Niederfrank’s Ice Cream
726 A Ave
National City, CA 91950
(619) 477-0828
niederfranks.com
A few months ago I was watching Diner Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food network and Guy Fieri was going around the country finding local mom and pop ice cream parlors that still served the classic ice cream sundaes, homemade waffles cones, homemade ice cream. He found one shop, I don’t recall where it was exactly except that it was far from California, that served all these unique flavors of ice cream including cabernet sorbet, apple pie ice cream, avocado ice cream, etc. I immediately got a craving for these ice cream flavors, especially the avocado! I also felt a sense of longing for the mom and pop ice cream shops of my childhood. While I enjoy the fro-yo craze, I suddenly realized that most of the mom and pop ice cream shops have disappeared. I wasn’t even sure where the nearest one in San Diego was.
So I got on my computer and began researching. I wasn’t long before I found Neiderfrank’s. It sounded perfect. They serve avocado ice cream, along with tons of other unique flavors. They are a local shop that has been around for a long time. Unfortunately, National City is a bit of a trip from where I live. Not too far, but enough for Boyfriend to give me a frown when I suggested we go there for ice cream.
I finally convinced him to go a few weeks ago. We went on a particularly hot day, so he was in the mood for ice cream as well. Inside the shop, I was completely overwhelmed by the sheer number of flavors being offered. I had seen all the flavors offered on their website, but I didn’t realize how many were available daily. I counted 48 for the day I visited:
With so many intriguing flavors, it was hard to decide what I wanted to sample. Normally, I’ll only ask for about 2 samples before deciding, but there were simply too many flavors here. The lady working the counter was very nice and had no problem giving us multiple samples. Boyfriend and I ended up sampling about six. Of course, once we sampled, we were in trouble as well because they all tasted good. Boyfriend especially really enjoyed all the flavors. For me, the one critique I had was that all of the flavors used the same sweet base, and then had hints of the actual flavor. I would have liked the flavor to play a more prominent role.
We ended up getting some ice cream to eat there, and getting two pints to go. Boyfriend got a passion fruit sorbet that we both enjoyed. It was both sweet and tart, and for me, just the right amount of tartness. I had the passion fruit ice cream at Extraordinary desserts which was really sour for me, though more authentic to the taste of passion fruit as it is pretty sour. The sorbet was not as sour as passion fruit, but had just enough so that I could taste passion fruit and not be overwhelmed by the tartness.
I ended up getting a scoop of coconut ice cream in a sugar cone.
The ice cream was enjoyable, though I did miss the fluffiness of the coconut ice cream I had at Lapperts.
For our pints on the road, we chose to do half/half for each pint so that we could get four flavors. We got one with avocado and blueberry. And one with passion fruit and coconut jackfruit. Here are some pictures of the avocado and blueberry. I really loved the light green of the avocado ice cream and the purple of the blueberry.
I’ll be back hopefully sometime soon to sample some more flavors.
I like Lappert’s too. I agree it’s richer but also it’s less healthy since it has a much higher fat content. Neiderfranks has so many more flavors though, that I can’t find at Lappert’s. But for flavors like mac nut, which both have, I go to Lappert’s.
I have been a few times, but Lapperts in Hawaii and San Diego feature much more exotic flavors and the ice cream itself is so much richer and smooth tasting then the mom and pop taste of Niederfrank’s.
What a beautiful story. I would have liked to have tasted the ice cream when Mr. Niederfrank made it.
🙂
You’ve gone to a very special place from my childhood memories. Niederfrank’s was the very first ice cream I ever had when I was a baby…a very long time ago.
It was Pistachio and that has been my favorite ever since. I haven’t been back in ages due to time, distance, and the fact that for a long time Niederfrank’s was not as it was.
When I was a child Mr. Niederfrank hand made all the ice cream and the flavors were vibrant. I remember in particular that they had the best Peach ice cream anywhere! It tasted like sunshine on a bright summer day.
When he retired the parlor fell into less capable hands and the place languished for many years. I’m glad to see that it re-established itself and I find it interesting that they are using more tropical inspired flavors for the Filipino and Mexican clientele. Its a reason why Niederfrank’s has been around for so long, they adapt and now look like they retain the quality that old Mr. Niederfrank put into his ice creams.
Thanks for sharing and for allowing me to remember some happy memories!