Messy and Picky

We didn't uncover this gem until well into our stay in Philadelphia, it's now one of our favorites. Franklin Fountain has huge servings of delicious ice cream, an amazing variety of soda flavors and various other tasty homemade treats, but going there is as much about the atmosphere as it is about the food. It seriously feels like a time warp in there, with the tin ceilings, pulley-driven dual ceiling fans, and old timey cash register. Nevermind the cheerful servers, decked out in bowties and at least one handlebar mustache. If you like sweet stuff, this place has it all — including an old school soda fountain where they pull the soda water before adding the colorful syrups.

We haven't tried any of the sodas yet, as we are always lured away by the ice cream. However, the phosphates — "electric sodas with a dash of citric acid" — seem quite tempting as well. Picky did have some root beer in an awesome root beer float once. [Why are good root beer floats so hard to find?] We have tried various ice cream flavors from the long list of choices, including Hydrox cookie [not Oreo!]; green tea; cherry vanilla; and cookie dough.

One of the greatest treats we ever had at Franklin Fountain was a waffle ice cream sandwich, which is made on a freshly made waffle - pressed right behind the counter - and two heaping scoops of the ice cream flavor of your choice, generously topped with hot fudge and whipped cream. It was absolutely delectible, and one order is definitely more than enough for two.

Another incredible creation is their Mt. Vesuvius, which consists of a "mountain" of chocolate and vanilla ice cream, topped with chocolate brownie pieces, hot fudge, whipped cream, and malt powder. Messy found it a little heavy on the malt. This one is definitely not for the feint of heart if you can't take a heaping of chocolate explosion.

On our most recent visit, Messy, being Messy, dropped her cone on the floor on the floor and a friendly server said, "Oh no! Did you drop your cone?" And replaced it, for free, immediately.

We love this place, and it's open till midnight on the weekends. It's really the only post movie, non-alcoholic treat place in Olde City. And Messy finds this mustachioed fellow to be a real treat as well.

This photo was taken in March of 2006.

Update with some cool info from their August 2007 newsletter:
An 'Earful' of Environmental Effort
Although we recycle everything possibly in house, we've rethought our paper & plastic goods and have come up with corn options we didn't know existed. That is, for those who haven't explored such worlds… companies like Fabri-Kal and other "green" companies use 100% corn to make our take-away 'what look like plastic/polystyrene' cups. It is amazing, exciting and next year-we'll have The Franklin Fountain logo printed on all corn cups (which have a 50-day compost date from the time it is trashed). We're also experimenting with corn-based 'plastic' spoons and straws for the same reasons. As one manufacturer asks, would you rather support an Arab oil sheik or a Mid-western corn farmer? In addition, we're also looking into having our ice cream containers pre-printed by an old Philadelphia oyster box maker.

Messy *****
Picky *****

The final word: A delicious timewarp.

Franklin Fountain
116 Market St
Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 627-1899
Summer Hours:
Sun - Th: Noon - 11pm
Fri & Sat: Noon - Midnight