Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream

Amazing ice cream! It’s creamy and delicious, and there’s a huge selection of flavors. I was just visiting Madison for the weekend, but I heard this place is a chain, so I hope to be back in the near future!

I wish I had more to say, but here’s my endorsement: I am lactose intolerant, and the Chocolate Shoppe is so good that I don’t even care. Every flavor I’ve ever had here outweighs the pain. A tiny bit pricy, but some things are worth it. I also love that they have a location in the West Towne Mall.

When I’m on State Street this is my third choice place for the cream. I love me some Coldstone. But Coldstone on State doesn’t have much for seating. Although I did see them remodeling recently. And there’s a Gellato place nearby too that is ridiculously fun to try. Anyway, the Shoppe had me at strawberry cheesecake ice cream, which is my favorite. The downside is they don’t always have it. And they don’t have graham. Grrrrrrr. One falling star for that. But there are chunks of cheesecake in it. I go with the chocolate flavors next but they have about two dozen flavors to choose from. Seating is good and I can recharge my phone and watch the State Street crowd.

I’m a little concerned to be living within walking distance to the Chocolate Shoppe. I used to live across the street and my room mate and I ended up here far too often.
CS’s super-​premium ice cream is as rich and creamy as you’d expect, and they have case after case of flavors. I am a bad decider, so it often takes me several minutes of pacing up and down the store to choose what I want. On my last trip some visiting friends and I were on a milkshake mission — I chose to do a Zanzibar chocolate malt. Delicious, for sure, but not quite malty enough — the Zanzibar chocolate has such a bold flavor that it overwhelmed the warmth of the malt. No worries, though — it turns out pure liquid chocolate is still delicious. Crazy, right?
Last month I tried one of their new flavors, banana cream pie. Banana ice cream, Nilla wafters, and marshmallow sauce. Yum. Yes. I’ll have another scoop, please.
In addition to their regular ice cream, Chocolate Shoppe also offers BANG! ice cream (one scoop has the same amount of caffeine as an energy drink) and several non-​dairy options (that I might try so as to pretend I’m making a ‘healthy’ choice).
Glad to have such a great shop (pe) in the neighborhood, and I’m sure they’ll get to know my smiling face soon enough.

Need a little smarter girls working in here!!! Waited for 10 min and kept going to friends to see what they wanted!!! Sunday night… Needs help!!! A line or number system would be a smart move!!!

The place was extremely crowded when we got there and the line was to the street by the time we paid for our ice cream. Anyway, this place was okay. I was set on trying the espresso oreo, but they didn’t have it so I went with rocky road. It wasn’t thee best ice cream, but it was bad either, so overall I would say it’s okay. I guess if I’m ever back I would like to try out the espresso oreo, but who knows.

YUMMMY!!! It’s a close race between here and the place in Memorial Union, but I have to go with this one in the end. I often have sudden cravings for the Zanzibar chocolate and actively avoid walking through State Street on the way home just so I’m not tempted to walk in («only this once, then I’ll stop for an entire month… CHA RIGHT!»)

So many flavors of fresh, stretchy & creamy ice cream!!! Mint Avalanche was amazing! Wish I could stay in Madison longer to try more flavors.

This is the second time going to a Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream, I think there is another branch of this shop in Lake Geneva. I have to say this location is crowded and seems always busy. The flavors of ice cream are very good, with unique titles like «Fat Elvis, Bourbon Pecan Pie» I have been pleasantly surprised by most flavors.
The service is also decent given that there is no line or organized way of ordering. Everyone just stands at the counter and fights to get the attention of the employees. Once you get someone, they are very friendly and follow through until they complete your order.
Another beef with this location is the bathrooms. The men’s bathroom was out of order and the women’s bathroom was GROSS. They have keys to use the facilities, but after looking at how dirty it was, we opted to just hold it.

So good and so much ice cream that I felt like death afterwards. And not to mention the massive amounts of Lactaid poor little lactose-​intolerant Asian me had to take. Totally worth it.
Well, I really wished that they had different sizes because a single SMALL scoop would have sufficed. However, I had to have both the Green Tea and the Coconut Almond Bliss, which meant I had to order the one with two flavors and it was enormous. The waffle cone is amazing, and the dipped ones are even better.
I was very sad that I couldn’t finish my ice cream and it was all melted by the time I got home. Crying.

YUM!
This has got to be the creamiest divine ice cream I have ever devoured. Their line system is a bit wonky and chaotic. Cappuccino Break was delicious!

The ice cream was tasty. I had a flight with four flavors, Vanilla, ginger, blue moon and a cappuccino. The Ginger was the best of the bunch followed by the vanilla then the blue moon? which tastes like fruit loops. The portions are typically very large but with the flight it more manageable. When I visit they were serving bar style and it was crowded so it seemed a bit chaotic.

I have been to Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream multiple times now, and it has never disappointed me.
The quality and selection of the ice cream is unmatched. I tend to order more unique flavors, such as green tea, because I like to try new things. Of course, the shop also has classics like vanilla, chocolate, and cookie dough available. My wife’s favorite is Zanzibar chocolate with bananas and is worth checking out.
The portion size given is fairly large. I usually struggle to finish my single scoop. Depending, I would considering sharing a serving.
Ice cream is also available for purchase in pints to take home with you if you feel the need to take your new favorite frozen treat home with you.
Every single time I have gone to the ice cream shop, it has been absolutely packed. Sometimes the counter is understaffed but the wait is worth it, and the workers are friendly. Despite the crowd, most customers tend to walk around with the ice cream since all of the containers/​spoons are disposable. As a result there will usually be plenty of seating available. A bathroom is available, but you will have to ask for a key.

Definitely my favorite ice cream shop in Madison. The flavor varieties are usually pretty on point, and they mix them up often enough to keep it interesting. Ordering is a bit of a train wreck– it’s usually whoever is at the counter and looks the most ready to order, so you sometimes have to fight to make eye contact with the server in order to actually be served. There is a good amount of seating, but I usually just end up getting a waffle cone to go, because there are usually too many people in there for my liking. Prices are good; definitely cheaper than something like Orange Leaf.

The Chocolate Shoppe in Madison is a great place to stop with the family after spending the day at the children’s museum. The location of the shop is a perfect corner location and it looks so cute from the outside. They make their own ice cream, and it’s definitely richer and creamier than most ice creams I’ve tasted.
Aside from the delicious ice cream, I love that the Chocolate Shoppe offers a kids corner with tons of toys to keep the kids occupied. I visited on a Saturday afternoon and was surprised to see that it wasn’t over crowded. We were able to find a seat no problem.

Great ice cream always, poor service in my experiences.
I have been to this location many times as I live very near, and they always seem to be understaffed and have no clear way of forming lines or serving people. It can get frustrating. I’m sure in the winter or slow days this is far less of a problem.
The Zanzibar chocolate is on point as can be and that keeps me going back! There are seemingly millions of flavors, so many to pick from and all kinds of float, shake, cone, and even ice cream flight options.

I can’t even begin to recount the endless amounts of times that I’ve been to the Chocolate Shoppe. When I moved to Madison I was certain that when the winter hit I wouldn’t want ice cream anymore, I mean when it’s below freezing outside, why would you want something equally as cold? Well that was just wrong. Completely wrong. When a sweet tooth hit during the summer I went for the Chocolate Shoppe. And during the winter: still chose the Chocolate Shoppe. They have endless amounts of choices that use every sweet thing you could think of and sometimes it’s even all combined into one flavor. Taste a few when you get there to make sure you get a good grasp of how awesome this place is.
They have a hilarious motto when you walk in the stores that says something to the effect of: don’t even ask about the nutrition because they aren’t making these flavors to be healthy, they’re making them to be delicious. And they’ve done that perfectly. Since Wisconsin has more than enough dairy to go around, the Chocolate Shoppe creates the creamiest ice cream I have ever had. You really shouldn’t go anywhere else for ice cream if you come to Madison. Everywhere else is some sort of chain or self serve froyo place that just can’t compete with the Chocolate Shoppe. Well done Chocolate Shoppe, well done.

Incredible ice cream. So many flavors it’s overwhelming. They have vegan options and caffeinated ice cream!
it’s always crowded (because it’s so darn good) and there is no agreed upon line system which makes people be jerks to each other, trying to nudge and get served first.
Best Flavors:
–Fat Elvis (peanut butter banana and chocolate)
–Zanzibar Chocolate (so so dark)
–Almond Joy (Coconut and chocolate!)
–Cake Batter (Self-​explanatory)

One of the iconic places on State, my roommate and I visit this place a lot when we stayed downtown. Even after moving to west Madison, we still go back pretty often when we are on State. You just can’t say no to ice-​cream, rich and creamy ice-​cream. They have disclaimers that give you plenty of heads-​up as to what is in store for you. Lots of milk, cream, dairy products, chocolates or whatever the flavor of the ice-​cream is.
My favorites are the zanzibar (three different types of chocolates, can it get better??), oreo espresso, and black raspberry. As it varies from person to person, the best way is still to try their generous samples and just see which one bought you over.
Their menu also extends to sundaes, milkshakes, take-​home pints etc, just in case you want to deviate a little from the usual cones or dishes.

What can you ask for in Dairyland? ICE CREAM. I gained like 15 pounds the first year I got to Madison because I couldn’t stop eating ice cream. every day.
SO DELICIOUS! I love how creamy and rich the ice cream are. And the flavors? rich. and sinful. just like how ice cream should be.
What to try:
Zanzibar! Rich dark chocolate, not too bitter, not too sweet. Just right. mm.
Fat Elvis! Banana, chocholate chunks and peanut butter. chocolate chunks are not my favorite. but overall. I love peanut butter and banana. woohoo
Yippee skippee. peanut butter ice cream with brownie, salted caramel, pretzel! love the combination!!!
Heaps of love — everything sinful that you love. chocolate, brownie, caramel nuts etc etc.
Btw, if you are crunching for a project or school, they came up with a caffeinated ice cream (BANG!). I haven’t had the occasion to try it, but it sounds much better than the 5 hour energy drinks.
Feel free to ask to taste the flavors, there are endless choices! Hint: summer walk down state street, get an ice cream to cool you down!