Goody's Makes the Grade (4 out of 5)

A couple of days before report cards came out for the Boise School District's 3rd quarter, my son came home from school announcing that Goody's would give you something free from their menu if you brought in your report card with all A's. My oldest son doesn't really like sweets and he doesn't really like chocolate (is this my child??!) But he does like vanilla ice cream and vanilla shakes, so when he brought home his report card, we marched off after dinner to Goody's in Hyde Park.

To me, Goody's is synonymous with Hyde Park. But there is another one at the Edward's Theater complex and Goody's actually originated in Bend, OR, where they continue to make their handmade, preservative free chocolates. Thankfully they brought all that goodness to Boise.

Apparently, Goody's will dish out something special for just about any "good" report card, different items for different grades. My son got his choice of a banana split or a milkshake. My husband had the coffee bean ice cream on a classic sugar cone and my other son and I had a scoop of chocolate.

The ice cream at Goody's is phenomenal. You must trust me on this, if there's one thing I know, it's chocolate ice cream. Babysitters from days gone by were aghast at how much ice cream I could eat as a small child. I've never lost the taste for really good ice cream, it is truly one of my all time favorite foods. Sadly, over the years I've figured out how closely tied my weight is to how much ice cream I eat. I suppose there would be those who would choose to have frozen yogurt. It's just not the same. I much prefer the real, delicious deal just a bit more seldom. Goody's is the real, delicious deal. The chocolate is decadent tasting, a really dark flavor. The real cream coats your entire tongue. The coffee bean ice cream was delicious too. It tasted like real, dark coffee--much better than any of the ice creams you can buy in the frozen food section of the grocery store (Remember, I don't even LIKE coffee. But ice cream is a different thing.)

One of the other joys of Goody's is sitting on the large patio on a sunny early evening watching the people go by on 13th street. Kids can run around, pets can get free water outside, and the whole world slows down. It's a marvelous treat for all generations. The inside is pleasant too though, if you drop by on a less than sunny day. It's a classic soda fountain boutique feel with smells that make your mouth water.

Besides ice cream, Goody's offers many, many homemade chocolates, jars and jars of flavored jelly beans, flavored popcorns and assorted other well, goodies (including shelves of cute stuffed animals to tempt the kids while they wait.) The jar of malted Easter-style eggs was too beautiful and too reminiscent of Easters-gone-by for me to pass up. I had one. Marvelous! It was so fresh and malty-flavored, and simply so surpasses any mass-produced chocolate, I can hardly mention it in the same sentence.

Another thing you'll notice when you're there are all the huge thank you notes on the walls from classrooms who have visited Goody's to see how ice cream is made. I remember such a field trip myself when my son was in pre-school at The Children's School. I love Goody's connection with the schools, it's neighborly. Granted, it doesn't hurt business, but most kids around here know about it anyway. And Goody's certainly doesn't have to invite all these kids into their store on a regular basis to bustle about and ask questions until the cows come home, with free ice cream at the end. Goody for them.

The staff at Goody's tend to be on the young side, so at times you'll find the wait can be a bit long and the options not explained in as much detail as you might like. But heck, it's ice cream and chocolate, so the reward at the end makes it all worthwhile.