1. Twistee Treat
8810 New Tampa Blvd.
(321) 445-9103
TwisteeTreat.com
If you drive by New Tampa’s Twistee Treat on just about any night, you are likely to encounter an overflow line in the drive through. That’s a testament to the variety and flavors offered by the familiar “Big Ice Cream Cone” on the corner of BBD and New Tampa Blvds.
The 25-foot cone-shaped building serves up tasty ice cream on cones, in cups and between cookies (below left), to name just a few ways to enjoy it. Whatever you choose, however, seems to agree with local sweet tooths — in an area with some very good competition, Twistee Treat is No. 1 according to our readers.
Its Twirls — with the ice cream of your choice topped with more than 15 different kinds of cookies and candies of your choice — are among the most popular items.
Twistee Treat also has Waffle Tacos made to order, Cookiewiches (we got ours with Reese’s Pieces), brownie sundaes and banana splits, as well as shakes and slushies.
With the exception of cakes, if you can make it with ice cream, Twistee Treat can make it for you, with the kind of endless varieties that might also explain the long lines.
After all, a carful of kids can make choosing between nearly 30 flavors of ice cream to put on more than a half-dozen different cones with a variety of toppings an adventure, but a tasty one at that. — JCC
2. Cold Stone
17519 Preserve Walk Ln.
(813) 977-0024
ColdstoneCreamery.com/stores/21217
“Welcome to Cold Stone” might be four of the happiest words you can hear. Once inside, the ice cream parlor serves up delicious and creamy ice cream (mmmm, butter fat!) prepared with your favorite toppings (like Oreos, Kit Kats and M&Ms….or just a shmear of regular old peanut butter), on a cold stone while you watch. You can get regular ice cream flavors, but the signature creations, like a Birthday Cake Remix, Cookie Minster or Mud Pie Mojo, are the most popular way to go and perfect for any movie night at home.
And while ice cream with mix-ins is king here, Cold Stone may be almost as well known for its crazy-good ice cream cakes as well. The Cake Batter Fudge (above) or Cookie Dough Delirium might change your life.— JCC
3. Bruster’s
20303 Bruce B. Downs Blvd.
(813) 907-7458
Brusters.com/newtampa
Bruster’s Real Ice Cream is a long-time staple of New Tampa, having survived the Frozen Yogurt Wars of the early- to mid-2000s, and it is always among the dessert favorites in our reader survey.
Why?
The ice cream is creamy, rich and delicious and the choices are seemingly endless. No, really, you might spend as much time choosing your ice cream as you do eating it. There are more than 30 flavors, and all kinds of ways to order — cones, shakes, sundaes, mixers, pies and on and on and…— JCC
The rest of your 2021 NT Dessert Top 10:
(4) Smallcakes
(5) The Cake Shop
(6) Grain & Berry
(7) Dunkin’
(8) You Do The Dishes
(T9) Ice SSSScreamin’ & Coffee Speaks & Tea Talks
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