Feel free to discuss/evaluate them independently. I feel like there may be some pretty strong opinions on this one.
Photo of fantastical, movie set froyo shop courtesy of Bryan
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Yogurt Tap is the best in Decatur.
The best value, however, is Publix. Buy one get one free!
BOGO, FTW!
I’m partial to gelato and the best around here is Paolo’s in VaHi.
The best gelato for the money, though, is found in stores: Talenti’s Sea Salt Caramel. Talenti also has arguably the best food packaging on the grocery shelves.
Looking forward to trying Butter Cream, as I am not a froyo fan.
I love Talenti’s Sea Salt Caramel! I’ve also gotten into Hagen Daz vanilla bean gelato with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and aged balsamic (the thick kind) drizzled across the top. I know, it sounds odd but it’s really good. I first had this at the Toccoa Riverside restaurant in Blue Ridge and have recreated it at home a lot. At first I was using Bertoli balsamic glaze because a) it was the right consistency and b) $4.99. The other day I visited Strippaggio at Emory Point and splurged on some mango balsamic ($19.95). It is very good (and I can use on things other than just my gelato).
Agree with recs for Talenti–I’m partial to their Belgian Chocolate, Coffee, and Vanilla Bean. Unfortunately, it’s too elitist for my family and I hate to see anything that expensive and good go to waste.
How come Talenti and other in-the-store gelato makers don’t make hazelnet? That is the European flavor that sold me on gelato…
Talenti does make hazelnut, but for some reason that flavor is available exclusively at Target.
this information is dangerous
Ice cream: Butter and Cream
Frozen Yogurt: Yogurt Tap
Yogurt Tap. Hands down. Best, freshest, cleanest. All other yogurt shops are bogus.
Butter & Cream!!!
Butter & Cream is AMAZING and I would happily pay outlandish prices for the indulgence. Foryo, I’m over it. Too expensive, all of them. You can get a pretty tasty snowball at New Orleans Snoball Cafe stuffed with ice cream and topped with sweetened condensed milk for a good price.
Blue Bell is the best and the best for the money.
Best over the counter – Jake’s Sexy Mexican.
The Dairy Queen that was.
Boo hoo hoo!
Admittedly biased but Butter & Cream for best adult ice cream (and for the kids, the strawberry is authentic as it gets)
If we are allowed to go outside Decatur proper
Best yogurt: Yogli Mogli
Best ice cream: Jake’s
Best Popsicles: King of Pops
Jake’s still exists? Where?
Irwin Street Market- 660 Irwin in O4W/Inman Park.
Hmmmmm…it’s that “for the money” that changes things for me. Okay, then: “For the money” – Bruster’s (yes, it’s a chain–sue me) Coconut Chocolate Chip is drop dead delish, and the new Butter & Cream’s coconut & bourbon toffee flavors are a dead close runner up.
Take “for the money” out of the equation, and it’s gotta be Morelli’s (ANY flavor–seriously) by a country mile. Some of the best I’ve ever put in my mouth, which is why I don’t mind driving a bit to get it.
There really is no comparison to Morelli’s is there? If they had a location in Decatur, I’d weigh 50 lbs heavier, and be that much poorer…
Yeah, it’s somewhat astonishing to me it took this many comments to get to the truth, which is that Morelli’s pretty much owns any other ice cream in town. I tried Butter & Cream last weekend, and while their product is decent and I’m sure I will patronize them again purely based on proximity, they do not hold a candle to Morelli’s.
At home, Talenti, which we also recently discovered, is excellent as well (and local!), though our freezer also shares space with Graeter’s (extremely high quality ice cream with the biggest chocolate chunks — boulders, really — imaginable), Ciao Bella gelato/sorbetto (really unique, clean, rich flavors and sold at YDFM, where we shop most often), and good ‘ol Ben & Jerry’s (king of the comfort food flavors).
+1
Kevin, your last sentence is gospel. I alternate between praying Decatur will get a Morelli’s someday & praying we won’t (to avoid that 50-lb gain)!
Yogurt Tap for Frozen Yogurt
My house for ice cream (via Publix).
I cannot get on board with the Butter & Cream love. I was hoping for something like Jeni’s in Nashville or Morelli’s. I was disappointed. It was just OK. So, in Decatur, I ‘ll keep eating ice cream at home and frozen yogurt in town.
There’s a Jeni’s now on the West Side.
Yum! There’s one in Charleston now too. West side is even closer : )
Jeni’s is coming to Krog St.
I’m not familiar with Jeni’s but I just saw a sign at Dancing Goats that said they were selling it. Limited flavors.
It’s all about the ice cream for me. I’ve spent a lot of money and calories at Morelli’s over the years, but I’m loving the new Butter & Cream. I really like that they make all their ice cream, sauces, toffee and baked goods on site. Their bourbon toffee is my favorite, but salted caramel, coconut and butterscotch brownie are great too. A wonderful addition to downtown Decatur!
At the grocery store, it’s hard to beat Turkey Hill ice cream, especially the natural line. It’s better than Blue Bell in my opinion.
Ice cream – Morelli’s, but even better and local is the ice cream at Cafe Alsace!
Yogurt – Yogurt Tap
To each his own. We like to make our own ice cream and sorbet at home. Just about anything can go into them, it’s fun, and cheap to produce. There are tons of recipes and ideas available online. For example, Pineapple Sage works really well in sorbet.
No question, it’s ice cream, but what’s the point! Butter & Cream is awesome and Decatur home grown! What more can you ask for? Could say support your locals, but don’t need to. Butter & Cream is the best…Yogurt Tap’s purdy good, too.
I see Butter and Cream and Morelli’s as 2 very different places and I love them both. Morelli’s puts out more exotic flavors while Butter and Cream (for now) is sticking to more basics. as soon as I had the Butterscotch Brownie at Butter and Cream I thought, “why hasn’t anyone else made this before???”
Sunday night I had Cafe Alsace’s lemon-mint sorbet as part of the special Bastille Day menu. it was sublime!
someone above said that if Morelli’s had a Decatur location they’d be 50 pounds heavier. is the Edgewood location not close enough?
Maybe that’s the problem, because I had the salted caramel at Butter & Cream and instantly realized it just wasn’t as good as Morelli’s (which kind of made it’s reputation on that flavor). Next time I’ll try one of their more original flavors.
It’s not just about the variety of flavors, Kat. There’s a vast difference between the mouthfeel of Morelli’s ice creams and B&C’s (likely has to do with the amount of cream vs. milk used in the base). Don’t get me wrong–I like B&C very much, but Morelli’s…it blisses me out!
You are right on Kat. Morelli’s is a bit overrated. It’s the Grey Goose effect. I especially like the comment about cream levels…hilarious!
Wow–nice passive-aggressive way to slam someone else’s post. 1) Kat didn’t say she thought Morelli’s was overrated, just that she liked Butter & Cream, too. 2) If you know anything about making ice cream, you’d know that the higher the butterfat content (hint: cream has much higher butterfat than milk), the smoother & creamier (i,e., the “mouthfeel”–it’s a term, google it) of the final product.
I wasn’t knocking Butter & Cream, or telling Kat her opinion was wrong. I was just responding to her post with my own take on the differences between the ice creams (it’s called having a conversation). Everybody’s entitled to like what they like. Your remark, on the other hand, was just gratuitously snotty.
Butter and Cream all the way!!!
The coffee and salted caramel are my favorite! As far as the price, I don’t think of it as too expensive at all. It’s a hand crafted delicacy, and I’d pay a little more for something made with that much attention and love.
For grocery store ice cream, nothing beats Graeters. Love love love the black raspberry chocolate chip and the peanut butter chocolate chip (really you can’t beat anything with Graeters chocolate in it).
Have you been able to find the peanut butter chocolate chip stocked anywhere lately? That is our favorit too, but the last few months we stopped seeing it in Big Kroeger and Publix.
We’re huge Graeter’s fans too, and I am a peanut butter addict but I have never seen this flavor… Will be on high alert now.
I think they have it at some of the Whole Foods in town — my husband does the grocery shopping so I can’t be sure where, might have been the one in Duluth — far from Decatur but he works up there.
Before he was able to find it in stores here, he ordered a bunch of it online for one of my Christmas gifts.
Also may be worth mentioning it to the grocery manager where you shop — if there’s enough demand maybe they’ll start stocking it again…
FYI, Publix has Graeter’s on BOGO today thru Wednesday. I have a feeling there’s going to be a run on it at the Emory store!
Grocery store ice cream? Really? I mean, really? How boring can you get? Butter & Cream ALL THE WAY. The BEST ice cream shop around. Why would you want an ice cream substitute when you could have actual, made in house ice cream? ALSO, why “for the money?” Why should that even matter? If you can spend 15 dollars on a cocktail in Decatur, you can spend a little extra on some super tasty ice cream. Life is for living. EAT THE D*MN ICE CREAM.
Totally agree! This conversation turned boring when everyone started talking about store bought ice cream! Butter and Cream represents a high quality, artisanal delicacy NOT to be compared to the store bought stuff.
And froyo is grody…
Butter & Cream makes their own chocolate peanut butter cups to add as a topping to your ice cream, and wow, they are good!
I’m shocked that there’s a place getting the accolades that Morelli’s is and I haven’t been there yet. It’s a must try. But having children in CSD can make one very provincial and reluctant to leave the walk and roll boundaries of our little burg.
Even if Butter and Cream is not quite up to Morelli’s standards, it gets thousands of points from me for being within walking distance of my home and at least 5 of the 7 CSD schools. It’s already made walking in the dog days of an Atlanta summer much more enjoyable. I’m moaning and groaning on my way Downtown and smiling with my Butter and Cram cone on my way home. And I agree with Kat that a place with tons of unique flavors has a different feel from a place that recreates the basics of homemade ice cream. Part of what I like about Butter and Cream is that the ice cream tastes like what my parents, and before them, my grandparents, would churn out during the summer. I still remember licking the paddles….
Butter & Cream is wonderful! It is all homemade with incredible ingredients. I recommend getting something with a cherry! They are the best I have ever had and I am a cherry snob. I can’t stand the usual maraschino plastic-like cherries that most places use. Butter & Cream is also more than just the toppings! The cookies as well as the ice cream are to die for. Try one of the rosemary cookies if they are available. They are my favorite!
Great topic! My toddler and I have an Edgewood Willy’s and Morelli’s date once a week and we love it. I have started giving Morelli’s gift cards as birthday gifts to her friends . We have a party this weekend and I was thinking of switching it to a Butter & Cream gift card which we would be trying for the first time when we go to pick it up…. hmmm…. Decisions, decisions!
Also, I have no interest in frozen yogurt.
What happened to all the Basin & Robbins? The three I knew about are closed and have been for some time.
There is a Baskin Robbins on Memorial close to where North Decatur Rd intersects.
B&R and TCBY have all but disappeared around here. There was a B&R/Dunkin Donuts on Lavista near Northlake, but I think they closed the B&R part. Not sure why the combo stores never caught on, as they seemed to make sense, e.g. not depending on ice cream during the winter. But I suppose they are sort of the Applebees of ice cream.
What I get out of this frosty debate is that Morelli’s might the winner if you are willing to drive outside of Decatur, Butter and Cream is the walkable-Decatur best, and there’s some excellent store brands for the money. I’ve learned about places that I didn’t know have good ice cream–e.g. Café Alsace and Dancing Goats.