Moorenko’s Ice Cream Cafe

First off, the ice cream is more of a 4 star, or maybe 4.5. This place has great ice cream. I dont go here often. Trying to cut back on ice cream. But this place is really good.
I am giving it 3 stars, because of a bad experience I had here. One time last summer I decided to take my daughter here. I had not taken here here before and wanted to give her a treat. We both got vanilla ice cream, and it was sub par. The texture was not normal, it was gooey, sticky, and didnt have a very good flavor. Ok, the ice cream is made here on site, things happen, mistakes happen. But I give 1.5 –2 stars for how the owner handled it. I sent her an email, let her know what happened, what was wrong with the ice cream. She emailed me back let me know she would check on it and let me know what she finds out. then a few days later she emailed me back, with a almost scientific reason why the ice cream was that way. She admitted the ice cream had a problem. But no where in her email was an apology for us having a bad experience. No where was there a invitation to come back in. No offer for any sort of adjustment to our bad service. No come in for a free dish, half price dish, no nothing. I am not the type of person who is looking for hand outs or free things. But to not offer an apology or anything is wrong. Every place offers some sort of incentive to come back. I had a bad experience at another place recently, let them know I had a bad experience. They sent me in the mail a coupon for two free items. Have I used them. No, they are still sitting on my fridge. I had even gone back to this other place since the bad experience and paid money for whatI bought, without using the coupons. It just left a bad taste in my mouth that I could not even get an apology for the bad experience. What made it worse was the fact that I had my daughter here and wanted to give her a treat, and that day it was not a treat. I have been there since and I have had better luck.
This is a very good place, and I do recommend it with the exception of the one bad experience.

Thumbs up for this local ice cream joint. It’s really a great neighborhood gathering place. During the summer there are always families with tons of kids running around… and a few pooches too. It’s also just around the corner from a bunch of McLean restaurants, making it a natural after dinner migration destination.
There’s great flavor diversity here, What’s nice is that you get more «grown up flavors» and some super kiddie ones like cotton candy w/​gummy bears! For the indecisive or adventurous (like myself of course), you can get 3 little mini scoops to try a bunch. My only complaint is that a few of the flavors have been on the too sweet side for me. Since all the ice cream is handmade in small batches, it’s hard to predict what will be too sweet versus just perfect – but a little sacrifice for some quality home-​made style stuff is alright in my book!
Moorenkos also sells a few flavors at Whole Foods. Flavors always include vanilla and chocolate, but the others rotate – and surprise! – they might not be available at the store either!

This place is really hard to find. The sign is blank on one side so you can only see it if you’re driving in one direction. They need to fix the sign and do some landscaping because this place looks like a dump from the outside. Once inside, it improves a little. It has cat and dog paintings all over, which are cute, but a bit of an odd décor choice.
I was disappointed by the flavor selection and inconsistent quality. I saw 5 flavors that I wanted to try after looking at their online menu and none were available when I went. I ended up getting peppermint stick, which was amazing (best peppermint I’ve ever had) and bittersweet chocolate which had a weird, crumbly texture. My friend had black raspberry chocolate chip, which was ok. I’m a little curious about their sorbets, but I’m not impressed enough to want to go back to this place any time soon. Haagen-​Dazs is consistently good and you can get it right at the grocery store.

delicious fresh ice cream. even flavors I don’t usually go for (tried my toddler’s and husband’s) are quite good. definitely has that fresh creamery quality to it. we make the effort to go out there just for the ice cream.

While I’m normally not a huge ice cream buff, this place has some really good stuff. The staff seems to be quite helpful and friendly as well, making it an overall enjoyable experience. MMMmmmMMM!

I can’t get beyond the icky atmosphere enough to enjoy the ice cream. The place is a dirty mess — it looks like someone had some really creative ideas at some point but didn’t keep up with it. The floors, table, windows and doors are grimy! YUCK!!! If you have been there, you have got to know what I mean!

After having Moorenko’s ice cream at a lodge event to celebrate the little league team we sponsored winning their championship, I made it point to get over there and try it out myself. I wasn’t disappointed.
My wife had the mint chocolate chip shake and I had a scoop of heath bar ice cream. I liked the ice cream — however, my wife wasn’t too fond of the shake. If I had one complaint, it would be that the ice cream tasted remotely like ice milk — however, when you get homemade stuff, you do get a bit of that consistency. Overall though, the shop was a winner in my book and I’ll be back.

Delicious!!! Great ice cream, great atmosphere, great personality. Love trying the unique flavors of the week.
They have a new dairy supplying them with milk, etc, and it’s more fantastic than ever. My favorite remains the Cookie Overload. Go crazy and overload even more with more cookie toppings and even some hot fudge sauce.
Their banana split tastes especially good during pregnancy. :)

If you’re tired of Cold Stone, Maggie Moo’s, etc. and you want GREAT ice cream and toppings, drive over to McLean for Moorenko’s. They have awesome flavors and it’s an easy in and out location. The people working there are really friendly.

The first thing I noticed when I stepped into Moorenko’s was how warm it was. Most ice cream parlors are very cold due to the refrigeration, but not here.
The second thing I did was doublecheck to make sure this was the right place. From the outside, it looks like it could be some sort of art store. From the inside, it looks like it could be an auto parts shop.
I was hoping they’d have a smoothie or some sort of refreshing drink, but nope. It’s ice cream or sorbet, but that’s fine. I could use the sugar.
I tried a small cookie dough ice cream and orange sorbet, both safe bets.
The orange sorbet wasn’t impressive. It was pretty much what you’d get at any generic chain. It was lighter than most sorbet I had. Less sugary. I wouldn’t get it again.
The cookie dough ice cream though, was great. It was rich and soft. Often times, ice cream is served too frozen for me, so it takes a while to lick it. Not here.
I’d rather their ice cream very good and sorbet mediocre. If they had frozen yogurt, I’d be content, because I’m more of a frozen yogurt snob than an ice cream aficionado.
Oh and service. Two teenagers behind the counter who probably wish they were outside. Shrug.
However, if I had to choose between Baskin Robins and Moorenko’s, Moorenko’s wins easily.

The ice cream here is pretty good. I like how the flavors offered here are off the beaten path. I tried the megajolt which a previous reviewer mentioned. Pretty tasty, coffee flavored ice cream goes well with chocolate chips. My gf tried the coconut ice cream which was also very good. The ice cream had bits of coconut in it. Apparently, the owner attended Ice Cream University, which is a real place, just google it. I need an application packet.
When we walked in, the place looked like a warzone. One of the guys behind the counter explained that they had just hosted a party for 50 screaming kids. The horror.
This place is easy to miss. You might pass the same fork in the road a couple of times like I did.

This sweet lil ice cream shop serves up delicious gourmet ice cream. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the flavors offered. Coconut is one of my faves! They’ll even gladly whip up a batch that you’ve designed yourself! I’ve never done that before here, but I might put in an order for Lychee Sangria ice cream :).

I agree with Meredith about the confusing intersection. It’s at the intersection of Chain Bridge and Old Chain Bridge Roads near Old Dominion Dr. Still, a worthwhile stop and a perfect treat after hiking at Great Falls Park. I recommend the megajolt (coffee ice cream with chocolate chips), but the mint chocolate chip was also very tasty. My four year old was very fond of the cotton candy gummy bear as well. The service was very friendly and the prices are reasonable. I would go out of my way to go here.

The ice cream at Moorenko’s is great! There aren’t enough independent ice cream shops (Baskin Robbins dominates the area, with a few Hershey’s and Maggie Moo’s thrown in) and this place is a treat. I really like their unusual flavors, like the ginger and cinnamon, and the cotton candy gummy bear is just plain fun.
The only complaint I have about Moorenko’s is their location. They are right on a confusing intersection and it would be nice if there was a very clear sign showing where their entrance driveway is.

My mom, a McLean resident for 30 years, says that it is the most provincial town ever. She would be right. Nothing progressive survives here. So I am pleased to say that Moorenko’s has been here for 3 – 4 of my visits, which would equal about two years, and they have yet to be run out of town by people with torches. Why would they be, you ask? Because they sell organic ice cream.
If you ever get to this neck of the woods (and I mean woods) and visit Moorenko’s, have the peppermint stick ice cream or the grapefruit campari sorbet. Out of this world.

Organic Ice Cream? Sure why not, it’s McLean.
I found their ice cream a bit more icy than creamy, but I’m not a Moorenko’s hater. I’ll go back, especially since they are the only game in town.
My friend commented that he found the staff pretty crappy because of some low hanging pants. No one likes to see your server’s pants hanging too low. Why, you ask? Think about what those hands have to constantly pull up and adjust, and it’s not always just the pants…

First of all, I should say that I am OBSESSED with ice cream. I have an ice cream maker and have read TONS on the subject (I wanted to open an ice cream parlor at one point). I also have two pastry chef friends with whom I have discussed this topic endlessly. I know good ice cream and this is my FAVORITE place to get it. Unfortunately, I don’t live in McLean or Silver Spring, so I don’t have it very often at all, but I always savor it when I do. The people at Lazy Sundae should pay attention. THIS is how you do ice cream (not a lot of whipped air!).
Moorenko’s starts with the basics, and as far as I’m concerned, should be industry standard: highest quality local (a farm in VA) and imported (from Italy) ingredients made in small batches. They turn their rBGH (growth hormone) free ingredients into a French custard base with an extremely high cream content (from organically raised cows) — meaning great mouthfeel and excellent texture — ultra premium quality without anything chemical involved. More like gelatto than ice cream. Even the sorbets are only made with the freshest of fruits and juices and you can taste the difference.
Now onto the good stuff — the flavors. Flavors here change ALL the time, but the ones I’ve had and loved are as follows: amaretto, ginger, megajolt, butter pecan and pistachio with white chocolate. The test of any good ice cream brand is their vanilla (in my opinion) and theirs is EXCELLENT. Since I don’t come here very often, when I do, I go whole hog and get the large scoop (they do it by ounces) in the chocolate covered waffle bowl. Heaven. And for those of you with dietary restrictions, there is no dairy in their sorbets (which are DELISH — try the blood orange) and they make sugar free and low carb too. Additional treats, you ask? Of course. Espresso, European-​style hot chocolate, smoothies and ice cream cakes. My birthday is in April for anyone who cares.

Mmmmm … Home made ice cream!
10 minutes from Tysons in the heart of McLean.
Great unique flavors plus all the classics!
Taste your little heart out!
Seating is in short supply, but alot of folks walk around outside with ice cream in hand.
They also make their own cones.
I had the mint chip recently — it was killer.