Everything Ice Cream Offers Anna a Flavorful Escape From the Texas Heat

Anna, Texas — Sometimes an ice cream shop doesn’t need to reinvent dessert.

It needs to be cold, sweet and somewhere you’d willingly return when Texas decides September should still feel like summer.

Everything Ice Cream makes a pretty good argument for doing exactly that.

The local shop at 810 W. White St., Suite 200 offers ice cream, Italian ice and a fairly broad selection of other frozen treats from a colorful storefront that feels considerably more like a neighborhood ice cream shop than another link in a national chain.

For this visit, I brought a friend and ordered two single scoops of Italian ice: Bada Boom Blue Raspberry and Strawberry Margarita.

Bada Boom vs. Strawberry Margarita

At $4.89 each, the two single scoops came to $9.78 before tax, a 3% credit card transaction fee and tip. The final total was $12.51.

The portions were fair for a single scoop, with each cup providing enough to sit down and enjoy without feeling particularly small.

Bada Boom Blue Raspberry was easily my favorite.

The bright blue Italian ice had an extremely strong flavor, starting noticeably sweet before giving way to a tart finish. Neither side overwhelmed the other, and that sweet-then-tart combination made the flavor more interesting the further I got into the cup.

My friend disagreed.

Their Strawberry Margarita went in a different direction. It maintained the sweetness without the tart finish of the blue raspberry, which worked well for a strawberry flavor.

Both were remarkably smooth and creamy for Italian ice.

We had already settled on the flavors we wanted before ordering, so we didn’t ask for samples and none were offered. Everything Ice Cream had a broad enough selection, though, that choosing something else on another visit wouldn’t be difficult.

It may not offer the almost overwhelming number of combinations you’ll find at a more larger chain ice creamery, but there’s enough variety here to compete where it matters.

A Neighborhood Ice Cream Shop

The strongest impression beyond the Italian ice was that Everything Ice Cream feels local.

That sounds like a small distinction, but it matters.

The turquoise and green walls, colorful ice cream displays and small dining area give the shop a straightforward, old-fashioned ice cream parlor feel. One wall featured coloring pages from students at Joe K. Bryant Elementary, adding something to the room that a national chain can’t replicate.

There’s also a claw machine tucked against one wall.

I didn’t play it, but a family of four ahead of us did.

After the children didn’t win, the gentleman working behind the counter — who appeared to be one of the owners — opened the machine and allowed them to each take a toy anyway.

That interaction probably tells you more about the service than anything that happened during my own order.

Despite having the family ahead of us, the wait was minimal. Service was friendly, our order was handled quickly and we were able to sit down and eat without feeling rushed.

By the time we left, my friend and I were the only customers remaining in the shop.

Everything Simple

Everything Ice Cream isn’t trying to turn getting a scoop of ice cream into some elaborate experience.

There are tables. There are plenty of flavors. There are cones. There’s a claw machine. You order something cold, sit down and escape the Texas heat for a little while.

There’s something to be said for that.

The portions were fair for $4.89 a scoop. Neither serving was especially large, but both felt appropriate for a single scoop and didn’t leave me feeling shortchanged. For someone looking for a quick dessert rather than something oversized, the serving size and price felt reasonable.

The selection, meanwhile, was broad enough that I left thinking less about what I had just ordered and more about what I wanted next time.

The Verdict

This was a simple visit, and Everything Ice Cream did the simple things well.

The service was friendly. The shop was clean and colorful. The Italian ice was smooth, flavorful and different enough between the two selections that neither felt like a slightly altered version of the other.

Most importantly, I wanted more after leaving.

I’d return for a cone without much hesitation, particularly on one of those North Texas afternoons when getting out of the heat becomes a good enough reason by itself to find something frozen.

Everything Ice Cream
810 W. White St., Suite 200
Anna, Texas 75409

Photos by Brayden R. Heath / The Anna Progress