Ice cream in the Boston area, ordered roughly by quality.

Toscanini's: some of the most delicious ice cream available anywhere, period. This is serious, classy ice cream—well, as serious and classy as it gets. Their Belgian Chocolate is undeniably sumptuous, even for a chocolate non-addict like me. Other wonderful flavors include the buttery Cake Batter, a respectable interpretation of Indian Kulfi, and my personal favorite, Ginger Snap Molasses. Stores in hip city locations such as Harvard Sq and Central Sq.

Bedford Farms: what Tosci's is to hipster city ice cream, Bedford Farms is to candylike country goodness. My experience here is less comprehensive, but their White River Junction was so delicious that I rank it very highly. Sadly, their cookie dough was unremarkable except for its low dough nugget density, but I did sample their PB&J which was both authentic in flavor and delicious. Very generous portions, comparatively cheap; two stores (too far away!) in Bedford and Concord.

Herrell's: the ice cream of my youth, if by youth you mean the summers I spent at Williams College trying to convince my officemates to hold a "meeting" at Herrell's vendor Lickety Split on Spring St. Luckily, several Herrell's stores grace other parts of Massachusetts, including a convenient location in Harvard Square. Their flavors are generally excellent, and their peanut butter and, dear lord, Malted Vanilla is not to be missed.

Steve's Famous Ice Cream: legend has it that Steve Herrell founded this ice cream chain, had a quibble with his co-founders, and sold it to go off to found Herrell's (see history). The only Steve's location I know is downtown at Faneuil Hall. They sport the best waffle cones I've found locally; incredibly tall and with a softer texture than most. The ice cream is on par with Herrel's and perfect on a hot day in the city. Or a day when it barely gets to room temperature indoors. Whatever.

Brigham's: although their world headquarters and two retail stores are in Arlington, five minutes from my house, I'm ashamed to say I've never been to a Brigham's store. But I have sampled their flavors from the grocer's freezer with delight. Their Big Dig ice cream—vanilla with caramel, brownie chunks, and chocolate chunks, is one of the best things in Stop-n-Shop and goes wonderfully with almost any hot baked thing. They have a real, and utterly delicious Strawberry, and their Peppermint is also one of the finest examples of that flavor I've ever sampled.

Cabot's: this diner in Newton is the Boston area's best place to go for a greasy dinner and a sundae. Decor out of the 60s, and it's real: that place has been around a long time. Their sundaes come in two sizes, which should really be called "for two" and "y'all ain't ever gonna finish this." Surprisingly, you will eat a burger, fries, and a whole sundae at Cabot's, and come back for more after you spend several hundred years digesting. (I'm not sure whether Cabot's makes their ice cream, or if they order it from somewhere, but they definitely assemble a mean sundae.)

Lizzy's: this shop in Waltham gets pretty crowded at night, and with good reason. I've only been once, but it will definitely be on the plan for my next Waltham restaurant excursion.

J.P. Licks: I want to love this local chain of four stores, but when I go it's mostly for proximity rather than taste. JP has remarkable ability to recreate a flavor in ice cream form—the first time I went, I couldn't resist trying the Cucumber—but the results are uninspiring. You can get a tasty ice cream here, but there are usually only a couple of flavors I like on the menu. Locations in at least Arlington, Davis Sq, Newton Centre, and JP (Jamaica Plain).

Cold Stone Creamery: this national chain wants to be the Starbucks of ice cream. They have wide waffle cones that are more like bowls, and offer smoosh-in services so you can create your own flavor. Which you'll really want to do, because the ice cream base flavors are simply not that good. But if you've gotta have gummi bears and peanuts in white chocolate ice cream, try it. There's a store in the Fenway area near the AMC movie theatre.

Ben & Jerry's: outlandishly overrated. This is one step from the sort of ice cream you'd get out of a screw-drive vending machines in a polyethylene bag. Too much sugar, horrid texture, careless smooshing-in of whatever sounds good without sufficient attention to comprehensive flavor, and astroturfed grass-roots appeal when you're really buying from Unilever. Edible, but pretty much the best way to overpay for ice cream whether you get it from your grocer or one of their stores.

I am urged to try Christina's, Emack and Bolio, and probably several others in many lists. Sadly, I missed the Scooper Bowl downtown because it closes at 6 on workdays. Next year I'll schedule a vacation day. :)