Max’s Ice Cream board by samthegirl.

Dish of the Week: Local ice cream
Where: Max’s Ice Cream, York’s Castle Tropical Ice Cream

Gelato and frozen yogurt seem to have been hogging all the frozen treat attention lately. But ice cream is the original treat that won our hearts, whether it was the simple 30-cent ice cream sandwiches and nutty cones from the school cafeteria or standing in line for a sugar cone at Friendly’s. Now when we eat ice cream, it tends to come from the grocery store, and not from the local parlor. But in my mind, there are two local ice cream parlors that trump the fancy gelato that has come on to the scene: Max’s Ice Cream and York Castle Tropical Ice Cream.

Like the fancy gelato places, they both make seasonal flavors such as pumpkin or blueberry. My personal favorite at Max’s is the Mexican chocolate, which is a basic chocolate ice cream chock full of vanilla and cinnamon. And worth a stop if you’re in Rockville, York Castle Tropical Ice Cream makes unique tropical flavors such as mango, soursop, pineapple and lychee. Despite the addition of cream, the fruit flavors still remain true to life. Fans of Caribbean ice cream flavors can get Grape-nut or Guinness. And if you’re a big fan of malt, you can try their Guinness shake with peanuts and malta soda.

Also worth noting: the ice cream at York is allegedly made with original Gifford’s recipes.

What’s your favorite local ice cream parlor?

Small Bites

Better together
Starting today, DC-3 now allows customers to enjoy their specialty hot dogs with its natural pairing, beer. They are starting with two options: PBR tall boys and McSorley’s Irish Black Lager.

When pigs fly out the door
Restaurant 3 is now selling their house bacon for $12 a pound. Starting with their house flavor and soon to expand to other options, customers will receive their meat in slabs, allowing them to cut it as recipes demand.

Truckeroooo
If, like many, you’re trapped in the office far from food trucks, you’ll have the opportunity to sample a wide variety at the monthly Truckeroo event. Until 9 p.m. today, you can head down to Navy Yard to try the fare from 17 different trucks. But if you can’t make it tonight, don’t fret — you’ll have a few more months to try and to skip what are likely to be heavy crowds this month.