Cream of the crop

Ed Murrieta. for the Northwest Guardian

The days are long. Whether the heat wants to play along, that’s another matter. But summer’s here, darn it, and I’m determined to celebrate the season like it’s 99 degrees.

Here are 10 cool places to eat and drink cool things. Except where noted, treats cost between $2 and $5.

1. Don’s Ruston Market, 5102 N. Winnifred St., Ruston; 253-759-8151.

Five soda-counter stools are instant time machines. “I haven’t had one like this since I was a boy,” said the old-timer next to me. He was sipping an ice cream soda: syrup, seltzer and ice cream stirred with a spoon and served with a scoop of ice cream on top. Cool, crisp, creamy and classier than a float. Flavors: Green River, sarsaparilla, root beer, cream and all the classics. Shakes are smooth and easy to suck through straws. Also: Handmade sodas, phosphates, egg creams, sundaes, banana splits, sandwiches, even scoops of ice cream. The market dates to 1917; the décor is ’50s old-fashioned. If you can’t get a seat at the soda counter, treat yourself to a tour of Don’s Coca-Cola memorabilia.

2. Pick Quick Drive-In, 4306 Pacific Highway E., Tacoma; 253-922-5599.

Think those ’57 Chevys and ’62 Nova convertibles in the parking lot are classics? Try Pick Quick’s strawberry milkshakes and sundaes, chock-full of goodies from Fred’s Berry Farm in Puyallup. Shakes and sundaes start with soft-serve ice cream and bounties of berries. Shakes get blended smooth. Sundaes satisfy. Picnic tables in a parklike setting are classic, too.

3. Johnson Candy Co., 924 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma; 253-272-8504.

Tacoma’s Johnson family has been making candy and ice cream for 89 years. Today it’s mostly handmade candy, 60 kinds in all. This time of year I want something that melts in my mouth and in my hand: Johnson’s vanilla ice cream bars, hand-dipped in light or dark chocolate, with chopped almonds ($1.75) or without ($1.50). Considering they’re anchored on one stick, they’re huge: about 4 inches tall and 31/2 inches wide.

4. The Bair Restaurant, 1617 Lafayette St., Steilacoom; 253-588-9668.

As The Bair is a 112-year-old former drugstore, you’d expect it to serve a frosty Rx menu: handmade sodas, phosphates, shakes, malts, scoops, splits and floats. The Bair’s shakes floated my boat best – because they’re served in old-fashioned ice cream parlor-style glasses, with a few extra ounces served on the side, in the stainless steel cup that the shake was mixed in. There are no seats at the old-timey soda counter, but there’s a patio. They have Green River, too.

5. 12th Street Diner, 4008 S. 12th St., Tacoma; 253-752-8100.

The flavors are basic – vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and banana, or any combination thereof. Shakes are made with whole milk and hard, hand-scooped ice cream. They’re thick but easy to suck through straws.

6. Faith Dairy, 3509 72nd St. E., Tacoma; 253-531-3398.

The dairy’s drive-through qualifies as a restaurant amenity in my book, wherein this note also resides: “Best darned airy ice cream I’ve ever eaten.” I normally prefer dense ice cream, but Faith’s had luscious appeal: light but creamy, lifted by air but not over-whipped with air. Great flavors: almond-praline, butter brickle, cherry-vanilla, orange-pineapple; $3.50 per quart.

7. Archie’s Diner, 1000 Town Center N.E., Tacoma; 253-952-3743.

Shakes are served in ice cream-parlor-style glasses, with excess on the side in stainless steel cups. There’s a counter with stools, but you’re better off in a booth: That’s where you’ll get a Browns Point view of Commencement Bay.

8. Mad Jack’s Ice Cream Concoctions, 2009 Mildred St. W., Tacoma; 253-460-6235.

When you’re sick of the singing ice cream baristas at Cold Stone Creamery but still want to decorate your scoops and sundaes with candies and cookies, this Tacoma-born parlor has you covered, with shakes, floats, kid-friendly flavors and atmosphere.

9. Frisko Freeze, 1201 Division Ave., Tacoma; 253-272-6843.

Sundaes are Spartan, but soft-serve shakes and malts went down cool and smooth.

10. McMenamin’s Spar Café, 114 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia; 360-357-6444.

If ever a place begged for excess milkshake to be served in stainless steel containers, this retro classic with the long counter is it. But The Spar doesn’t serve shakes that way. As a consolation, I had a shot of Terminator stout ale in a chocolate shake. Terminator tamed the syrup.