As it turns 70, Baskin-Robbins dishes $1.31 scoops -- and stories about ice cream-dipping celebs
Baskin-Robbins ice cream turns 70 this year, and some of its stores have become downright tourist stops -- including one that employed a future chief executive.
In honor of the company’s seven decades, Baskins-Robbins ice cream shops on Monday will be serving scoops for $1.31 each -- a nod to their 31 flavors legacy. (They usually cost $2.69 to $2.79, depending on location.)
Chances are you’ll be ordering vanilla, chocolate, chocolate chip, mint chocolate chip or pralines ‘n’ cream; those are the chain’s top sellers.
Here are five Baskin-Robbins shops worthy of a stop -- and a discounted scoop.
Pasadena: The store 561 S. Lake Ave. opened in 1946, which makes it the oldest location that still serves the brand’s trademark 31 flavors. The company created crazy flavors in the ‘60s, such as Beatle Nut for Beatlemania and Lunar Cheesecake for the space missions.
Burbank: This shop at 1201 S. Victory Blvd. is next door to the company’s global training center, where franchisees learn how to scoop properly and how to decorate ice cream cakes. Founders Burt Baskin and Irvine Robbins once had offices here.
Honolulu: It’s a thing now to take a walking tour and visit the shop at 1618 S. King St. where President Obama once worked. Wonder which flavor he liked best? During his election years, the company created Whirl of Change, which is described in a 2009 Los Angeles Times story as “peanut-nougat ice cream whirled with chunks of chocolate-covered peanut brittle and a caramel ribbon.”
Washington, D.C.: If you’re touring the capital, the shop at 801 Pennsylvania Ave. S.E. might be a good place to take a break. This location is near Capitol Hill. And here’s a patriotic footnote: When the nation turned 200 in 1976, then-President Ford sampled a flavor called Valley Forge Fudge created for the occasion.
New York City: You’re more likely to see tourists than actors at the Times Square shop at 323 W. 42nd St. But consider that over the years, Julia Roberts, Chandra Wilson and Randy Quaid once scooped at a Baskin-Robbins. And Sean “Diddy” Combs starred in a commercial for the ice cream brand when he was 2 years old.
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