Cold Stone Creamery

Currently operating around a dozen stores across Orange County, Cold Stone Creamery practically defines “mid” in today’s ice cream world. Peaking in popularity during the 1990s, when its core concept of hand-mixing candies, cookies, and nuts into relatively basic ice cream flavors was still fairly novel, the chain decided 35+ years ago what it wanted to be, and has barely changed since – it’s not a destination in and of itself, but rather a place you visit to get a nice bowl of ice cream while walking around a mall or plaza.

From “sweet cream” and vanilla to coffee, chocolate to butter pecan, salted caramel to mint, the ice cream flavors are decidedly old school and stopped improving long ago; similarly, the mix-in ingredients are pretty much the same: M&Ms, gummy bears, Butterfingers, Oreos, pecans, and a handful of tiny fruits (blueberries, apple pie filling, pineapple). But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Dial in your favorite combination of candies and ice cream, drop it in a waffle bowl, and you’re pretty much guaranteed to be happy on a return visit.