468 State St.
3 Adjectives: Rich, filling, friendly.
Price:
ice cream (2-5)Authenticity:
Atmosphere:
Overall:
Veganness:
Other Opinions: badgerherald, madisonatoz, yelp, ...
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As a Madison native, I can assure you that the emblematic Chocolate Shoppe logo complete with cow happily licking away at an ice cream cone has been permanently linked to the dopamine/happiness pathway of my brain. To my great delight, throughout the years the quality of the ice cream at the Chocolate Shoppe has never faltered and to this day the creamy goodness remains one of the best in town.
The Chocolate Shoppe located on State Street simply has no competition when it comes to delicious traditional ice cream around these parts. Walk into the triangular shaped corner store on State Street into the white, turquoise and pink interior, and more than two dozen interesting ice cream, sorbet, italian ice, soy, "gelato," and frozen yogurt flavors greet you. There is everything from the simple strawberry to more inventive flavors like superman (crazy rainbow colored fruity ice cream). There are also seasonal flavors to choose from like egg nog and pumpkin depending on when you go. Finally, in the back freezer you can find ice cream cakes and larger containers for birthdays and other occasions.
What is most amusing when you walk into the store is seeing the large nutrition facts disclaimer on the wall declaring:
"Don't even ask. This is the best ice cream made in Wisconsin, and it tastes so good because it has globs of rich Wisconsin cream, tons of real ingredients for boat-loads of luscious flavors. That means it's not low-fat, low-calorie or low-anything, and that's why everyone loves it. You want nutrition, eat carrots."
Some sage advice for anyone stepping into an ice cream store. Indeed, the Chocolate Shoppe's flavors live up to the hype. Each ice cream flavor I have tried at the Chocolate Shoppe has been rich, creamy, and smooth and the servers generally give you a generous helping to whichever flavor you choose. My all time favorite that I urge everyone to try is the Zanzibar Chocolate. One item I would avoid having at the Chocolate Shoppe is their gelato. The flavors are not as inventive as their ice cream, and bland compared to the down-the-street Paciugo.
Most of the time, I prefer eating my ice cream outdoors, but during the winter months there is plenty of seating inside. Chocolate Shoppe has about half a dozen mini-tables that can fit about four people each as well as an interesting mini-park bench near the back presumably for children.
The Chocolate Shoppe is the perfect place to satisfy your ice cream craving whenever you are on State Street.
Something a lot of people probably don't believe: there are vegan flavors at the Chocolate Shoppe. These include gelato flavors (lemon, nectarine, raspberry lemon) and some soy-based flavors (espresso oreo, vanilla chocolate chip). However the "veganness" rating is difficult to gauge here...the nearby gelato cafe, Paciugo, is definitely a four. The Chocolate Shoppe carries more flavors, but the gelato at Paciugo is better than the Chocolate Shoppe gelato. But then again, Paciugo has never had nectarine gelato, as far as Tossy knows. On the other hand, the Chocolate Shoppe isn't always consistent in portion sizes, which can be annoying, but Paciugo generally is. The other thing that generally annoys Tossy about the Chocolate Shoppe is that the vegan flavors are located in the back of the cafe, along with the vain-attempt-at-something-healthy frozen yogurt and sugarless gunk for wimps, and vegans get pretty sick of being singled out after a while.
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