Midwesterners Love This Regional Ice Cream Brand

If you've spent any time in the Midwest, more specifically in Cincinnati, you've probably heard the name Graeter's. The ice cream brand is intertwined with the Ohio city's history, and dates all the way back to 1870, when Louis Charles Graeter started selling ice cream out of carts on the street. Patrons loved Graeter's extra-creamy, dense ice cream, made using the traditional French Pot crafting method — a process that involves a metal pot spinning in a frozen brine as blades churn the ice cream mixture. Over 150 years later, customers are still eating up Graeter's product (including Bobby Flay, who says it's the store bought ice cream he swears by).

Graeter's has over 30 flavors to suit a variety of palates. Alongside classics like cookie dough, mint chip, and butter pecan, the regional chain offers more unique scoops. One Cincinnati-themed flavor is called Skyline Spice. This homage to the city's famous Skyline Chili features Skyline's secret spice mix and oyster crackers. While it may seem like an odd combination, one customer review called it "uniquely amazing." 

Another locally inspired offering is Buckeye Blitz, a nod to the famous candy and Ohio State University. It includes peanut butter cookie dough and dark chocolate chips mixed into peanut butter chocolate ice cream. "Truly the best ice cream I have ever tried," raved one happy customer (via Graeter's). It's nearly impossible to rank them, but Buckeye Blitz was number two on our ranking of every Graeter's ice cream flavor.

One of the things to know before visiting Graeter's is that it has always been a family business. While Louis Charles Graeter was the pioneer of the brand, his business officially became family-run after his marriage to Regina Graeter in 1900. The husband and wife duo sold their ice cream out of a storefront (which their family also lived above), and after Louis Charles died in 1920, Regina took on the mantle. When other crafters switched to mass production methods in the 1920s, Regina stuck with the French Pot technique – the former gold standard for ice cream making. This decision set Graeter's apart in both craft and quality. Regina was a true powerhouse. She expanded Graeter's into a chain and ran the company for 36 years, holding steady through major events like the Spanish flu and World War II rationing. 

In 1955, Regina and Louis Charles' sons took over Graeter's. The '50s and '60s saw the invention of the chain's signature chunky chocolate chips and an expansion beyond ice cream to donuts, cakes, and other baked goods. In the 1970s, Graeter's made its scoops accessible beyond Cincinnati by introducing an overnight regional shipping model. Today, customers who aren't near a storefront can purchase six-packs or 12-packs of ice cream online and have it shipped to their doors. The chain has also expanded outside of Ohio and into Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky, bringing ice cream to even more hungry customers.