Best of Arlington 2017
Toby’s Homemade Ice Cream
Best Ice Cream Shop
Toby Bantug, co-owner, Toby’s Homemade Ice Cream. Photo by Liz Lynch
When Toby and Monina Bantug bought Scoop’s ice cream parlor in Westover in 2008 (they changed the name to Toby’s in 2010), one of their first moves was to start making their own super-premium ice cream on-site. Since then, business has boomed so much that they’ve had to outsource production to Great Falls Ice Cream, a wholesaler in Gaithersburg that makes the shop’s stock-in-trade (rich flavors made with at least 16 percent butterfat) using Toby’s own recipes.
Aside from the usual vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, top-sellers also include espresso chip, salted caramel, bittersweet chocolate, peppermint, Oreo and cookie dough. Other flavors pay homage to the proprietor’s Filipino roots, including bright-purple ube (a root vegetable) and macapuno (coconut with thick strips of young coconut mixed in). The slowest seller is green tea, says Bantug, but “I keep it on there because it’s my favorite.” That’s an owner’s right.
—David Hagedorn
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