BajaNomad - Magnum, Thrifty or Dairy Queen...you choose!!

Magnum, Thrifty or Dairy Queen...you choose!!

EnsenadaDr - 10-12-2011 at 09:51 PM

Does anyone else think that Mexico Dairy Queen is better than the states....how about Thrifty Butter Pecan or Pralines and Cream?? Well, since any ice cream I buy in the states starts to melt by the time I get to Ensenada...I just go for my fix at these local quality shops...where do you get your ice cream or frozen yogurt fix?? :bounce:

AmoPescar - 10-12-2011 at 10:24 PM

Hi Doc,

Have only had the Thrifty ice cream in Baja. I thought it was very delicious!
But then...I've pretty much never met an ice cream I didn't like!!

Here in the US of A I really like DQ when I can have it. Have always loved the plain ol vanilla soft serve....but a 'Heath Bar Blizzard' is maybe my favorite ice cream treat!!!

Miguelamo :yes:

EmeraldDawn - 10-12-2011 at 11:33 PM

The local Queso y Fresa ice cream is pretty good too!

Bajachillin - 10-13-2011 at 05:24 AM

Per the owner of the Thrifty ice cream shop here, the ice cream is imported from the States.

bajabass - 10-13-2011 at 05:47 AM

I've tried the Thrifty on the Malecon here in La Paz. OK. Magnum bars have helped. Does anyone know where to get Ben & Jerry's down here??? I could really use a Chocolate Fudge Brownie fix!!!

rhintransit - 10-13-2011 at 06:34 AM

Thrifty comes from the US, it's marginal in my opinion. we don't have a Dairy Queen here to check. Magnum bars are good, but too big in my opinion. Holandia (spelling) is made in Mexico and is yummy, especially the vanilla. and I can get it in pints. in Loreto, imported ice cream in the grocery stores can run 70-100 pesos/half gallon.

ncampion - 10-13-2011 at 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by rhintransit
in Loreto, imported ice cream in the grocery stores can run 70-100 pesos/half gallon.

Yeah, but it's worth it, especially in summer!!!!!

bajaguy - 10-13-2011 at 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by EnsenadaDr
.....since any ice cream I buy in the states starts to melt by the time I get to Ensenada...

Next time you go to the states, bring an ice chest. While you are grocery shopping, buy some dry ice, place ice cream in ice chest with dry ice on top of the ice cream packages......when you reach Ensenada, frozen ice cream!!!!

mcfez - 10-13-2011 at 09:03 AM

We have the Thrifty's in San Felipe. It does indeed taste better.......I suppose because it is all in my head :-)

Now remembers the Thrifty's ice cream for 5 cents a scoop?!

AmoPescar - 10-13-2011 at 01:15 PM

I DO!!!

5 or 10 cents bought you a lot of yummy goodness!!

And remember the frosty mug of A&W for a nickel?

Or 16 cent cheesburgers at McDonalds...Cheeseburger, fries and a soda with change from a dollar!!

Miguelamo :yes:

Quote:

Originally posted by mcfez

Who remembers the Thrifty's ice cream for 5 cents a scoop?!

MitchMan - 10-13-2011 at 01:38 PM

Thrifty is not bad ice cream. Haven't tried Magnum, but because of recent thread, looking forward to trying some. Tried the Strawberry Holanda from La Paz WalMart -- terrible. Will try the Vanilla, though. Now, Dairy Queen?

In Orange County, Ca there is shopping center off the 405 Fwy in Laguna Niguel with a Borders and a Dairy Queen. One hot summer day, got a milk shake at Dairy Queen on the way to Borders book store. It tasted pretty good, a bit too sweet though. Sucked down about 2/3 of the shake and left it cold in the cup holder in the car, with the straw sticking straight up in the middle of the cup as the shake was thick and firm. Went into borders for two hours, came out, got in the car and noticed that the straw was still sticking straight up in the shake. I moved the straw around in the milk shake the shake was just as thick as when I bought it cold, yet this was two hours later in a hot car and the shake was very warm to the touch.

Now, I know a little about chemistry and a little about food chemistry as my first real job out of college was for Hunt Wesson in their Fullerton Ca food laboratory. My claim to fame is that I worked with the group of five that developed the chocolate flavored Hunt's Snack Pack pudding. So I have an insight into modified food starches in the pudding bases made from powdered sodium casseinate, sugar, vegetable oil, food coloring, concentrated chemical ester scent flavorings, preservatives, emulsifiers, high pressure steam heating in giant vats and homogenization through pressurized votators to produce a totally artificial flavor and texture that will stand up in two hours of heat in car.

I am not saying the Dairy Queen puts out bad stuff, let's just say I am suspect and suspicious about what was in that "milk shake".

DENNIS - 10-13-2011 at 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajachillin
Per the owner of the Thrifty ice cream shop here, the ice cream is imported from the States.

That's what they say.
Years back, I knew a guy with a tire shop in Ensenada. His brother had a Thrifty store in San Felipe and the tire guy would take a refrigerated truck load over there about once each month. On the way, without fail, a fed highway cop would pull him over and mordida him for a half gallon of ice cream. Every time.

For those in Punta Banda who can't remember past last week, Paty's restaurant by La Joya used to be a Thrifty Ice Cream store.

jakecard - 10-13-2011 at 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MitchMan
Thrifty is not bad ice cream. Haven't tried Magnum, but because of recent thread, looking forward to trying some. Tried the Strawberry Holanda from La Paz WalMart -- terrible. Will try the Vanilla, though. Now, Dairy Queen?

In Orange County, Ca there is shopping center off the 405 Fwy in Laguna Niguel with a Borders and a Dairy Queen. One hot summer day, got a milk shake at Dairy Queen on the way to Borders book store. It tasted pretty good, a bit too sweet though. Sucked down about 2/3 of the shake and left it cold in the cup holder in the car, with the straw sticking straight up in the middle of the cup as the shake was thick and firm. Went into borders for two hours, came out, got in the car and noticed that the straw was still sticking straight up in the shake. I moved the straw around in the milk shake the shake was just as thick as when I bought it cold, yet this was two hours later in a hot car and the shake was very warm to the touch.

Now, I know a little about chemistry and a little about food chemistry as my first real job out of college was for Hunt Wesson in their Fullerton Ca food laboratory. My claim to fame is that I worked with the group of five that developed the chocolate flavored Hunt's Snack Pack pudding. So I have an insight into modified food starches in the pudding bases made from powdered sodium casseinate, sugar, vegetable oil, food coloring, concentrated chemical ester scent flavorings, preservatives, emulsifiers, high pressure steam heating in giant vats and homogenization through pressurized votators to produce a totally artificial flavor and texture that will stand up in two hours of heat in car.

I am not saying the Dairy Queen puts out bad stuff, let's just say I am suspect and suspicious about what was in that "milk shake".

Who knew a thread about a hackneyed topic such as personal preferences for ice cream could be so educational.

There are things to be learned in the unlikeliest of places!

Thanks!

Jake

comitan - 10-13-2011 at 03:28 PM

New DQ in La Paz on 5th Feb. 7-8 block going south on the right.

Oso - 10-13-2011 at 03:42 PM

While I can understand the longing for something you haven't had in a long time*, in Mexico I prefer paletas, especially from one of the La Michoacana franchises. They must have a hundred different fruit flavors. My favorites are mamey, mango and well actually there aren't any I don't like.

* Back in the 60's in Mexico City I used to go crazy trying to find a COLD coke. Few of the little stores had refrigeration, so sodas were all served a tiempo (room temperature). The only one I could stand like that was Orange Crush. My only salvation was a little stand in Chapultepec Park that had sno-cones. I'd buy a plain sno-cone, no syrup, and an a tiempo coke to pour into it.

Cypress - 10-13-2011 at 03:55 PM

How 'bout make your own ice cream? Toss in anything you want and enjoy it. :biggrin:

mcfez - 10-13-2011 at 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AmoPescar
I DO!!!

5 or 10 cents bought you a lot of yummy goodness!!

And remember the frosty mug of A&W for a nickel?

Or 16 cent cheesburgers at McDonalds...Cheeseburger, fries and a soda with change from a dollar!!

Miguelamo :yes:

Quote:

Originally posted by mcfez

Who remembers the Thrifty's ice cream for 5 cents a scoop?!

McD's .......a rootbeer Keg was on the countertops and the french fries were cut on location with some skin left on. Did I say cooked in yummy fats ?

The Magnum is All Good

Gypsy Jan - 10-13-2011 at 07:45 PM

When we bought the Magnum bars in the Comercial Mexicana (Pelican) with the rest of our groceries, by the time we reached home, maybe thirty minutes in 70 degree heat, the chocolate was intact, but the ice cream was melting.

I put the box into the freezer and then, in the next days, cut off pieces to eat, since they are so large, as far as my appetite goes.

On a plate, after a few minutes, the ice cream melts down. It is the real deal for taste and goodness.

MitchMan - 10-13-2011 at 10:50 PM

mcfez, I remember $.05 single scoop Thrifty ice cream in Whittier's Whitwood center around 1960, and $.15 MacDonald hamburgers in the 60s, even better, $.05 A&W Root beers, candy apple red lowered 49 Chevy's and metal flake blue Buicks with tuck n' roll and spinners, El Monte Legion Stadium "Be there or be square", Art Laboe, Sam Riddle, KFWB Channel 98 AM, B Mitchell Reed, Prison of Socrates, The Newport Beach Rendezvous Ball Room, and Wolfman Jack playing Little Richard's "Lucille".

Pompano - 10-14-2011 at 07:06 AM

I have started a very pleasant project. I'm comparing different ice cream bars as I find them. Finest kind of duty.

So far, I prefer the Magnum bars. They really seem to be crunchier and creamier. Although....second best in this case is not bad,either. :yes:

On the topic of nostalgia back in the day....High school days in particular....Our most popular AM radio station Up North was 'KOMA in Oklahoma'. Did anybody else hear this station back then? This station really 'reached out and touched you.' All the latest rock 'n roll on a high-power broadcast station coming to my old 36 Chevy rumble-seater almost a thousand miles away.

Like having Dick Clark's American Bandstand in your car. Those lazy, hazy, crazy days of Summer...for sure. I still crave soda, pretzels...and beer.

Along with the pictured gas pump below, I have my Dad's original upright revolving-dispenser Coke machine that he had at his Pontiac/Buick/Case dealership. 'The Big Red.' Cokes were a nickel. Buicks were more $$ than Pontiacs...new ones went up from $1500 in 1950 to a whopping $2500 as shown in this 1959 photo. Loved those Silver Streaks.

My Dad's on the left ...standing next to Uncle Ole, who died a month later in a very bizarre duck-hunting incident.

More old prices nostalgia: Stone's Cafe giant hamburger's 15 cents, pie 15 cents, ala mode 20 cents, movie tickets 50 cents for a double feature next door, and 25 cents would buy you an afternoon of tunes on the huge Wurlitzer record player.

....Now the cost of a six-pack I wouldn't really know, but it would've been 'Hamm's' or 'Schlitz' to go with the 'church key' :rolleyes:

mcfez - 10-14-2011 at 07:17 AM

You always do these stories.....so well Pompano. Good reads for the a.m.

"church key".....okay...okay........you got me. What is a church key?

Now back to my Jolly Rogers Buccaneer Milkshake from Balboa Island, Newport Beach ......35 cents.

MitchMan - 10-14-2011 at 07:35 AM

Cool post, Pompano

More Nostalgia Info

Gypsy Jan - 10-14-2011 at 07:38 AM

Mitchman: What about the, now long gone, XXX Pussycat Theater on the Balboa Peninsula? (Disclaimer, I never had any personal experience of seeing a movie there during that time), later it became a cult cruiser hangout for midnight showings of the "Rocky Horror Picture Show".

Mcfez: Church key = can opener in Midwest speak.

[Edited on 10-14-2011 by Gypsy Jan]

mcfez - 10-15-2011 at 06:01 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Gypsy Jan
Mitchman: What about the, now long gone, XXX Pussycat Theater on the Balboa Peninsula? (Disclaimer, I never had any personal experience of seeing a movie there during that time), later it became a cult cruiser hangout for midnight showings of the "Rocky Horror Picture Show".

Mcfez: Church key = can opener in Midwest speak.

[Edited on 10-14-2011 by Gypsy Jan]

XXX Pussycat Theater on the Balboa Peninsula.......Mum would never take me there.....

Txs for the Church key info Jan

beachbum1A - 10-15-2011 at 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajaguy

Quote:

Originally posted by EnsenadaDr
.....since any ice cream I buy in the states starts to melt by the time I get to Ensenada...

Do people REALLY like ice cream THAT much?? :lol:

SiReNiTa - 10-15-2011 at 07:22 AM

For me, I love Holanda and Thrifty...although my absolute favorite is......*drum roll*......The Yogoberry at macroplaza del mar...frozen yogurt is the absolute BEST, tastes good, lots of different flavors, pure yumminess!

I'm not a fan of the bars because I'm not a big chocolate fan...but show me a three musketeers ice cream cone and I'll gobble it up! In our freezer atm we have caramel/vanilla swirl...yummy yummy yummy!

Bajajorge - 10-15-2011 at 08:53 AM

I think the lead line on this topic left out Hollandia.

Freezer burn...

EnsenadaDr - 10-15-2011 at 10:34 AM

Any Ice Cream in the Ensenada Markets, even Thrifty, has a 1/3 inch of ice frosted over the container, and tastes like freezer burn.

SiReNiTa - 10-15-2011 at 12:29 PM

The new calimax in sauzal seems to keep their ice cream pretty frost free, no ice on top or yucky tate, just creamy yumminess! Or maybe it depends on the brand?

dean miller - 10-15-2011 at 12:52 PM

I posted the original post on the magnum bar in 2008. To refresh your memory it was as follows:

"Mexican Ice Cream--Magnum Bars

A few weeks back traveling south I stopped at the large new modern Pemex gas station at Camalu. Setting behind the counter and definitely in charge was a lovely young lady by the name of Christina who had a smile as big as all Baja and as bright as the Mexican sun at mid day. In chatting in first Spanglish and later in English I discovered she had spent a number of years in Oxnard/ Ventura area and often vacationed in Pismo Beach.

She indicated they had just received a shipment of the new Holanda "Magnum ice cream bars" and suggested that I might enjoy one of them since the weather was a little on the warm side. Mrs. Miller and I also thought a great suggestion. I chose a "Classic bar" which was covered in a rich thick chocolate coating, my wife chose a "Devotion bar" which was also covered with a rich thick chocolate and nuts.

Later on in our travels we sampled the "Almendras bar" and a "Yoghurt Supremo." Once again both bars were lavishly covered with a very rich thick creamy chocolate and were equally delicious.

We made it a point to have a Magnum bar at every opportunity and with the passage of time have lost track of the actual number we consumed but our increased tightness of the waist band on our Levis indicate we had sampled almost too many.

The prices for the bars were from about $1.50 to $2.75 at Palomar in Santo Tomas, --as expected the ghost and prices of Senior Enrique Villareal aka "El bandito" lives on in his children and grand children..

I hold fast to the opinion that the Holanda Magnum bars are equal to or even better that the US produced "Dove Bar" but certainly inferior to the "Costco bar," however, Mrs Miller was not as impressed. She was under the opinion that I and she to a lessor degree were suffering from the "Dinty More syndrome; " made so famous many years ago by the pioneer Southern California diver Ron Prange which states ' The longer you are away from home, the farther you are away from home, the colder (-or hotter) you are, the wetter (-or dryer) you are, the hungrier you are the better Dinty More stew tastes.

Never-the-less I eagerly look forward to my next trip to the wilds of Baja in a few months and even more Magnum bars....After having a Dove bar yesterday I still consider the Magnum the better bar, but can't convince my wife. In order to settle the family dispute and create a degree of domestic tranquility please complete the survey ."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I suspect many of you are suffering from the "Dinty More Syndrome."

I have purchsed the American produced Magnum bars and given them a realistic honest taste test..there is something missing...apparently does not have the butterfat content and the same thickness of coating as does the Mexican Magnum Bar.

So yesterday I stopped by Costco at 10:05 AM and has a mid morning Costco Bar, Close! but not a Magnum!

SDM

bajaguy - 10-15-2011 at 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by beachbum1A

Quote:

Originally posted by bajaguy

Quote:

Originally posted by EnsenadaDr
.....since any ice cream I buy in the states starts to melt by the time I get to Ensenada...

Do people REALLY like ice cream THAT much?? :lol:

YES

astrobaja - 10-15-2011 at 03:06 PM

I would say none of the above, also in my mind Dairy Queen is NOT ice cream! If I had to eat store bought , Haagen Daas or Ben & Jerrys!

Better yet buy yourself an ice cream maker and do it yourself with fresh ingredients, like strawberries from San Quintin!
We just made a batch of orange cremesickle with oranges from the viscaino desert!

Get one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Donvier-837409W-1-Quart-Cream-Maker/dp...

Cypress - 10-15-2011 at 03:20 PM

Church Key? Have an original "'church key". It's one of those combination can opener, tobacco plug cutter, pipe cleaner, and finger nail cleaner tools. +

New Calimax in Sauzal...

EnsenadaDr - 10-15-2011 at 04:21 PM

Is that place finally open?? I heard the fumes from the Pescaderia across the street preserve the flavor of Holandesa Ice Cream, which to me has a strange flavor to begin with, and now has a pleasant aroma of smoked marlin .

Quote:

Originally posted by SiReNiTa
The new calimax in sauzal seems to keep their ice cream pretty frost free, no ice on top or yucky tate, just creamy yumminess! Or maybe it depends on the brand?

Yogoberry

EnsenadaDr - 10-15-2011 at 04:22 PM

Frozen Yogurt at Macroplaza is easily $5 American for a small serving, I can't hardly afford to go there...

Quote:

Originally posted by SiReNiTa
For me, I love Holanda and Thrifty...although my absolute favorite is......*drum roll*......The Yogoberry at macroplaza del mar...frozen yogurt is the absolute BEST, tastes good, lots of different flavors, pure yumminess!

I'm not a fan of the bars because I'm not a big chocolate fan...but show me a three musketeers ice cream cone and I'll gobble it up! In our freezer atm we have caramel/vanilla swirl...yummy yummy yummy!

mcfez - 10-15-2011 at 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by astrobaja
I would say none of the above, also in my mind Dairy Queen is NOT ice cream! If I had to eat store bought , Haagen Daas or Ben & Jerrys!

Better yet buy yourself an ice cream maker and do it yourself with fresh ingredients, like strawberries from San Quintin!
We just made a batch of orange cremesickle with oranges from the viscaino desert!

Get one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Donvier-837409W-1-Quart-Cream-Maker/dp...

How you keep the ice cream from getting rock hard...after a few hours in the freeze? Drove me nutz.....

astrobaja - 10-15-2011 at 08:13 PM

McFez: we just leave the container in the fridge for about an hour to soften up before eating. Or better yet eat it at the perfect consistency all in one sitting as it comes out of the machine :light:

dean miller - 10-16-2011 at 10:58 AM

THRIFTY -DAIRY QUEEN? HOW ABOUT SAV-ON DRUGS?

Any old timers recall the huge five (5) cent Ice cream cones fom Sav-On drugs stores?

Gone but not forgotten...

SDM

theshacklapaz - 10-18-2011 at 09:02 AM

DQ! Hands down the best ice cream! I'm really sad that they don't have the full menu that DQ offers in the states. I grew up on The Hunger buster and belt Buster burger. Independent Stores that is not Brazzers! Big differents there. Right before DQ opened here in La Paz I stopped in and they were having a meeting and the girl heading it up asked me if she could help and I said I couldn't wait for a Hunger Buster and she didn't even know what it was! Told me that DQ doesn't sell burgers! I had to school her!lol Sorry for rambling. My vote is DQ.

Bajajorge - 10-18-2011 at 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dean miller
THRIFTY -DAIRY QUEEN? HOW ABOUT SAV-ON DRUGS?

Wasn't Sav on, Thrifty?

MitchMan - 10-18-2011 at 11:44 AM

Gypsy Jan,
didn't know about the XXX Pussycat Theater. Just the Rendezvous Ball Room because my older cousin used to take me there with him and his friends. It was great as Dick Dale and the Dell Tones were always playing there. Alot of energy in the air as it seemed like there were over a 1,000 crazed happy people doing the surfer's stomp. I think that I was about 12.

dean miller - 10-18-2011 at 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bajajorge

Quote:

Originally posted by dean miller

THRIFTY -DAIRY QUEEN? HOW ABOUT SAV-ON DRUGS?

Wasn't Sav on, Thrifty?

Sav on began life as a hardware store owned and operated by Asa Call. After WW11, his two sons, Bob and Bill, returned and slowly converted the hardware store into a drug store.

A huge draw was the very large and very tasty 5 cent Ice Cream cone. At 5 cents it was a loss leader but drew people into the store.

As I recall they sold Sav on to Jewel tea, who inturn was absorbed by a still larger company and their names disappeared into distant memories.

I knew and dove with Bob and his son Greg, but that was in the 1960s when Sav on was THE DRUG STORE for ice cream cones. I suspect Bob & Bill are now dishing ice cream in the big Ice cream parlor in the sky.

SDM