Makhaila serves the finest ice cream around at Tic Toc!
It’s been fun writing these blogs for Cool Off 2012, a review of area ice cream shops we love to patronize. Selecting one as “the best” is not only difficult . . . it’s impossible. They each have remarkable ice cream and concoctions to come back for. But we’ve saved what we think is our favorite for last.
Our go-to place for the creamiest ice cream, most interesting dessert creations, and the best back-in-time location, is the Tic Toc Ice Cream Parlor in Loudon, Tennessee, about 25 miles from Knoxville!
Tic Toc Ice Cream Parlor — downtown Loudon
Nestled in an old building on the corner of Grove Street, Tic Toc makes you feel as if you’ve come to the right spot to cool off, but you’ve done it in a way-back-when kinda place. Only open 12 years, Tic Toc has quite a following, judging from the lines out the front door and the review in Southern Living praising it as a destination for quality ice cream, shakes, floats, and sodas.
We first encountered the Tic-Toc when we set up our antiques on the grounds of the Loudon County Courthouse for the Antiques on Mulberry show each fall. Those long, hot days sitting in the sun talking to dealers and customers made us look around for something cold and satisfying. When we asked where to go for an afternoon treat, one of the dealers pointed us to the Tic Toc! Our son, Jeff, remembers it fondly, too, since we treated him to a double scoop cone for helping us repack the van for the return trip home.
Bob and Mary Jones, who’ve owned the shop for seven years, use only the finest ingredients — fresh cream, Madagascar vanilla, hand-chopped chocolate chunks, and other great add-ins. They flash freeze each of the 24 flavors so there’s not even a hint of freezer burn. You can really taste the difference.
Big scoops of this creamy, rich goodness mound up and over sugar or cake cones or hand-made waffle cones. It just doesn’t get any better than that!
Or maybe it does. Lots of great ice cream assemblages await. Here are a few we’d love to try:
- Black and White — Chocolate ice cream covered with marshmallow topping, whipped cream, chopped nuts and a cherry!
- Dusty Miller — Vanilla ice cream covered with chocolate syrup, marshmallow topping and a dusting of malt!
- The Yukon Gold Rush — Coffee Bean ice cream with hot caramel syrup, whipped cream, and a cherry!
- The Cardiac Arrest — 5 scoops of ice cream, 4 toppings, whipped cream, and 3 cherries on top!
So many choices . . . so little time!
Interesting ice cream names make you want to double or triple scoop or come back for more: George Washington Cherry, Chattanooga Chocolate, Blackout, Plantation Praline, Rainbow Party, and Loco Coco!
Two other best sellers are the Affogato — vanilla ice cream topped with piping hot espresso — and The King — a banana split made with peanut butter crunch ice cream!
The shop features a wall of photos marking memorable moments and people who’ve made the trip to the now-famous Tic Toc, the little shop that not only could, but does!
Panels of photos in the background record the history of the Tic Toc.
Bert noted, as just about any man would, that the young ladies serving these creamy delights were another reason to make a stop at Tic Toc! (Not only beautiful, these girls know their ice cream!) But I reined him back in to focus on the purpose of our visit and to sample his favorite flavor: Butter Pecan. (The girls told us that was one of the most popular flavors at the store.)
Morgan and Emily — just two of the friendly servers at Tic Toc
So, drive on over to Loudon, a quaint Southern town with a great little ice cream shop. You’ll find the Tic Toc catty-cornered from the Loudon County Courthouse and just down the street from one of our all-time favorite antique shops, The General Store!
It’s a great place to “sit a spell” and cool off in style!
Two happy customers relaxing on The Square in Loudon eating Tic Toc ice cream!
What’s to Like: Tic Toc Ice Cream Parlor
- Delicious ice cream made on site with the finest ingredients
- Ice cream treats like sundaes, special desserts, shakes, floats, and sodas
- Friendly service by people who know their flavors and the history of Tic Toc
- Old-time charm from tin ceilings to nostalgic photo boards
- Bragging rights to having eaten at a place with high commendations by Southern Living, Urbanspoon, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and WATE
- 1501 Likes on their Facebook Page
Tic Toc Ice Cream Parlor
504 Grove Street
Loudon, TN 37774
865.408.9867
http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/68/731552/restaurant/Knoxville/Tic-Toc-Ice-Cream-Parlor-Loudon
For reviews of the other Cool Off 2012 destinations featured in this blog, go to the top of this post and look at the right-hand column. Thanks!