They’ve Got the Scoop
Omaha’s Favorite Shop for America’s Favorite Dessert
Ice cream is arguably America’s favorite dessert, surpassing apple pie, chocolate cake and the rest as the most popular sweet treat. A visit to Ted & Wally’s ice cream shop in the Old Market is one of Omaha’s favorite ways to enjoy the delightful dessert. Named Omaha’s best ice cream shop by Omaha magazine for the past four years, it’s easy to understand how Ted & Wally’s earned this honor when you visit the picturesque shop at the corner of 12th and Jackson streets. The combination of quality ingredients, innovative flavors, old-fashioned methods and dedication to a family business has consistently put Ted & Wally’s on top of the ice cream pile.
Ted & Wally’s charms as soon as you set foot in the door. The clean, bright parlor is outfitted with vintage décor and neon signs, hearkening to a sweeter, simpler time. The building itself was a labor of love, as owners Joe Pittack and his sister Jeanne Ohira completely renovated the old service station when they purchased the business from the original “Ted and Wally” in 2001, and moved the Old Market location from Howard Street to Jackson.
The original Ted & Wally’s opened in Lincoln in 1984, followed by the Old Market location in 1986. Always a hands-on local business, Pittack and Ohira remain close with the original owners, garnering their help to taste test new flavors and to assist with further building renovations, as they installed a third door to a new outdoor patio this spring. The new door brought new temperature issues for Pittack, who also just installed attic fans in his vigilant effort to keep it cool in the ice cream shop.
Hometown appeal and nostalgic ambience has brought people in to Ted & Wally’s for 25 years, but it is the ice cream that keeps them coming back and filing in to a line that often stretches out the door of the shop. Ohira, the head ice cream maker and flavor creator, revealed a few of her secrets in our interview at the bustling shop Monday, where College World Series fans milled in and out, cones in hand.
“Eighteen percent butterfat,” said Ohira, with a mischievous smile. “The highest is usually 16 percent, but typically in the [grocery] store it’s ten percent, 12 percent, and premium places are usually 14 percent,” she explained. The source of this decadence is Omaha’s Roberts Dairy, which Ohira says Ted & Wally’s uses exclusively to create their signature desserts. Part of the appeal of Roberts Dairy is their commitment to producing milk free of rbGH or rbST growth hormones.
Ohira doesn’t stop there when locally sourcing quality ingredients. Ted & Wally’s uses the highest quality natural ingredients, including real eggs and sugar. Many specialty candies from the Old Market Candy Shop find their way into new flavors, such as the exquisitely light and crunchy chocolate-covered sea foam candy in the Hokey Pokey flavor. Ted & Wally’s purchases fresh-baked cookies from Jane’s Health Market for their specialty “cookies ‘n’ cream” combinations, and freshly made pies from Camille’s Confections become the ingredients for ice cream flavors like strawberry rhubarb pie.
Ohira and Pittack estimate they make approximately 200 quarts of ice cream daily at their Old Market shop. The work is completed in two old-fashioned, 24-quart White Mountain freezers that greet customers when they enter the main parlor. The White Mountain freezers are a crucial aspect to Ted & Wally’s operation, and Pittack says he has enlisted the help of a machine shop in North Omaha to fabricate new parts for the antique freezers to keep them operational. Customers watch employees add ice and salt to the large wooden buckets, causing memories of hand-churned ice cream on farms and at church socials to turn in many people’s minds.
Ted & Wally’s features 12 ice cream flavors daily, along with frozen yogurt, sorbet, and sherbet. For those watching their waistline, the 96 percent fat-free frozen yogurt and totally fat-free sorbet offer delicious options.
While exotic and innovative ice cream flavors are all the rage, Ted & Wally’s maintains a balanced selection between the classics and new flavors. Perhaps the all-time favorite at Ted & Wally’s is the cinnamon ice cream, but more daring flavors such as lycii and plum wine or Guinness make their way on to the board daily. Coffee ‘n Baklava is another favorite, although it has not surpassed Quit Your Job and Eat Chocolate, which features chocolate mousse ice cream loaded with chocolate chips, chocolate cookies and chunks of fudgy brownies. Other Ted & Wally’s favorites include peanut butter and jelly, Nutella, chocolate pear, and so so many more.
In addition to cones, dishes and sundaes, Ted & Wally’s offers classic American treats like egg creams, phosphates and floats. Also, with deals like four-scoop-sampler for $5.29, Ted & Wally’s offers another sweet aspect of yesteryear refreshment—reasonable prices.
Being a full-service shop, Ted & Wally’s completes special orders for a variety of occasions. Ted & Wally’s works with customers to create their own special flavors, churning out custom orders with a 48-hour turnaround. Ted & Wally’s is a catering favorite for many local occasions including weddings, graduation and birthday parties. The shop will dish up and deliver individual cups for large parties, or customers can order the half-gallon of their dreams for $14.44.
While the shop does not offer birthday packages, Pittack says parties are welcome at the Old Market eatery, where any gathering of friends is bound to become a party, especially since everyone gets a free cone on their birthday. Becoming Ted & Wally’s friend on Facebook is a worthwhile endeavor, as the shop posts its flavors daily, as well as various specials. Keep up with this sweet spot online this summer to learn more about their 25th anniversary celebrations and the upcoming art car show later in August.