A long time ago, before I had kids, I was having a particularly rough day. My husband convinced me to go out to lunch with him just so I'd get off the couch and out of the fetal position. And when the waitress came, I ordered a hot fudge sundae.
Not for dessert. But for my main meal. It was the best hot fudge sundae I've ever had. And I felt a little better after I treated myself to it.
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That story is now lore in my house. And last spring, my younger daughter insisted we needed to put "sundaes for lunch" on our summer to-do list. I was happy to oblige. We picked a new shop for us, Andia's Homemade Ice Cream in Cary, for our sundae lunch.
Andia's, originally a catering operation, opened its brick-and-mortar location on Green Level Church Road last summer. The shop features a variety of fun and creative flavors. Baklava, cannoli cream, lemon poppy, rose pistachio and toffee caramel crunch were among the rotating flavors on the board when we visited. It's French Vanilla won second place at the National Ice Cream Retailers Association conference last year.
We tested a few flavors before we selected our two scoops. Everything we tried was out of this world, surprisingly full of flavor. It wasn't so easy making our selections. But we managed ...
My mom chose the baklava sundae, which comes with two scoops of baklava ice cream with honey, hot fudge, whipped cream and a piece of homemade baklava (which was delicious just on its own too).
I made my own hot fudge sundae, of course, with peanuts and whipped cream. I picked a scoop of the baklava and cannoli flavors. Not too sweet, the cannoli cream was a perfect partner with the much sweeter baklava flavor.
My older daughter went with the double dark chocolate and black raspberry, topped with whipped cream, dark chocolate and an ice cream cone.
And my younger daughter ... well, she just went all out and picked just about everything.
The verdict? Delicious. The small shop has several tables inside and more outside. The staff was very friendly, helpful and patient as we tried to pick from all of the options.
And the prices were reasonable - considering we all were ordering sundaes. Make-your-own sundaes start at $4.95. My mom's specialty sundae was $6.95. Ice cream cones start at around $3.25. Other ice cream treats are for sale to take home.
Andia's is at 10120 Green Level Church Rd., Cary. It's open Tuesday through Sunday.
Go Ask Mom’s Take the Kids series is your No. 1 resource for weekly ideas about kid-focused places to take your family in the Triangle and beyond. New articles are published every Friday.