When asked to choose between sweet and savory, I pick sweet every time. And as you’ve seen in my past posts, I very rarely say no to dessert – in fact, I have highlighted more than a few of my favorite spots for sweets, including…
- Harry Waugh Dessert Room
- Voodoo Doughnut
- Days Ice Cream
- Parkesdale Market
- The Salty Donut
- Bright Ice
- Crumbl
Naturally, when I saw that Ben & Jerry’s was on tour in Tampa last week, I knew I wanted to be there. Tyler and I were able to coordinate our work schedules for a quick pop to the Ben & Jerry’s scoop shop in Midtown Tampa to see what this Creamy, Dreamy Non-Dairy Summer Tour was all about.
Here’s what you need to know:
What’s going on?
Ben & Jerry’s is celebrating their new oat milk non-dairy recipe at a handful of scoop shops around the country. Tyler has found that he’s a little more sensitive to dairy in his “old age,” so we’ve been exploring alternative ice cream options – in addition to bringing Lactaid on our dairy-filled adventures. In addition to sharing free samples of some of their updated flavors (we had non-dairy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Strawberry Cheezecake), they had some fun photo opps in and around the shop.
Where is the tour now?
They’ve already made stops at Lume Studio in NYC and, of course, the Midtown Scoop Shop here in Tampa. This week (July 16-17, 2024), the tour will make its way to the Inman Park Scoop Shop in Atlanta, Georgia. After that, you can find it in some other great cities, like…
- July 23-24: North Hills Mall Scoop Shop – Raleigh, North Carolina
- July 30-31: District Wharf Scoop Shop – Washington, DC
- August 6-7: Watertown Scoop Shop – Boston, Massachusetts
- August 13-14: Church St. Scoop Shop – Burlington, Vermont
Do you need tickets?
Nope! This is a totally free event, so you can walk up to enjoy the samples and ambience whenever it makes sense for you. We got to our local scoop shop at around 2:30pm, and there were a couple folks waiting in line to take photos, but we were able to get samples right away. I imagine it would get busier at the end of the work day.
Where can I get more information?
I may have spent the last thirty years forming expert opinions on all things dessert, but I am far from the expert on this event! If there’s something else you need to know, I’d recommend getting more information on their website here.
Side note: I highly recommend bringing a baby along to share in the non-dairy delight. Our daughter enjoyed her first couple nibbles of ice cream, and I think she’s a fan! She even brought her own spoon.