sandwiches.
Spiffy new stores and expanded menus are great. But the thing that will always give UDF the advantage is its ice cream, milkshakes and, of course, malts. While Graeter’s and Aglamesis Bros. are my usual go-tos when I’m looking for an ice cream fix, UDF offers one flavor I crave above all others: chocolate chip.
Plain old chocolate chip might sound boring these days compared to mish-mashes like key lime pie, bourbon ball and Texas sheet cake. But UDF’s is special. And it has everything to do with the chips themselves − a mixture of chips and fine shavings reminiscent of Italian stracciatella gelato. Those shavings are distributed widely and evenly throughout UDF’s Madagascar vanilla ice cream, so every bite is consistent.
Granted, eating UDF ice cream at an actual UDF isn’t as nostalgic as it is at an old-fashioned Graeter’s or Aglamesis parlor. Enjoying some cones with my daughter last week, the background music included a security buzzer on the door and the blip, blip, blips of the digital cash register. Still, there’s something special about eating such great ice cream inside of what is essentially a glorified gas station. But we are living in the era of glorified gas stations. So have at it, Sheetz and Wawa. Your ice cream will never be this good.
Highly Recommended is a weekly spotlight on some of food writer Keith Pandolfi’s favorite finds as he eats his way across Greater Cincinnati. Find more of his recent food writing here.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Why this ‘boring’ old-school flavor is the best ice cream at UDF
Reporting by Keith Pandolfi, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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By Keith Pandolfi, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
