Ice Cream!

It's long overdue that I write a post about sweets.
I figured I go into discussion over the supremacy of some fast food ice cream treats over others.  Up for debate today is Dairy Queen's vanilla soft serve in things like blizzards, sundaes, and peanut buster parfaits.  Culver's concrete mixer's, Wendy's Frosty's (the original chocolate flavor only), Chocolate ice cream cones from McDonalds, Pinkberry, Cold Stone Creamery, Rita's, and Baskin Robbins.  It's a bit of a mixed bag here but I'll break down all the competition for you.

Dairy Queen - this is hands down my all time favorite vanilla flavored anything sweet I've ever had.  I don't know what it is that they put in there, but I normally hate vanilla ice cream without anything added to it, but this is the best, most sweet on its own I've ever had.  Then you take stuff like the Blizzard treat and mix in heath bars, chocolate chip cookie dough, brownie pieces or brownie batter and you've got a real knock out.  Then there's the chocolate sundaes and peanut buster parfaits which are incredible if you ask me and this is usually the first place I want to visit if I think I deserve a treat today.  Out of all their stuff my all time favorite is the peanut buster parfait.  Take plain old vanilla soft serve and mix in hot fudge in alternating layers with spanish peanuts (skins, salt, and all) inside a gigantic tall cup and you've got a WINNER!
Final nominee - Peanut Buster Parfait.

Culver's - Well this place is hard to find out west, but it's everywhere in the midwest.  Known for their butter burgers (nothing special in my opinion) the concrete mixers is what I go there for.  Here's the same idea as a Dairy Queen Blizzard but they make it with custard instead of soft serve so it's much thicker (still not better than a Blizzard to me though.)  But they do have a lot of different mix-ins, my favorite of those is Nutter Butter's so it gives the entire treat a peanut buttery taste as they almost completely blend in the cookies into chocolate custard.  It's a good treat for a warm day.
Final nominee - the chocolate custard Nutter Butter Concrete Mixer.

Wendy's - The original Frosty.  Need I say more?  I do?  Ok, well it's been around for as long as I can remember and it's very simple but very good.  Another soft serve plain chocolate treat but pretty thick.  It's low calorie (certainly not good for you) semi-healthy treat in the sense that you could eat a lot worse ice creams full of mix in's (see Blizzard and Concrete Mixers) and have a lot more damage done to your waist line.  I turn to this one when I need some nostalgic comfort food.
Final nominee - the Frosty.

McDonald's - So they don't have a lot of sweet treats here, but I have been eating one for a very long time - the plain chocolate ice cream cone.  It's very airy and light and it doesn't fill you up or weigh you down.  I like that and I think it's a great deal for under a buck.
Final nominee - Obviously, the chocolate ice cream cone silly.

Pinkberry - ahhhh this place is all soft serve and can be a very healthy alternative to fulfilling your sweet tooth.  This place serves a small amount of flavored soft serves with lots of healthy fresh fruit, granola, and nut mix in's.  This is where you can have a chocolate, almond, granola treat and not kill your diet, but you still feel like you're getting away with something.  Soft serve flavors include: Salty Caramel, Chocolate, The Original (kinda' like vanilla), Mango, and Blood Orange (like a orange creamsicle).  Mix in's are stuff like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, almond slivers, granola, chocolate chips, and yogurt chips.
Final nominee - Chocolate and Salty Caramel swirl with almond slivers and crepe flakes.

Cold Stone Creamery - overall this is my least favorite place on the list, but they do have some good stuff.
Personally I like their cotton candy flavored ice cream, but here is a place that leaves little options for healthy good tasting stuff, but tons of choices when it comes to the stuff that will clog your arteries.  Anyway, the discussion is not healthiest, but tastiest, so here we go.  Here you can get cups, cones, or waffle cone bowls with your choice of decadent ice cream with tons of mix ins like cookies, fudge, peanut butter, fruit, etc.  The last time I was there I made the mistake of ordering a peanut butter/chocolate concoction with a chocolate covered waffle cone bowl.  First of all the thing was humongous and I couldn't finish it, plus the waffle bowl wasn't that great.  I'd recommend the small size to most people and make sure you haven't eaten anything all day before you come to eat a treat here.
Final recommendation - Cotton Candy ice cream plain.

Rita's - I discovered this gem in Florida, but they have many locations across the country.  Here they serve stuff like slushies, ice cream, and a mix of both.  What I like most is that you can have something like a cherry Italian ice, and chocolate ice cream (together if you wanted) and not fill up on heavy creams with no bad aftertaste of some other places on this list. 
Final nominee - Chocolate ice cream plain in a cup.

Baskin Robbins - why oh why did I start this list?  There's too many good choices here if you're looking for a delicious treat.  One of the original places to get a treat in the country and if you go here, I guarantee you will find one of your favorites.  I've been here so many times for stuff like ice cream cones or ice cream cakes I've lost count.  My favorites: mint chocolate chip, chocolate chip cookie dough, rocky road, and chocolate.
Final nominee - peanut butter and chocolate ice cream plain.

Well, we've gone through the list and now all I want is some good ice cream!