Pop's Old Fashion Ice Cream Co — Restaurant in Alexandria

Pop's old fashioned ice cream is a small business located in the heart of Downtown Alexandria, Virginia. They've been serving up homemade ice cream since 1940 but I don't believe it's been sold from this location that long. However, they still keep their shop looking classic and cute! They have over 20 ice cream flavors for you to choose from! Nothing this too out of the ordinary and they keep their flavors simple. Atmosphere is cute, service was friendly and quick and the ice cream was good but definitely had better. It's always nice to support small business so try them out if you're in the area!

My wife and I had a scoop of Luke and Jacobs Favorite Ice Cream which was loaded with lots of mix-ins including, cookie dough, Oreos, recess cups, caramel, Hershey's chocolate syrup and maybe a couple other things but that's all we could point out while eating it. I also had a scoop of the s'mores ice cream which had everything you'd expect with s'mores, marshmallows, graham cracker bits and Hershey's chocolate syrup. My only gripe, and why it's not a 5 star place to me, is that my ice cream was icy. Everytime I took a bite the ice cream was crystallized with ice and wasn't pleasant. If you're a beginner making ice cream this is expected but not from a place that's been around for a while. I wouldn't have served that ice cream for that reason because I don't think it reflects what they're known for. Also the syrup tasted like Hershey's. Seemed like very low quality ice cream but I have a high standard for s'mores ice cream ever since I've had Graeter's S'mores Ice Cream. You would know if you've been following me ;) I would have rather had a hot fudge mixed in because I think the chocolate syrup they use has too much water in it and might be to blame for the icy ice cream.

They don't list all their ice cream flavors online and I think most are rotating flavors but it's a cute place to check out nonetheless.

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Very disappointing experience after receiving several recommendations to check this shop out. If you are an adult, you should be pleased. If you are taking a child, I CAUTION YOU! We enjoyed our 15 min walk up to the bustling street and loved the shop's decor upon entry. My teen boys ordered and adjusted to slight menu changes due to being out of a sauce or 2. My 10 year old daughter, did not adjust well - Ordered a root beer float (bottom of the menu) and was told "No, no root beer" in such a curt response that I questioned if it was even on the menu, but I could read it! Took a minute to readjust and asked for the Cup of Dirt with Vanilla ice cream instead of chocolate. Again, "No. No gummy worms" and no apologies or other options. Decided to pay for the boys and get out of the line to take a breather. Tried for the 3rd time, a vanilla scoop with gummy BEARS (listed on the menu under toppings) and again, "No, no bears." I am a bit irritated that this shop can't put a magnetic or wooden strip (or washi tape!) over out of stock items to avoid kids being disappointed multiple times (it is possible to make customers aware of menu changes), but it would also be appreciated to have a touch of kindness in your tone when responding...

Visited around 2 o’clock with some family to get a sweet treat. When we entered, we were not greeted, as the employee working was too busy just standing with their headphones in and the hood of their jacket up. She did not speak to us the entire time we were there, aside from giving us the total. There were five of us in our group, and we were only allowed 3 samples in total before choosing our scoops. Not three samples per person, but 3 miniature spoons worth of ice cream as a whole. She did not tell us the policy for samples, just shook her head no when any one of us asked to try one more flavor. She acted like it was a problem to be serving us, and from reading previous recent reviews I can gather that this was not a one off situation. It would be imperative for you to have your staff training focus on the customer service aspect of the job.

We try to support local businesses over bigger chains, so we still gave the product a chance instead of just leaving. The ice cream was delicious, but we truly did not feel welcome and this interaction left a bad taste in our mouths. We will be going back to Jeni’s, instead, as they genuinely appreciate our service and give us the option to try any flavor...