If we all screamed at once for ice cream, the resulting sonic boom would destroy the sun, turning the entire solar system into a freezer in which we could store more ice cream. Warm up your shoutin’ muscles with today's Groupon: for $5, you get $10 worth of ice cream and smoothies at Cone Brothers Ice Cream Cafe in Richfield. This Groupon expires on October 31.
The confectioners at Cone Brothers present a menu brimming with sweet ice creams and smoothies in a retro-style shop compete with vintage jukebox. These dairy devotees carry 24 flavors of Chocolate Shoppe ice cream, made from creamery farms in southwestern Wisconsin and northeastern Iowa ($2.95–$4.25 for cone or cup, $3.75–$4.95 for waffle cone). While the maple-nut ice cream mingles with real walnuts, a vanilla-based concoction dubbed Heaps of Love makes heartfelt connections between Oreos, brownies, cookie dough, pecans, caramel, and chocolate ripple. Mined directly from a powdered sugar-topped mountain, the mint avalanche mixes fresh green mint ice cream, Andes candies, and grasshopper cookies with a chocolate fudge swirl.
In the smoothie section, knowledgeable nectarists mix up Dr. Smoothie purees, made with 100% real fruit ($3.95–$4.95). The forbidden fruit smoothie blends white and pink guava with passion fruit and a hint of orange, and a Washington state red apple concoction evokes the smoothie Isaac Newton made after his fateful afternoon in the orchard.
Cone Brothers Ice Cream
The retro decor and vintage bottled sodas at Cone Brothers Ice Cream hearken back to the heyday of the ice cream shop. Behind gleaming counters, Cone Brothers' confectionists scoop 17 flavors of Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream, which hails from creamery farms in southwestern Wisconsin and northeastern Iowa. In addition to its year-round and seasonal ice creams, the shop quells sweets cravings and local schoolyard rebellions with whole-fruit smoothies and sundry candies.