Carlisle is known for its ice cream rivalry. You either love Massey’s Frozen Custard or Leo’s, and you stay loyal to your decision far past your graduation at Dickinson. Well, there’s a new ice cream spot in town that may beat out the competition.

This Doughs and Arrows location opened on September 11th on N Hanover St, next to Redd’s Smokehouse, with the other location in Hanover, PA. Owned by Brandon and Crystal Belvins, the shop is dedicated to their now passed son, Coltin. You can find pictures of him on some of the bigger cups within the shop. They also have a location in Hanover.

Advertised as a gourmet ice cream and edible cookie dough shop, they have a wide flavor range for anyone to choose from. Their ice cream selection includes the typical generic flavors you would find in any ice cream shop, like chocolate and mint chocolate chip, but also some unique flavors direct from the Penn State Creamery, such as the Peachy Paterno. I didn’t think I would be able to get it outside of the university, so this came as a pleasant surprise.

The atmosphere inside is quite welcoming. The tables also double as gaming tables, with games like Chinese checkers and checkerboards. On opening day, they also had a raffle for various themed baskets, such as movie nights and game nights. 

When I went, I got the Grilled Stickies ice cream, which is vanilla ice cream with bits of cinnamon bun dough inside, and the We Remember, which was a frosted sugar cookie named after 9/11. The ice cream was delightful and not too sweet to overwhelm your taste buds. Meanwhile, the cookie dough was overwhelmingly salty. It still had flavor, but after the first few bites I definitely needed a gulp of water. The saltiness might be to preserve the cookie dough, but almost made it hard to eat.

I tried eating the cookie dough and the ice cream in one bite and the creaminess of the ice cream helps to ease the strong salt flavor from the cookie dough. However, I do think the extreme saltiness might have been an opening week error, as I went the following week and the cookie dough didn’t seem as salty, but still slightly overwhelmed the flavor of the dough.

One plus side of Doughs and Arrows is its affordability. You can mix and match cookie dough and ice cream and the cost remains the same. I paid about $4.50 for two scoops of dough and/or ice cream. They also have pints to go, ice cream cakes, and so much more. The staff was super friendly as well. 

Overall, Doughs and Arrows is great in flavor and affordability and it is a great place to go for a relaxing evening with friends or family.