Our Least Favorite Strawberry Ice Cream Comes From A Popular Brand

Along with its Neapolitan counterparts, vanilla and chocolate, strawberry is one of the most popular ice cream flavors in America. With its charming shade of pastel pink, it's certainly one of our most photogenic flavors, as well. And it's hard to argue with that bright, sweet-and-tangy taste, one that's intoxicating even when it doesn't necessarily taste like a strawberry. But when you go to the frozen aisle of the supermarket, what tub of pink ice cream will you pick up? We tried ten brands of strawberry ice cream and ranked them from worst to best — and if you're looking for our advice, you might want to make a stranger out of Friendly's.

Friendly's, for the uninitiated, originates from an East Coast chain of family-friendly restaurants. (That "Saturday Night Live" sketch with Lady Gaga that people online called Satanic was set in a Friendly's.) At its height, it boasted over 800 locations; however, after a tumultuous period that saw the chain declare bankruptcy twice in fifteen years, there are barely over a hundred restaurants left. It still has its line of ice creams and desserts for grocery stores, including the well-loved Wattamelon Roll. There are plenty of people with nostalgic memories of Friendly's (including the person writing this article); still, that doesn't make its strawberry ice cream any better.

With its cheerful red-and-white color scheme, vintage-looking cursive logo, and packaging proudly declaring that they've been "scooping since 1935," the unsuspecting ice cream enthusiast might get a carton of Friendly's strawberry ice cream, thinking they're about to tuck into something fresh, sweet, and nostalgic. Unfortunately, at least when it comes to strawberry ice cream, Friendly's delivers nothing of the sort. It certainly doesn't taste much like strawberry, according to our tester, who claimed, "Instead, it delivers an artificial, almost chemical taste that lingers in a way that feels more lab-made than farm-fresh."

We were especially disappointed by the ice cream's texture. You see, ice cream typically has air incorporated during the churning process, lending it a lighter, fluffier texture than gelato. In moderation, this is more than welcome. The problem is that certain penny-pinching ice cream makers, in an effort to stretch their solid ingredients as far as they can, will incorporate so much air that the ice cream becomes utterly insubstantial. Such is the case with Friendly's strawberry ice cream, which "melts quickly and lacks the rich mouthfeel that makes ice cream a treat." As if the chemical taste wasn't bad enough! You'd be better off with our top choice, the Van Leeuwen Strawberry French ice cream. Or, if that's too pricy, Häagen-Dazs's offering comes in at a highly respectable third place.