Dari Dip indulges your inner child

I arrived to Dari Dip just after a spring shower. The rain clouds had been replaced with white puffy clouds – like enormous scoops of vanilla ice cream, I thought.

Indeed, it is easy to dream of sweet treats at Dari Dip. In fact, it is near impossible not to, between the giant cone affixed to the side of the diner and the always-present patrons with their sherbets, cones and shakes.

As I made my way inside, I saw an elementary school-aged boy bounding across the parking lot with a double scoop cookie dough cone, splashing through each puddle as he went. We should all aspire to that level of joyfulness, I thought. Perhaps we should all be eating more ice cream.

By now, locals know Dari Dip as Lafayette’s premiere sweet stop. But its menu is enormously varied, including salads, steaks and seafood. Lighter, warm-weather options include cold plates such as the clam strip, chicken or tuna salads. And then there are the diner-classic “quickies” such as the 90-cent Dari burger, hand-patted daily and served with mustard, ketchup, mayo, lettuce, tomato, onion and pickle. In fact, the length of the restaurant’s lunch and dinner menu is rivaled only by its list of desserts.

Ice cream flavors include “moose tracks,” “turtle tracks,” rocky road, butter pecan, strawberry, cookie dough, mint chocolate chip, black cherry, sugar-free vanilla or birthday cake. Shake flavors are peanut butter, vanilla, banana, butterscotch, pineapple, chocolate or caramel.

There are sundaes, cobblers, smoothies and banana splits. And then there is my personal favorite: vanilla, chocolate or orange sherbet soft serve ice cream.

On that day, I chose an orange sherbet cone. And while I did not splash puddles on the way back to my car, I did give myself an old-fashioned brain freeze. After all, why not indulge your inner child?