Sal's Italian Ice in Sanford, FL

Sal's Italian Ice is a small drive-in dessert place in Sanford. On my most recent visit there, I had half lemon and mango ice.

Sal's also had another location in Lake Mary for a while. Recently I noticed it's now called Nick's Ice Cream, but that won't stop me from posting a picture of my strawberry lemonade and peach ice from this location.

Sal's has some pretty good ices, but something about them doesn't put Sal's above Versini's or Jeremiah's. To me, their ices seem to taste more artificial compared to their competition, putting them a notch below. Still, that won't stop me from getting some Italian ices from Sal's when I'm in Sanford.

Jeremiah's Italian Ice in Orlando, FL

Everyone seems to love Jeremiah's Italian Ice, and for good reason too. For the longest time they were the only place to get Italian ices is town. Although there's much more competition for them now, their ices are still really good. I visited the always popular Jeremiah's across from UCF, sandwiched between Lazy Moon and Millie's Jamaican Cafe. On this visit, I decided to get a gelati with half black raspberry ice and half strawberry-lemon. Besides melting really fast on the horribly hot summer day, this Italian ice lived up to my expectations!

Here's a hint too: Jeremiah's does buy one-get one free coupons pretty often. Keep an eye out before you go.

Sunset Ice Truck from Merritt Island, FL

While at the Orlando Food Truck Bazaar #2, I bought dessert from a truck called Sunset Ice from Merritt Island.

I tried a cup of ice with half mango and half lemon. The mango ice was very different in a good way. Rather than being overly sweet like most Italian ices, this mango was more tart than sweet and actually tasted a whole lot like the fruit it was supposed to taste like.

Lemon is a standard flavor for me when it comes to Italian ice. I almost always taste some lemon whenever I try ice. This was good lemon ice. Had a good mix of sweet and tart, but the mango was definitely my favorite of the two flavors...

Hollywood Sweets & Icy Treats in Hollywood, FL

While enjoying a recent day at Hollywood Beach, I got some dessert from Hollywood Sweets & Icy Treats. I ordered a gelati with layers of Florida orange Italian ice and vanilla ice cream. After being meticulously assembled, I was surprised how huge the cup of gelati turned out to be.

To sum up the experience: Italian ice + beach = Awesomeness!

Versini's Italian Ice in Lake Mary, FL

Versini's Italian Ice recently opened in Downtown Lake Mary, just up the street from City Hall.

I ordered the Tangerine and the Strawberry-Lemon ice, and both flavors were really tasty. The ice was just as good, if not better than the ices from Jeremiah's (they're overrated in my opinion). I'm glad more Italian Ice places have finally started opening in Central Florida over the past couple of years!

NYC Icy in New York

Late one night in Manhattan's East Village, I stopped for some Italian ice at a small shop called NYC Icy. Some of the flavors on the menu were really interesting.

I ended up getting lemon and mango basil. The ices had a different consistency compared to other places. They were almost gooey. I'm not sure how exactly this was done, but I liked it. The lemon was good and tart, as it should be.

The mango basil ice was hidden beneath the lemon. Mango basil isn't a dessert combination that I would normally think of, but this was really good.

If you Google NYC Icy, a picture comes up of their purple carrot ice. This sounds interesting, but unfortunately, it wasn't on the menu on the night I visited...

Jeremiah's Italian Ice in Maitland, FL

When it comes to Italian Ice in Orlando, Jeremiah's is the best I've tasted. On this particular visit, I stopped by their location in Maitland.

I ordered a passion fruit gelati. Calling what Jeremiah's serves gelati is actually a bit tricky. In most other places, gelati would be plural of gelato, which is more along the lines of normal ice cream. Jeremiah's gelati is a parfait consisting of layers of Italian ice and soft serve ice cream. Out of curiosity, I did some searching and found that this type of gelati is a regional specialty coming out of Philadelphia. Don't set yourself up for disappointment by expecting the traditional gelati/gelato.

The Italian ice was nice and tasty. It was slightly tart and slightly sweet, but it didn't skew too far towards either flavor. Mixed with the soft serve vanilla, the gelati was pushed more to the sweet side. As hot as it was on the day I had my dessert from Jeremiah's, this gelati was nice and refreshing!

Like I said earlier, Jeremiah's has the best Italian Ice in Orlando in my opinion. Still, as good as their ices are, it can't compare to some of the Italian ice places up north. I'm still waiting for a store to open with a huge variety of flavors, at least double or triple of what Jeremiah's has, selling both cream and water ices, along with other types of ice cream. Jeremiah's may be the king of Italian Ice in Orlando right now, but there's a chance that they may be eventually be decrowned. And that could turn into a good thing for us. It could mean more places to get Italian ice in Central Florida!