Sugar Mama's Ice Cream — Restaurant in Fairfax

I have been to Sugar Mama’s twice in the past two weeks, and I don't like to write reviews based solely on first impressions.

During my first visit, my plan was to have a couple of scoops of ice cream in a cup until I saw malts on the menu board. Malts are uncommon in ice cream shops and diners in Northern Virginia, which generally offer shakes instead. While shakes and malts are both milkshakes, the only difference is that malts have powdered barley malt added to them, giving them a distinct malted flavor and thicker texture. In my opinion, shakes are a bland, thin drink that is meant to be elevated by adding malt powder, transforming it into a flavorful malted milkshake. I ordered a chocolate malt, which was made extra thick as I emphasized when I ordered it. The malt was extraordinarily flavorful, super viscous, smooth, and emulsified. The chocolate flavoring was subtle, but the malted flavor was distinctive. Having malts on the menu sets Sugar Mama's apart from other ice cream shops and is a cause for more visits by me.

On my second visit last week, I tried Sugar Mama's handmade ice cream. I ordered two scoops in a cup, vanilla and chocolate, without any toppings to interfere with the ice cream's flavor. The ice cream was surprisingly dense, yet remarkably smooth and creamy, but weirdly mild in flavor. I was expecting a rich and flavorful taste due to its density, but it was still very good and didn't reach the peak of top quality. I suspect that the recipe includes a generous amount of heavy cream and whole milk, causing the high density that allows the scoops to maintain their shape without melting while being enjoyed. Perhaps adding a bit more vanilla extract and cocoa could improve the flavor.

The ambiance of Sugar Mama's is outdated and tired, highlighted by an overabundance of fluorescent lighting, which is fine with me. I am there for the ice cream, and more so for the malt. Ice cream scoops and malts are served in white Styrofoam cups, and a white plastic spoon is provided for the ice cream. I needed one for the malt the week before because the straw's diameter was too small, rendering it useless for the thick malt. I'm not complaining; the malt was great.

The place could be used as a set for a scene in a David Lynch movie; his 2020 17-minute short film, "What Did Jack Do?," came to my mind while I was sitting there drinking my malt on my first visit, which was my...

Not the same store!! The owner is changed!! This was our favorite spot for the past 3 years. My kids and our neighbor kids all grew up with this ice cream store, but not anymore. We’ve been waiting for this store to be open as they were closed for a while for “renovation.” But this is not true. It looks exactly the same inside, but more Indian originated ice creams are available, which we don’t know what it means by looking at the names. The owner was yelling at his employee by giving us too much. We ordered one more, and the owner snatched the scoop and scraped at the side of the bucket where there were no ice cream but only the ice, then the scoop is so small, so it fell into the cone, eventually my kid got ice cream cone only with a tiny scrap from the ice bucket. lol too funny. This was a ridiculous experience. I would recommend Woody’s icecream if you’re looking for something local. I will tell all my neighborhood that this is not the same store anymore where we brought our kids and had...

My wife and I stopped by here - had last ordered during COVID several years ago - an unhappy experience - who didn’t have challenges back then, when just staying open took hero effort? We thought it time to check them out and went in. Unusual was what effectively was a hybrid store, serving a southwest Asian flavor influenced pallet of ice cream flavors seen first. For the uninitiated, we happily partook of the offered samples. A second freezer, and with its own board, had a good selection of standard flavors. We liked the flavors we tried, from both freezers, enough so we ordered two hand-packed quarts before we left. Still challenging to keep a business open - especially one that survives on frozen treats, through the winter. They do have a good line of ice cream, certainly on par with Baskin Robins, and they want to have happy customers. We are, and...