Mint Oreo. An extensive line of people of all ages: your family, your childhood friends, your school teachers, and your soccer coach, stagger out of the blue, red, and white trimmed store; a safe haven in the middle of an outlet parking lot. Heavenly Hash. The small store resides in a vast sea of parking, the noticeable blue can be seen from even the farthest parking spot. Graham Central Station. Indecisive customers eagerly wait their turn, gazing in awe at the monumental menu of ice cream flavors. Midnight Madness. The line moves up as people depart, already indulging in their first scoop of goodness, trying to savor every taste before it drips from the sides of the cone into the pavement. Birthday Cake. A cheerful employee calls the next group up and recites: “Welcome to Handel’s, what can I get started for you?” and like muscle memory, the customer begins to order their favorite flavor. 

Ice cream is the perfect summer time treat to relieve your body from the searing fever of Pasadena, but at Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream there is a line for their infamous ice cream year round. So what is it that makes the customers risk frostbite to taste their favorite treat? Handel’s employees, consisting of teens in logo-ed baseball caps, is one of the creamery’s many appeals. The ice cream is produced efficiently, scrumptiously, and in colossal scoops by its adoring workers in Handel’s uniform. 

A small dish at Handel’s is not for the faint of heart, it is stacked with two and a half scoops of valuable flavor. The adoring size encourages sharing and brings the community together over their indecisive ways when it comes to ice cream flavors. Waffle cones and ice cream pops consist of the same sizable amount of the product. Even if ice cream is not your favorite, the friendly store offers milkshakes, hurricanes, and sorbet. The store also prides itself on the inclusive items that sits on its menu. Flavors like vegan chocolate, mango sorbet, sugar free ice cream, and more make the experience accessible to everyone! 

To keep a flow of returning customers Handel’s includes new monthly flavors to keep their menu fresh! Deep dish apple pie, peppermint bark, and french silk pie were some of the most recent monthly flavors. In addition, Handel’s includes unique flavors to certain areas. Handel’s homemade ice cream has turned a corporation of stores into a community where people go to not only enjoy a delicious treat but to see their friends working, their family waiting in line, and to meet new people even if the wait may sometimes be 15-20 minutes, because remember there’s never a line for bad ice cream!