Most of the places that I have stopped for ice cream in New Hampshire for a cone have been intermediary stops on the way to Maine. Today, I spend the most time in town waiting for a drawbridge to raise. With most of my Portsmouth friends having moved to the West Coast, this visit is no exception. Except that I didn’t get a cone, instead I had a Turtle Dizzy Izzy.
Despite the fact that many people seem to see Izzy’s as a poor man’s version of Annabelle’s, this year marks the 20th season that this shoppe has been open. Perched at the top of the street that you need to walk down to get to Annabelle’s, Izzy’s has a knack for filtering out a lot of the tourist traffic that doesn’t venture anywhere beyond those harbor-side boats that double as restaurants. With yogurt preceding ice cream in their name, Izzy’s does aim for a different niche of the frozen dessert dollar.
Beth Gilbert has been running Izzy’s over the course of its twenty years. In celebration of the anniversary last month, she organized a community cleaning project. People gathered and cleaned some city spaces, including the area around the public library, and after that people who helped congregated at the shoppe for free cones. Izzy’s tries to incorporate itself into it’s surroundings with projects like this rather than any sort of gala celebration.
On this evening, downtown was truly bustling with half-inebriated folks stumbling from every downtown door. Amazingly there was a parking spot waiting for me on the block. The couple fo tables inside were empty as the weather was ideal for strolling by the water. The menu board was covered with a bunch of “Out” notes taped onto all of the interesting flavors that I was in the mood for. It sort of limited my options, but since I was heading out on the road quickly, I diverted my attention from the cones to the other options that were available.
After eliminating a bunch of thoughts from the realm of possibility, I was drawn to the Dizzy Izzy selections. These are a milkshake-styled concoction that incorporates a few other elements depending on the combination that you’re looking for, but they don’t blend it to oblivion like some concretes do. The turtle used soft-serve chocolate ice cream with fresh whole pecans, caramel, and hot fudge. When all of the elements are going in fresh like this, there’s no reason to expect anything less than a taste delight, and that’s what I got. The only dilemma I had was that it was still too thick to eat while driving so I walked around and ate it with a spoon.
Somehow I stopped in Portsmouth without making a side trip to Gilley’s. These are the best cheeseburgers in the world. I have made trips especially here just for burgers. I have made trips here to eat these burgers before I go on other trips so I can compare and contrast. I really should have since nothing else was open anywhere north of here. I think I need to stop at Gilley’s on my way back home.
Cone – junior $1.45 small $2.85 medium $3.35 large $3.85
Sundae – one scoop $3.95 two scoops $4.70 hot brownie $4.75
Dizzy Izzy $4.95
Izzy’s Premium Frozen Yogurt & Zoe’s Ice Cream
33 Bow St, Portsmouth, NH 03801
603 431-1053
Open April-October
