Handel's Homemade Ice Cream — Restaurant in Rogers

We had never heard of Handel's so when the new location opened in Rogers Arkansas we decided to check it out. We are ice cream and frozen custard aficionados so trying a new place is always top of the list. We went thru the drive thru which took a very long time. We had a lady come to the car to take our order and there were no order menus a head of time so you could be deciding on what you wanted to order. When she came to our car she gave us a menu to read in the dark car which was tough, and there was a line behind us so it rushed you to order. We did not want much as we wanted to taste the ice cream but there were no one scoop options. We are thinking an ice cream scoop is normally fairly large. The smallest they had was 2.5 scoops so I asked her if they could take one of the scoops and put it in another cup for us instead of on the cone, NOPE that was not an option. We could do it ourselves. We ordered a cone and a 4 scoop sampler. As we thought 6.5 scoops of ice cream for our party of 5 would be plenty. After waiting for over 15 minutes we finally got our ice cream. I laughed at the size of the scoop. They were tiny. This should have been explained to us as she knew we were fretting over the fact that we thought the scoops were going to be big. The 6.5 scoops wasn't enough for a party of 5 but that's ok we just wanted to taste. As we began to eat the chocolate ice cream we began to get pieces of plastic in our mouth. I was first to get one and then my mother. We showed it to the lady in the window and she apologized and she was very nice but never offered any sort of refund for ice cream we couldn't and didn't eat. She gave us 2 coupons for 2 free cones. lol. After a little bit my grandmothers ice cream also had plastic in it and she had to throw hers out. Things happen we understand but I want to say with all honesty, the ice cream is not fantastic. It is about the same quality as a local Braum's only at Braum's you get more ice cream for less money. If you truly want better ice cream, it won't be hard to beat Handel's. Not a great spot for ice cream and definitely over priced for the amount...

TLDR: good service & good ice cream; weird sizing & awkward seating.

The ice cream is pretty good. We tried four flavors and liked three. I’d rate it higher than some, but not the best I’ve ever had. Service was friendly, but the sizing is really weird (or was explained weirdly). This kind of cone is a minimum of this many scoops, but then they ask what size (s,m,l) instead of how many scoops, and small or medium seems to get the same number of scoops… ?!?! (I still don’t understand. Maybe it’s me, but I found it unnecessarily confusing.) My main complaint, though, is the bench seating. It’s a big building (quite large for an ice cream place), yet there are no tables, only one long bench attached to the far wall. (Technically, it’s an L-shape, but still...) Your family (or ball team or whatever) has to sit lined up side-by-side along this fairly shallow bench; you cannot sit across from one another, can’t have much of a conversation. It’s not the worst thing in the world, but I can’t imagine designing a restaurant like this, to where you feel like it’s made for you to not get too comfortable and not stay there any longer than you have to. (It’s also weird that’s it’s sequestered on the side, out of sight, out of mind. If I were seated near those giant windows and could salivate over the menu, I’d be more inclined to return.) Frankly, this alone made us decide almost immediately that we wouldn’t return anytime soon. Sorry for the critical comments; I’m leaving 4 stars because it’s worth trying; I just wish there were some “normal”...

This is THE best ice cream in Northwest AR. Actually it might be THE best ice cream in all of AR (Actually it's better than ice cream in almost anywhere else I have visited). I LOVE ice cream, and anywhere I travel, it's the first thing I try to find. I have been looking for the best ice cream here since July 2023. I've been to just about EVERY ice cream place in NWA. Sure, Andy's is nice if you like ice cream that's just mix-ins and has the great creamy texture of a custard, but a hard scoop ice cream place that's innovative and actually tastes good? That's just hard to find here.

Now about the ice cream: flavors and texture? Immaculate. Balance of salt and sugar? Fantastic. They don't skimp on the servings, the waffle bowls tasted fresh, and for anyone looking for Taro (with a hint of ube) ice cream, (I was) they got it. And the people who work there are so kind and so fun to interact with! The place is brightly lit.

I ain't never met Alice Handel (because well.. you know) but she's my new best friend. I'll take Alice over Jenni, Bruster, or Andy. Over rolled, custard, soft serve, or chopped up on a cold slab. Over grocery store or ice cream truck. Over the kid with the ice cream stand trying to make it as an entrepreneur in a cut-throat industry. This is just damn good ice cream. And they have a drive through? Don't walk....