5 popular ice cream shops around the Triangle: ranked

Ice cream is a timeless treat with numerous options to fit everyone’s taste. With spring quickly approaching and warmer temperatures right around the corner here in North Carolina, finding a favorite spot to enjoy this classic dessert can be challenging as there is an abundance of options available around Raleigh. To ease up the searching process, we have reviewed popular local spots and given them our honest thoughts.

To keep the reviews fair, a basic formula has been devised: all of the shops are being reviewed with the taste, speed of service, price and overall atmosphere of the store in mind. While these shops may not all be perfect competitors, the fundamental product of all remains the same. For every store visited, we asked for their most popular flavor of ice cream to try. 
1. Two Roosters Ice Cream
When it comes to local ice cream shops, nothing could come closer to home than Two Roosters. Tracing their roots back to their grandma’s front porch here in North Carolina, their main goal is making sure their customers get to enjoy ice cream in the most comfortingly southern way possible. This warmth is immediately felt as their friendly staff were eager to greet us and help us order. The menu was clear and relatively concise, but we kept the order simple, opting for the classic cookies and cream. The wait time was virtually nonexistent, as our order was prepared right in front of us, and as soon as we paid, we received our cup. The inside of the restaurant is clean and relatively minimalist, but still comforting. But, beyond the ambiance itself, the ice cream is what sets Two Roosters apart from all other ice cream shops. While their menu doesn’t feature a ton of flavors, they don’t need variety considering how well the ones they have are prepared. The cookies and cream featured lots of flavor and cookie pieces in every single bite, which in a world full of ice cream that lacks flavor, is a welcoming change. It’s important to note that Two Roosters, while it is a small business, does still have multiple locations around the Raleigh-Durham area. We checked out the location in The Factory, just off South Main Street in Wake Forest, but with locations in North Raleigh and even downtown, chances are one of their locations is within a short drive of wherever you may be. With how solid their offerings are and just how easy they are to find around the Triangle area, Two Roosters felt deserving of an overall rating of nine out of 10.
2. Dairy Depot 
Located near Heritage in Wake Forest, Dairy Depot is an independent, locally owned ice cream shop offering an assorted selection of milkshakes, sundaes and soft-serve cones. But the most notable item on the menu has to be their signature “Train Wrecks,” which features mix-ins of various novelties, fruits and candy on top of the ice cream. We ordered the Twix ice cream, which incorporated little pieces of  Twix chocolate mixed into vanilla ice cream. The ice cream itself was quite light and the flavors of Twix with every bite enhanced the taste and boosted the flavor, making it more delightful. The serving size is adequate, especially when taking the price into account. The speed of service was fulfilling, taking only about four minutes. The atmosphere of the outdoor eating area was very pleasant, with spaced out metal circular tables, seating and plants stationed all around, making the ambiance more tranquil and summer-like. Although, with their location nestled right along the side of Rogers Road in Wake Forest, it can get a bit noisy in peak traffic. Despite this, the ice cream was still very enjoyable and this minor issue of location shouldn’t overshadow that. Due to this, we’ve elected to give Dairy Depot an overall rating of eight out of 10.
3. FRESH. Local Ice Cream
Located off Glenwood Avenue, near Crabtree Valley Mall, FRESH. Local Ice Cream is, as the name would suggest, an independently owned and operated ice cream shop that prides itself on making fresh ice cream every week. Their most popular flavor of ice cream is cookie dough, so we decided to give it a try. The speed of service was extremely quick, with the very friendly employee getting straight to serving us after we paid. The ice cream itself was not too rich but still packed with flavor, featuring lots of chocolate chips and cookie dough pieces to ensure every bite was satisfying. As for the ambiance of their eating area, this left a bit to be desired. The space consisted of a few metal tables and chairs placed behind the establishment, which was ultimately very susceptible to wind and road noise, making it unpleasant to sit and enjoy the otherwise delicious ice cream. Due to this, FRESH. Local Ice Cream loses a few points on our total rating, leaving them with an overall rating of 7.5 out of 10.
4. Lumpy’s Ice Cream 
Independently owned, Lumpy’s Ice Cream can be found in Downtown Wake Forest, featuring various flavors of ice cream, all curated with locally sourced ingredients. The staff member was very kind and attentive, and the service was also extremely quick, taking less than a minute. The atmosphere of the shop itself was quite cozy and nostalgic, including diner-style colorful seating all throughout. There were also lots of retro decorations placed around the shop, amplifying and preserving the feeling of ice cream shops from the past. We ordered the peach chocolate chip ice cream which featured tons of little pieces of chocolate chip within each bite. Unlike the name might suggest, there were very few pieces of actual peaches so the taste of the chocolate chips was more enhanced when mixed in with the vanilla ice cream. The ice cream itself was very delicious, being more on the richer side. The serving size of it was average so it’s adequate to both eat on your own and to share. Even though the ice cream itself was very enjoyable, we were a little dissatisfied due to the lack of peach flavor, so we allotted a score of six out of 10 for Lumpy’s. 
5.  Raleigh Rolls
Situated inside the lively Morgan Street Food Hall in the heart of downtown Raleigh, Raleigh Rolls offers a more trendy twist on the traditional dessert of ice cream. The ice cream is served rolled up in bunches of six, filled with various toppings depending on the customer’s preference. We ordered the Benelux Biscoffee flavor, which featured both Biscoff cookies and coffee mixed into the rolls. The service was very interactive as we got the chance to see the process of mixing the toppings and rolling the ice cream. The rolls of ice cream themselves were a bit difficult to eat as they were extremely dense, which coupled with the rather dinky plastic spoons, made consuming the rolls challenging. Along with the heft of the rolls themselves, they were topped with a mountain of whipped cream which was very eager to fall off the top of the ice cream. However, once we actually got into the ice cream, the flavor was very bold and diverse, although because of how rich they were, the two of us only managed to make it through about three of the rolls. They are definitely a dessert to share between two or more people because of these larger proportions. Overall the experience was unique, but not leaps and bounds better than cheaper and more traditional alternatives, so we elected to give them a final score of 4.5 out of 10.

While some of these establishments may have been ranked higher than others, that’s not to say any of them were bad. Ice cream is almost always a tasty dessert and we greatly enjoyed the opportunity to support numerous local businesses and get an idea of what the summer may taste like for many in the Raleigh area.