Love Boat Ice Cream
16475 San Carlos Blvd., Fort Myers – 239-466-7707
If you have spent time in Fort Myers, you have undoubtedly seen Love Boat Ice Cream. Along with the main location on San Carlos Boulevard, Love Boat also scoops 50 flavors at their shops downtown, on Six Mile and on Sanibel. Many locals consider the establishment, founded by the Love family in 1967, to be a local institution for cold, creamy handmade ice cream. Some of their most popular flavors are Key lime pie, salted caramel, banana cream pie and coconut almond fudge. Inside the San Carlos location, the sitting area takes customers back to the glory days of a parlor-style soda fountain. There are plenty of shiny, pink-topped parlor chairs and a bright blue floor. On Sanibel, the storefront is small – tucked at the top of the stairway in the Jerry’s shopping center -but the garden area inside the plaza provides a shady place to enjoy your cold treat. Along with traditional ice cream, Love Boat offers five flavors of sorbet and five sugar-free options. Check various locations for specific hours of operation.
Ice Spot
13499 S Cleveland Ave. #154, Fort Myers – 239-689-5507
Ice Spot is not your grandma’s ice cream shop. This inventive rolled ice cream and boba tea destination – located in The Bell Tower Shops – turns a liquid vanilla or chocolate base into customizable frozen rolls right before your eyes. A second Ice Spot location is open on Alico Road. Their popular Accomando starts with a vanilla base – frozen and rolled – topped with avocado slices, toasted marshmallows and condensed milk. Each of Ice Spot’s made-to-serve frozen rolls is poured onto a sub-zero metal pan – or anti-griddle – that freezes the liquid instantly. The paper-thin bases are topped with items like cookie crumbles, rolled, and placed side by side in a paper dish. This build-your-own ice cream experience serves its rolled ice cream with metal spatulas in place of ice cream scoops. Ice Spot is also a popular place for colorful teas. The Bell Tower location is open Sunday through Thursday from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The Shack of Sanibel
1219 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel – 239-312-8626…