Bassetts Ice Cream

More than 40 flavours in Reading Terminal Market

The counter runs to more than 40 flavours, from the traditional to the more adventurous, with Cinnamon and Matcha Green Tea among the ones worth naming, and the formats stay classic: cones, cups, pints, sundaes and milkshakes. Bassetts Ice Cream is a Philadelphia institution whose retail store sits inside Reading Terminal Market. Lewis Dubois Bassett founded the business in 1861, and it has long been billed as America's oldest ice cream company. The market connection is central: Bassetts was the first merchant to sign a lease there in 1892, and the same family still owns and runs it, now into a fifth generation, with the recipe handed down through the family alongside the business.

Pennsylvania dairy and a marble counter

Sourcing is part of the appeal. Bassetts uses Pennsylvania milk exclusively, with cream and milk from a co-operative of dairy farmers in the west of the state, so the programme is defined by family continuity, regional dairy and a large flavour gallery rather than pastries, brunch plates or a coffee bar. The market shapes the visit as much as the scoop counter does. Reading Terminal encourages visitors to spend a moment on the original marble counter, the hand-painted mural around the store's mezzanine and historical footage from when the ice cream was made in the market's basement. Those details connect a current order to a presence going back to the late nineteenth century, and the store remains the company's public face.

Start with the format you want

The easiest way to order is to choose the format first. A cone or a cup keeps the visit on a single flavour or a small combination. A pint is for taking Bassetts out of the market. A sundae adds the composed-dessert version, and a milkshake turns the whole thing drinkable. From there the flavour list is the only real variable, with more than 40 to work through and Cinnamon and Matcha Green Tea sitting at opposite ends of the familiar-to-unexpected range. Gluten-free ice cream is part of the line-up. A cone in the market and a pint to carry home are the two orders that cover most visits. The strongest signals here are longevity and craft: a fifth-generation family business, a recipe kept inside the family, Pennsylvania dairy and a market presence dating to 1892.