On Saturday August 14, 2010 the long planned Wednesday Night Dinner Ice Cream Marathon occurred from 1pm until 7:30pm. We followed and approximately 7 mile route from Boston’s North End to Harvard Square in Cambridge following this route:
View Ice Cream Marathon in a larger map
We stopped at each place marked in green. We skipped over duplicate stores, chains, and stores we didn’t know existed. We carried score cards. Here is the digital representation of mine:
| Location | Time | Flavor | Size | Score (1-10) |
| 1. Gelateria | 1:20pm | Hazelnut / Vanilla | Small | 5 / 8 |
| 2. Sprinkles | 2:00pm | Butter Pecan | Child | 7 |
| 3. Emack & Bolio’s |
2:45pm | Cake Batter1 | One Scoop | 3 |
| 4. Picco’s | 3:25pm | Cinnamon2 | One Size | 93 |
| 5. Bon Bon | 4:25pm | Pineapple Sorbet | One Size | 2 |
| 6. J. P. Licks | 4:55pm | Cake Batter | Not Available4 | 0 |
| 7. Toscanini’s | 5:55pm | Cake Batter | Kiddie | 9 |
| 8. Christina’s | 6:30pm | Corn5 | Small | 4 |
| 9. Lizzy’s | 7:30pm | Vanilla Cookie Dough | Kiddie | 6 |
1Like most flavors at Emack and Bolio’s this cake batter is infused with chocolate. This is not an acceptable thing to do and still call it cake batter, but that is what they do.
2Also bread and water were provided at no cost at Picco’s.
3The flavor of the Cinnamon (and they Honey flavor that I tired) were so intense as to deserve top honors. However, we were unable to finish these flavors due to their intensity.
4J. P. Licks has suddenly, and without warning discontinued the cake batter flavor at all of their locations. This is not acceptable as it was the best cake batter flavor available in the city and my favorite ice cream overall. Until such a time as cake batter is returned to the menu I am forced to boycott J. P. Licks. I did get in line and ask for cake batter, only to be told they they don’t have it, to which I responded, “Ah, never mind then.”
5Bacon flavor was also available and I tried a spoonful of it. Someone got bacon flavor and was unable to finish the salty delicious treat. I had tired corn flavor earlier in the week and thought it quite good, but I was unable to finish my small size of it either.
The clear winner was Picco’s. Picco’s is a sit down pizza restaurant that also hand makes ice cream for their desert menu. They were great sports and sat a table for 13 who intended only to have ice cream. They also provided bread and water at no charge, which was most appreciated. Surprisingly appreciated was the bread! The flavors at Picco’s are intense, rich, and wonderful. I could taste the gainyness of the cinnamon in my ice cream! Everyone agreed this was the best place.
Clear runner up in my book Toscanini’s. Toscanini’s, since inciting me into their store for the first time in years with their ROFLCon inspired “Internet” Flavor (vanilla + grape nerds) has become my favorite ice cream parlor. The fact that J. P. Licks has recently committed seppuku has only help them reach the top. Other excellent recent flavors include Fig Newton, Ginger, and the best remaining cake batter flavor in town! Enough said!
Similar to the “internet” flavor, sometime near the beginning of the summer Toscanini’s had grape kool-aid and tang flavors, and on one fateful day the two overlapped on the menu. I got a half scoop of each, and covered it in lime green sprinkles. It was pure neon nostalgia goodness, suitable for sale at any reputable lemonade stand.