Best Ice Cream in East Tennessee!

One of the signs of Spring here in East Tennessee is when the local Ice Cream Parlor opens up for the season! This is the 'tic-toc' Ice Cream Parlor in downtown Loudon. Laurie and I were spoiled when we lived in Chicago... Within a mile of our house, we had an ice cream parlor that had the best homemade ice cream in the Chicago Metropolitan area. It was just one of those things that we assumed that we wouldn't be able to find in this much smaller metro area...

We were elated when we discovered 'tic-toc'! Great homemade ice cream in an old building in historical downtown Loudon... Inside, there is this handsome counter area, a scattering of ice cream shop tables, a wall of customer photos and and a giant menu on the wall. The owners moved to East Tennessee from Louisiana...and their son makes all of the ice cream.

During our recent visit, there were 26 different flavors of ice cream...plus 3 flavors of sugar free ice cream. (This seems like a contradiction in terms...'sugar free ice cream'? Doesn't sound right!) There are sugar or cake cones. 'tic-toc's' menu lists 14 Specialities and Sundaes... How does 'The Cardiac Arrest' sound? Five scoops of ice cream, 4 toppings, whipped cream and 3 cherries... Or...'The King'? A Banana Split made with Peanut Butter Crunch Ice Cream , peanut butter topping, hot fudge, chopped peanuts, whipped cream and 2 cherries...

How about a few flavors to consider? There's New Orleans Cheesecake, Jerome's Vanilla, Strawberry, Chattanooga Chocolate, Yippee Skippy, Blackout, Mountain Berries, Dulce de Leche, Chocolate Covered Cherry, Chocolate Praline Cream, Coffee Bean, Mint Chocolate Chip, Black Walnut, Plantation Praline, Postively Pistachio, Chocolate Raspberry Truffle, Rainbow Party, Butterfinger & Loco Coco. It's going to take us awhile to try them all but we'll give it our best shot! This is especially true since we favor the shakes and malts...

We were on the run this day and we had to get home... Solution = Take Ice Cream Home! We picked up not 1 or 2...but rather 4 pints, just so we wouldn't run out! Samples are shown below...probably not the best photos but this is what we 'had to' take off the tops of each of the overfilled pints to put them safely in the refridgerator. So...from the back left...we have the George Washington Cherry; back right is the Blackberry Cobbler; front left is the Cookies and Cream, and; front right is the Butter Pecan. All were excellent...but our favorite was the Blackberry Cobbler!

The tic-toc Ice Cream Parlor is located at 504 Grove Street in Loudon Tennessee. (At the corner of US-11 and Grove Street) Phone: 865-408-9867. tic-toc is open 7 days a week until late fall.