Although I have tried my fair share of funky flavors, I have never come across as many unique and…read moregenuinely tasty options as those at Carmen's Italian Ice. Calling the selection good would be an understatement. Flavors and styles lined the walls, and they have even introduced seasonal spring drinks alongside their custards and Italian ice. I ordered a gelati, which came with two flavors and the option to add a warm brownie in the center. They also offer prepackaged pints to take home. The only item that could not be sampled was the not fried chicken, their iconic Shark Tank inspired creation shaped like a chicken leg, where the novelty lies more in the form than the flavor. Some flavors had intriguing names like Tiger Blood and Midnight Fantasy, and the staff were more than happy to explain each one in detail. *Midnight Fantasy: featured a chocolate base mixed with chunks of brookie. It leaned heavier with a slightly grainy texture from the cookie pieces, but the chocolate itself was not overly sweet. It worked best when paired with something lighter. The brookie itself was well balanced, with a fudgy brownie component and a cookie that had a snickerdoodle like quality. *Mango Italian Ice: had a clean, fruity flavor and a smooth texture. It was not overly icy and paired nicely with the custard on top. *Honey Milk: was my favorite of everything I tried. The honey flavor came through strongly, both in taste and aroma, while the milky richness added a smooth creaminess. It paired beautifully with the Italian ice and balanced the richness of the Midnight Fantasy. *Spring Break Soda: was an interesting take on a Sprite style drink, with kiwi syrup, blue raspberry syrup, grenadine, and cold foam. It definitely delivered a sugar rush. There was a tropical feel, but it may be best suited for those with a serious sweet tooth. There is likely something for everyone here, and the friendly service makes it easy to find your match. While I would probably skip the sodas, the Italian ice and custard stood out for their quality.

Carmen's Italian Ice is the place to go when it feels like 100 degrees outside. The Italian ice,…read morefrozen custards, and gelati combination of the two are delicious. There are so many flavors. The staff is young and friendly. Note there is only outdoor seating (almost all uncovered).

I've been here an unhealthy amount of times. I think it's like once a week (maybe). This has been…read morethe go to spot after a rough work week. They switch out some flavors based on holidays or months. This month (may) is aapi month so they have a lot of delicious Asian inspired ice cream flavors. My favorite is mango sticky rice, Thai ice tea and black sesame crumb cake. Some of the past flavors I like was orange chocolate chip, Bethesda brown brickle (always on the menu), salt & cream oatmeal cookie, bourdon walnut pie, and earl grey speculoos. Yeah like I said I've been here a lottttt!

Sarah offers plenty of flavors, but none of them truly stood out…read more I was stunned upon entering as the wall was covered with every flavor imaginable. There were endless fruity and chocolate combinations to choose from. I had a chuckle at their Luck O' The Irish flavor, a leprechaun inspired mix of mint Oreo and Lucky Charms. There was a sign stating that samples were limited to two, but I appreciated that the employees let us try a few extra given the overwhelming variety. *Lavender Honey: leaned far more heavily into honey than lavender. I was disappointed by how faint the floral notes were. The base was overly milky and dominated by sweetness rather than any delicate herbal flavor. *Cherry Blossom: suffered from the same issue of muted flavors. Supposedly a rose water and cherry combination, neither ingredient made much of an impression on the base. The rose lacked any fragrance and the cherry failed to provide either tartness or brightness. *Salted Caramel: slightly too aggressive with the sea salt, though it could have worked if the caramel had more depth. Instead, the caramel lacked any rich, toasted flavor, leaving the overall profile rather flat. The variety was entertaining, but the execution fell short. Many of the flavors sounded far more exciting than they actually tasted. The mix-ins and toppings needed to be incorporated more generously, and the bases themselves required stronger infusions to carry the advertised flavors. In the end, the playful names were more memorable than the ice cream itself.

The service was great and the ice cream was yummy. I got the Egan salted caramel and my kids got…read morethe vanilla and the birthday cake! We were all very happy!!

Good ice cream. We…read moreordered 2 scoops of ice cream and the gentlemen convinced us to spend a few more dollars and get a pint. So glad we did. We got a pint of coffee Oreo. It's a very light coffee flavor and small pieces of Oreo. I would have liked bigger chunks - but it's still good. We also got a pint of brownie bites. The brownies are also tiny, but good. Service was outstanding. The gentleman who helped us was very friendly.

One sunny weekend when the temperature was hot, I thought since I was in the area, I would come and…read moretry something different. As I drove in the lot, I could tell the place was busy (a line in their drive-thru and lots of folks at the entrance (ordering or picking up, I was not sure). I was willing to wait. I saw they had some June specials and a few caught my eye: Brookie - Upside Down Pineapple Cake Jamaican Me Crazy Key Lime Pie Mixed Berry Cheesecake Strawberry Matcha Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Ube There were some others, but I could not decide on which one I wanted (wished I could try all the above). I settled on the one called "Jamaican Me Crazy". The employee described it as: Coconut Ice Cream with Fudge Swirl and Almonds. I only got 1 small scoop since I was trying it for the first time - it was good. Next time, I will need to get 2 scoops as I really enjoyed the flavor of that one. The line in front went very quickly as I sat and ate my ice cream on the premises. There were several employees tending to the customers. I wonder if I can make it back before the end of June to try some of those other flavors, seeing that I have a $1 off coupon.

Bruster's is a great stop for some summer ice cream! It's a grab and go kind of place but they have…read moreoutdoor seating sprinkled around. I noticed they added more lawn chairs since the weathers nice! The staff is always helpful and quick at serving orders. They have a bunch of flavors to pick from and honestly it can be sort of a hit or miss. The classics are always great though like the cookies and cream or butter pecan. I got the cherry vanilla and honestly that's my bad because I thought it would be real cherries not maraschino cherries lol. The mixed berry cheesecake was so good though, it had a mixed berry jam and graham crackers swirled throughout. The pistachio was another slight miss for us. I appreciate the amount of pistachios sprinkled throughout but the base was giving amaretto/almond flavoring as opposed to a true pistachio ice cream. (I also don't like amaretto) so that doesn't help lol but overall glad I tried the flavors and now I can try different ones next time!

Love the variety of flavors available! Everything I've tried has been delish!…read more The 1/2 and 1/2 single scoop is a generous portion. Staff is friendly! It can get a little busy and parking sometimes might be tight. But it's worth it.

Got to experience the rum raisin ice cream today and it was absolutely amazing! I also met the…read moreowner, and he's so nice! I love supporting local businesses!

My favorite ice cream place!! I love that it's not too sweet, and the service has consistently been…read moregreat. Also, the ice cream doesn't make me feel gross after eating it. I like buying pints here and freezing them at home for a harder consistency, but it's good to eat on the spot too. If you get pints to go, make sure the wax paper doesn't stick to the ice cream.

Sarah's is pleasant lit. It smells nice. The ice cream is pretty good, with cream as the frequent…read moredominant note. The kids scooping the ice cream are friendly and work hard. The flavors are often muted or mushy in execution, but they have a lot of them. However, I would always go and feel good about supporting a small business in my community, with the thought that the business would also care about its customers. My friends, Sarah's definitely does not care about you. Our sad tale starts when we ordered an ice cream cake for a family birthday. You can see an image of beautiful cake on their website and the very plain cake we received. $72 for an ice cream cake is an extravagant price, but the decorations as advertised make it quite a show stopper. $72 for what they delivered, bare of adornment and less decorated than a Giant freezer cake is an insult. You probably care about how your cake looks when you present it at a party. Sarah's definitely does not care about how your cake looks. We also placed it days in advance as they advised they are busy and they prepare them to order. This is good, particularly as anyone with a freezer knows, stuff dries out in there. We got a text it was ready three days before the event. When we asked the manager about that, we got a shrug and a "we get busy." You want to make an ice cream cake close to the time it is served if you care about texture and don't want it to dry out. Sarah's definitely does not care about the texture. At this point, you may be one of those people who says..."wait, this is mean. You should give the business a chance to respond." I agree! That is why we brought it up with the person who gave us the cake, pointing out it looks NOTHING like what they advertise on the web site. He responded dismissively basically "yeah, we hear that a lot." Sarah's definitely doesn't care about consumer feedback. We were given a business card to contact someone in corporate, did so and never heard back. If they respond to this review, keep in mind that is for PR purposes because they don't respond to direct outreach. You would hope a small business would care about its customers, or at the very least, its reputation in the community. Sarah's definitely doesn't care about how its customers feel about their products. In sum, go if you like the very mid ice cream, go if you want to get bait-and-switched on an outrageously priced cake or go if you are in the neighborhood. Or don't go. Sarah's definitely doesn't care.

I have a lot to be grateful for! I have a big year ahead of…read moreme, and although I should be in the gym preparing for a HUGE 2027, I'm in these DMV streets being a BIG BACK. I'm choosing peace. I'm choosing joy. I'm choosing vibes. I'm choosing snacks. While back on the dating scene, I literally have one rule: pick me up/send me an Uber and I'll go wherever with you. I'm in my YES phase right now. YES to every invite! No dietary restrictions here...I'm open to all the things. Gluten? Yes. Sugar? Absolutely. Anything yummy, anything bad? Hand it over. I'm not fighting for my life in the gym yet. I was told I would be on the best date ever. Best date ever? Hmmmm. Very, very confident. I love that energy. Well, Pike & Rose is amazing. I'm late to the party, but I arrived cute, so it's fine. I'll give it to him, great date. But what made it spectacular was him introducing me to The Baked Bear. I do love nice things, roses, and gifts, but the way to my heart is SWEETS. Love me with sugar and I'm likely to like you more. This was a direct hit. A bullseye. Cupid could never. I've never been to Pike & Rose. I do not like driving, so this area has never crossed my mind. But yes, thank you for the intro. I will now be acting like this is my spot. We walked up and wow...the line was so long. There will be lines, fair warning. The neon sign was everything because I am the Cookie Monster of the DMV. If it's baked, warm, sprinkled or melts slightly when you touch it, I want it. Hand it over! Cute places to sit outside the shop! Very date‑night worthy, and lots of couples doing sweet couple things. I love... love. This was lovely to see; old couples, new couples, couples who look like they met on the walk over. Love is beautiful. Let's get into it! I did not want to do the brownie cookie sandwich, but my new big‑back friend said I could and should, so I did. Don't threaten me with a good treat. I will crumble faster than the cookie. The ice cream choices complement all things ice cream sandwich. Truly no wrong choices just great ice cream flavors for the best ice cream sandwich or bowl! This was so delicious. I'll be back...a big back, all the backs!!!

Just wow, I didn't know I needed this in my life, but I definitely do! Build your own ice cream…read moresandwiches? Yes, please! Pick your base (cookies for a sandwich, cookie bowl, or cone), pick your ice cream (tons of yummy flavors), pick your toppings (lots of options). Thankfully we had a light lunch so we could enjoy this delicious treat! Highly recommend the brown butter apple cider donut ice cream. So creamy and delicious! The kids went crazy and we will be back when in the area. Portions are large so consider splitting for younger kids. Great service and we also enjoyed the lovely tables outside in the shade!

So cute! We stopped in one night for a special treat and were treated like we were family. The…read morepotion sizes were huge, but so so tasty. Can't wait to go and try more!

Their soft serve ice cream is sooooooo good. Very soft and creamy. My daughter loved toppings so…read moresprinkles was a must. The owner is also very friendly and personable. To be honest, I was in deep shit cause I jokingly told my daughter that my wife and I are not her parents and how I found my daughter in a trash can and I had to get her to stop crying before I get home because I know my wife is going to stab me while she goes on ranting about spending nine months carrying her only for me to traumatize our daughter about finding her in a fucking trash can. Look... it's my generational trauma that I'm passing down to her because my dad did the same shit to me also.... It's called tradition. But I digress... So I bribed my daughter with ice cream and I get to live another day stab free. Some pretty damn fine ice cream at that too...