For melt-in-your-mouth scoops, MELT ICE CREAMS serves up everyday favorites like the dark chocolate and peanut butter explosion (both dairy-free and vegan!) and many more flavors on a rotating menu. Spice up your Taco Tuesdays with Melt’s two scoops nestled inside a taco-shaped waffle cone. Multiple locations; melticecreams.com PACIUGO (pronounced
“pah-CHOO-go”) Gelato & Caffè, excels in its authentic Italian gelato and at its newer, more imaginative creations like the sprinkles-covered “Paciunicorn” cones. Their summer menu includes the refreshing cantaloupe sorbet, and you’ll have to see their “gelato spaghetti and meatballs” to believe it. Multiple locations; paciugo.com
Did you know that 100 years ago nearly every drugstore had a soda fountain? That’s why DOUGHERTY’S PHARMACY, one of the oldest independent pharmacies in Texas, also opened up a soda fountain. Stop by to sip on a fizzy soda, milkshake, float, malt or sundae while waiting for your grilled cheese or grilled PB&J. Soda fountain hours are 10am–6pm Monday–Friday and 11am–4pm Saturday. Dallas; 214/3735300, doughertys.com Say howdy to FARM LUCK
SODA FOUNTAIN & DRY GOODS (or “The Farmacy,”
Soda Fountains At its original location on the Denton Square, BETH
MARIE’S OLD-FASHIONED ICE CREAM & SODA FOUNTAIN churns
ice cream from a machine designed in 1927. Climb onto a stool at the antique wooden bar and choose from well over 100 flavors of ice cream, plus sundaes, banana splits, shakes and malts, ice cream sodas— and really old-fashioned options like egg creams and phosphate sodas. Multiple locations; bethmaries.com 16
GAME STOPS
WHAT’S COOKING?
Let your kids learn to cook for themselves (amazing, right?) by signing them up at your nearest YOUNG CHEFS ACADEMY. Four North Texas area locations offer a variety of classes and workshops for kids by age group, typically as young as 4. Each class is crafted to introduce math (measuring), science (chemical reactions), reading and social skills (teamwork and sharing). Multiple locations; youngchefsacademy.com
as the owners originally wanted to call it). This treasure is housed in the late 1800s-era Waxahachie Bank & Trust building. Order up a banana split or banana pudding, brownie fudge sundae, ice cream soda or, for small appetites, the World’s Smallest Sundae. The menu also features more hearty foods. Waxahachie, 214/903-8021; farmlucksodafountain.com
the bottom, McKinney and Wylie, 214/733-2296; facebook.com/scallywagsdfw
Snow Cones
Kids’ Cooking
Nod your head to ’90s hip hop at HIPPOP (get it?) on Main Street in Historic Downtown Grapevine. Choose from slushies, popsicles (fruit and milk-based), or shave ice served in those brightly colored flower cups that you remember from your last Hawaiian vacay and with condensed cream or coconut cream poured over. Their must-try popsicles? Cap’n Crunch Cereal pops and toasted marshmallow. Wow. Grapevine, 817/5274383; hippoptx.com
food Treat yourself to STEEL CITY POPS’ gourmet popsicles (like the tangy buttermilk and savory carrot cake), each dipped, drizzled or dusted according to your specifications. Fort Worth; steelcitypops.com
shops and classes vary by location but are open to teens and kids as young as 7. Multiple locations; surlatable.com
It’s a pirate’s life for everyone at SCALLYWAGS, two 22-foot-tall, custom-built pirate ships, offering 16 flavors of shaved ice from a stand hidden below deck. Upgrade to a cone with ice cream on
june/july 2022 | DFWCHILD
One of our favorite grocery stores also offers cooking classes for kids, teens and parent-child pairs. Expert instructors at four CENTRAL MARKET COOKING SCHOOLS teach baking
basics and specific dishes in workshops and classes. Multiple locations; centralmarket.com/cooking-school Shop for fine kitchen tools and then learn how to use them by joining culinary classes at SUR LA TABLE. Work-
Where to test your skills and get a thrill
Bowling There’s fun to spare at AMF and BOWLERO, sister bowling alleys with locations across the Dallas-Fort Worth area. You’ll find dozens of lanes, blacklight bowling, huge video walls, games like billiards and table tennis, an arcade and in-lane dining. Multiple locations; amf.com and bowlero.com This isn’t the bowling alley of your childhood. BOWL & BARREL, located in the Shops at Park Lane, is a more upscale experience. Go on a strike spree in one of 15 lanes, and dine at Bowl & Barrel’s full-service tavern. Save room for the funnel cake or cotton candy. Dallas, 214/363.2695; bowlandbarrel.com Bowl to your heart’s content, and then try out the bocce ball courts at PINSTRIPES. There’s game-side dining with kid-friendly dishes as well as a patio with fire pit; enjoy live music on select summer Fridays at this venue in the Shops at Clearfork. Fort Worth, 682/352-0808; pinstripes.com
Escape Rooms At BREAKOUT GAMES, with two area locations, the clock is ticking. Whether it’s stopping a runaway train, getting off an island before the volcano erupts, or uncovering a mansion mystery, you’ve got a lot of puzzles to solve in 60 minutes. Head online for game descriptions (some may be too intense for kids) and to book. BTW, you’re never actually locked in a room. Arlington, 972/474-0111, and Plano, 972/474-0111; breakoutgames.com/dallas
games
the ever-changing flavors. The Cereal Milk sandwich, made with Fruity Pebbles and a white chocolate shell, is always a hit with the kids. Multiple locations; joymacarons.com
FUN 2022
Enjoy a study in mystery-solving at ESCAPOLOGY. Kids and nostalgic parents will be drawn to the Scooby-Doo and the Spooky Castle Adventure room; there’s also a World War II submarine escape, a hunt for treasure in a lost city, and the search for an antidote to a virus. Multiple locations; escapology.com NORTH TEXAS ESCAPE ROOMS has games de-
signed for kids and for teenagers and adults at its two Collin County locations. The kid-friendly rooms— including Principal’s Office, Aunt Carol’s Closet and Summer Camp—are 45-minute escapes, while the others (recommended for age 14 and up) are an hour long. McKinney and Plano, 469/712-6837; northtexasescaperooms.com
With elaborate sets and clues, THE ESCAPE GAME at Grapevine Mills is a standout escape experience. When kiddos are in tow, we like the Playground room (finish all your school assignments before the dodgeball game!). Grapevine, 214/692-2180; theescapegame. com/dallas Earthquake! Whew, it’s just an earthquake-themed room at ULTIMATE
PHOTOS COURTESY OF EVO ENTERTAINMENT GROUP; YOUNG CHEFS ACADEMY
places to go / S U M M E R
