Handel's — Local services in Houston

A recommendation on the Houston Heights Foodies group brought me to Handel‘s homemade ice cream since 1945 today at their new location on Ella at 34th. My choices were Rocky Road with Wild Cherry.

It’s a good ice cream. The history of Rocky Road, it takes back to the Depression when the country was in an economic crisis, and so many people were out of work and the person who invented the ice cream named it Rocky Road for the hard times that people were going through. Baskin-Robbins 31 flavors came about because the original creator thought that there would be nothing wrong with having ice cream 31 days a month. The flavor options here at Handel’s, well, it’s overwhelming. There are almost too many flavors to choose from and the ice cream is good enough that I look forward to coming back here again when my calorie counting allows for it. Is it as good as Fluff Bake Bar ice cream? No.

Special note. Outdoor walk up....

Deceptive advertising gets you 1 star, but promot response gets you a fiver. This location used to be a Jack in the Box and your sign says homemade ice cream since 1945- while that may be true, you have not been makong ice cream at this location until 2025. By advertising in this way, it is misleading and hurtful to other businesses who have actually remained at a location for a historically long time and those who can rightfully advertise their long history. This is likening to some businesses that advertise 50+ years experience, when all they are doing, is adding up how long their employees have been on the job. What would you want, an employee that has 50 years of experience and has seen it all or 50 employees with 1 year experience? The math adds up- 50 years, but the level of experience you would expect- from what is advertised is...

We had the scoop sampler. Key lime, mango sherbet, cherry vanilla and one other flavor I can't recall.

The selection is not as varied as what is shown on the website. Too many chocolate varieties for example and not many of the uncommon/unique flavors listed on the website. Also, the coloring doesn't seem natural. A lot of what we saw were bright colors especially on the sherbet options. You can't see the flavor options through the order window but you can get taste samples.

The taste was ok and service/price was too. We were there in the late evening so it was not too hot outside but as others noted there is no a/c closed-in area so be prepared. Returning will be...