A little piece of heaven is located on the intersection of Prospect Ave and Pacific Coast Highway: Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream & Yogurt. With their first store opening in 1945 in Youngstown, Ohio, this ice cream place to be has opened up shops in California, Florida, Indiana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Because of their Two and a Half Buck Tuesday Deal, it seems to be pretty well known, but because they have so many flavors to choose from, the process choosing what to get can be very overwhelming.
With over one hundred original flavors made, (we aren’t talking just your regular chocolate and vanilla) the stores swap out seasonal flavors. There are usually about 45 different flavors to choose from at one time, but you can even find some of the newest featured flavors under the “Flavor of the Day” category. These featured flavors are usually around for a certain amount of time and for a specific reason. During Girl Scout Cookie Season, they usually do a Samoas and Thin Mint flavors made with real Girl Scout Cookies!
So yes, Handel’s does swap out their flavors, but don’t fret they know which flavors always need to be an option.
Personally, I am a chocolate and peanut butter fan. So, every time to go to Handel’s I have to get the Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie. Chocoholic chuck is dark chocolate ice cream (I know it sounds gross at first, but its perfectly balanced sweet and salty) with chucks of dark chocolate in it.
But if you aren’t a chocolate lover like I am, there are flavors like Banana Cream Pie, which has not only chunks of fresh banana but also chunks of pie crust, and even Blue Moon: blue raspberry ice cream that has a bright blue color no kid can turn down.
If you haven’t noticed already, what makes Handel’s so special are all of the ingredients inside. You don’t even need to add any toppings, because they are already all included in the actual ice cream. One of the most popular frozen flavors is Graham Central Station. Follow me here: graham cracker ice cream (I have no idea how they do it, but it tastes good), smashed up graham crackers for a texture, and chocolate covered graham cracker clusters to add a sweet crunch. I know it sounds like a lot of graham cracker, but just trust me on this one, it is a MUST MUST have!
You can order your ice cream in four sizes: regular (one and a half scoops), large (three scoops), a pint, and or a quart. At other ice cream places like Cold Stone, you get a small cup for $5, but at Handel’s the regular (featured in all of the images) comes to $3.75 and an option of up to two flavors.
These are just the ice cream flavors. The menu also includes sundaes with toppings, to banana splits, to hurricanes, which is vanilla ice cream swirled with candy of your choice, to smoothies. Along with the regular size, Handel’s offers your favorite flavors in pints and quart sizes.
Because of the wide choices, it may take a few times to get your “regular” order. But stick with it, I can promise you won’t be disappointed.
Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream & Yogurt
1882 S Pacific Coast Hwy, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
Hours: Sunday-Saturday 11am-10pm
