Visiting my grandparents meant one thing for meals – somewhat substantial meals for dinner (otherwise known as lunch) like roasts and light suppers (butter cheese sandwiches).  That was usually not a big a deal to me, but when my husband joined our family, that was not enough food for him.  So, after my grandparents went to bed, we were known to sneak down the hill to the Dairy Barn for something a bit more substantial.  (Didn’t want to hurt their feelings – that was plenty of food when you were in your 80’s!)  When my friend, June, also recommended the place :-), I knew that I needed to include it on the best ice cream in Nebraska list.

Well, I have to say that is the only place on the list below that I have actually frequented myself.  While I have already recommended a few places in the Lincoln area, I have not explored enough places personally in Nebraska to be able to give my complete stamp of approval.  (Although that would be a fun quest: anybody want to hire me for an ice cream tour? 🙂 )  But for now I will pass on recommendations from friends and from websites.  Quite a few of the places are actually authentic soda fountains – so not only great ice cream but also a fun environment.  Hopefully we will make it to try each one of these places someday!  (Note: any place that has been personally recommended, as opposed to rated on the internet is noted with an astrick *) If possible, I tried to link to actual restaurant sites, but many of the places are so small town that having a website has probably not occurred to them.  And those are often the best places to visit!

Frontier Trails

Arapahoe

Arapahoe Pharmacy and Soda Fountain:* Supposedly the longest running soda fountain in Nebraska.

Lewis and Clark

Laurel

Dairy Barn *(address/directions from Urban Spoon)

Metro

Lincoln

C & L Dairy Sweet (Link is to a Four Square Review where address & phone are included)

Omaha

Soda Fountain (part of the Durham Museum)*

Ted and Wally’s (Note: on their website, you can click to their Facebook page.  They update their flavors daily – they sound delicious!)

Springfield:

Springfield Drug and Soda Fountain*

Wahoo:

Zesto’s *(From Yahoo directory – seems to have seasonal hours – call first please)

Panhandle

 

 

Pioneer Country

 

Prairie Lakes

 

Sandhills

Atkinson

R.F. Goeke Variety Store

They have an old-fashioned soda fountain that was even ranked in U.S.A. Today for Top 50 best ice cream.  The link is only to the Atkinson business directory, but I did confirm that they soda fountain is definitely still there!

If you know of any other great places, please comment below or e-mail odysseythroughnebraska@gmaill.com

I tried to focus primarily on originals, as opposed to chain restaurants this time!

Author: neodyssey