It’s hot outside! Summer is the perfect time for ice cream, and the options are plentiful. Below are just a few of the many places serving it in the Valley; this is by no means a comprehensive list. My parents love ice cream, so when they came to visit, I thought it would be fun to show them around some local Grand Junction places and share some tastes with them.
Our first stop was the delicious Enstrom Candies at 701 Colorado Street in downtown Grand Junction. The store is world-famous for its amazing toffee, but they’ve also got a thriving ice cream business. The three of us sampled a variety of flavors, including German Chocolate Cake, Tahitian Vanilla, Root Beer, Pina Colada, White Chocolate Cashew, and of course, Enstrom’s Toffee Ice Cream. My dad even ordered a sundae topped with hot caramel, hot fudge, crushed toffee, whipped cream, and a cherry.
Favorite thing? Enstrom’s Toffee Ice Cream
Next, we stopped off at Taco Party, located a few blocks away at 126 S. 5th St. We had heard from several people that their homemade ice cream was delicious, so we were curious to try it. We didn’t even know they served ice cream. The flavors are unique and change regularly. We especially liked the smooth texture. On the day we stopped in, they had two flavors: Strawberry Shortcake and Chocolate Guajillo Grapefruit.
Favorite? It was a no-brainer. I bought a few little containers to take to dinner parties to get more opinions, and it was a tie.
Finally, my husband and I drove to Graff Dairy at 581 29 Road (my parents, unlike me, ate all the ice cream and were done for the day. I tried to tell them to slow down and just eat a little, but they weren’t going to waste ice cream!). Graff Dairy was bustling with lots of little kids and sports teams looking for their classic soft serve ice cream. We tried the oatmeal cookie, salted caramel, and peach flavors.
What’s your favorite? Salted caramel.
On the last night of my parents’ stay, we had dinner at Fiesta Guadalajara, located at 710 North Ave. in Grand Junction. Dinner was delicious, but then I remembered that they also had ice cream. Of course, I ordered some and added it to my informal taste test. The fried ice cream there was absolutely amazing: crunchy and flavorful on the outside, cold and delicious on the inside.
Bottom line — Drizzled with chocolate and honey and served with whipped cream, this fried ice cream was surprisingly the most popular item at our ice cream tasting event!
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