Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlour in Dania Beach — a few miles south of downtown Fort Lauderdale — has been a south Florida institution since Monroe Udell opened it in 1956. The décor has not changed appreciably since then: a diner interior packed with vintage Coca-Cola signs, old posters, license plates, and decades of accumulated memorabilia hanging from every surface. It is cheerfully chaotic, and the ice cream is the point.
The portions are enormous and the menu is long. The Kitchen Sink — a bathtub-sized dish of multiple scoops, toppings, sparklers, and ceremony — is the signature move, designed for groups and Instagram rather than individual consumption. For a single person, the classic sundaes or shakes are a better bet. The place is particularly popular with families, and the line can stretch out the door on weekend evenings. It is worth the trip for anyone with a sweet tooth and a tolerance for a certain amount of controlled chaos.