Roxy’s Retro Freezeria

Dylan DelCol, reporter

For those yearning for a classic 60s-style ice cream parlor, Roxy’s Ice Cream and Soda Fountain has brought that experience to three different locations around the OKC Metro.

The HCP news staff took the short trip to their first shop on NW 16th Street to enjoy a few of their range of available flavors from creative flavors such as their graham cracker and cake batter ice cream to traditional vanilla and chocolate for purists. Made daily at their plaza district location, their ice cream is a relatively new addition to the OKC food scene, so we decided to take a look (And a taste. Or three. Don’t judge).

The overall consensus upon stepping into the door was a sense of a vivacious atmosphere with all the bright and cheery colors you would expect from an ice cream palette manifested in the bubbly décor. From pineapple yellow walls and gumdrop bar stools to the sunny sky painted on the ceiling, one can hardly escape the happy atmosphere that the scenery evokes. “It was like a traditional ice cream parlor,” reporter Rachel Rose said. “It’s so brightly colored, you can’t help but feel happy.”

Named for the owners’ dog (Roxy, of course) this location features a canvas painting of the company canine to give the customers some company.

Everyone in our little group of six found a flavor to savor that afternoon, and here’s what we sampled, in order: Graham cracker/Pineapple (Jordyn Daniels), Chocolate/Cookies and Cream (Mrs. Taylor), Pumpkin Spice/Cookies and Cream (Rachel Rose), Cotton Candy/Cake Batter (Chase Leach), Vanilla (Mitchell Stroud), and Cookies and Cream/Pineapple/Salted Caramel (Dylan DelCol), one scoop per flavor.

Daniels’ selection of the two scoop combo cost her $5 for her choice of the graham cracker ice cream and pineapple sherbet.

Her first impressions were rather befitting of the venue. “The presentation of my ice cream was very Instagram/Pinterest-like (picturesque). It was polished and the cup it came in was colorful and fun,” Daniels said.

She remarked that her ice cream choices were surprisingly true to their namesakes, with actual pineapple and graham cracker crumbs in the scoops.

“It was sweet and smooth,” Daniels said. “I really liked the flavors of both the ice creams.”

Though it was her first time at Roxy’s, Daniels said that she would go again and bring her friends and that Roxy’s seemed like “a pretty chill spot to hang out.”

Taylor opted to partake of the classic combo of chocolate and cookies n’ cream, also for $5.

Taylor remembered fondly her previous experience with Roxy’s cookies n’ cream, calling it “inviting.”

“I was surprised at how subtle the flavor was,” Taylor said. “I wasn’t being slapped in the face with rich, chocolaty flavor, but instead was coaxed into a gentle cocoa experience.” She even compared the ice cream to “a mug of cocoa with milk, but frozen.”

Her cookies and cream scoop consisted of two different kinds of cookies.

“Both C&C and Chocolate are standards for me,” Taylor said. “Roxy’s delivers.”

“I definitely plan on [going again],” Taylor said. And she did, she said, over fall break, taking her husband and child with her.

Following the five dollar double-scoop pattern, Rose shared in the cookies and cream and followed it up with a side of Roxy’s pumpkin spice ice cream.

According to Rose, the pumpkin flavor was very similar to a pumpkin pie filling, down to the slight grainy texture of the spices.

“The cookies and cream was smooth with generous chunks of cookie,” Rose said “The flavors tasted exactly like you think they should, but better!”

Part four of the double scoop series is Leach’s cake batter and cotton candy combo.

Leech described the presentation of his ice cream as colorful and cute – adding that the perfect half sphere scoop was very picturesque. “I really liked how nice the presentation was,” Leach said. “I think they really did a good job with making it look as good as it tasted.”

About those flavors, Leach remarked that the ice cream lived up to their namesakes, which he was surprised by.

“The restaurant gave me the impression of an old-style diner,” Leach said. He concurred with Daniels on the venue, saying “it would be a great place to bring some friends”, and that he intends to go back.

Bucking the two scoop trend, reporter Mitchell Stroud kept it as traditional as it gets: single scoop vanilla. His $3.50 ice cream was “very white, whiter than the yellowish tint that is present in most vanilla ice creams,” possibly due to the lack of artificial ingredients that Roxy’s prides itself on.

“The texture was much creamier than the other vanilla ice creams that I’ve had,” Stroud said. “It was not as artificial tasting as other vanilla ice creams.”

He certainly enjoyed the creamy texture that accompanied the taste. “Overall,” Stroud said, “it is a fantastic base for other ice creams or toppings to build on.”

Last and, in quantity, far from least: my own selection of pineapple sherbet, cookies and cream, and salted caramel – all for $7.00.

In keeping with the trend of strikingly accurate flavors, the pineapple and salted caramel were incredibly similar to their non-ice-cream counterparts. It truly shocked me how salt-and-caramely the salted caramel ice cream turned out to be.

The pineapple sherbet was my principal enjoyment, however, and it captured perfectly the flavor  of ripe pineapple. Although the sweetness of it was a little much for my personal taste (being a bit of a pineapple enthusiast), it will satisfy anyone looking for the pineapple flavor without the usual acidic trait of the fruit itself.

Lastly, I sampled the cookies and cream. It’s been analyzed a couple times earlier in the review so I’ll try not to bore you with redundancies, but I must comment on the generous quantity of cookies that made Roxy’s ice cream stand out.

The cheery vibe I got from the décor of the restaurant matched well with the colorful appearance and flavors of my selections and would definitely recommend you give it a try if you are a fan of the 60s diner style restaurant, ice cream in a variety of flavors, or both. In addition to the ice creams and sherbets we tried on our visit, you can find a full list of menu items here including the as-yet-unmentioned root beer floats (soda fountain menagerie) and cookie sandwiches.

Hours at the Plaza District location are noon to 9:30 p.m. from Sunday through Thursday, and noon to 10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

A recently installed feature of Roxy’s ice cream is their food truck, which you can catch up to by tracking it live here, from noon to 10:00 PM.