Disney's Soda Fountain & Studio Store

• Cuisine(s): American
  Hours: Sun, Sat 11am-10pm, Mon-Fri 11am-9pm
  Price: $$
• Payment Types: MasterCard, Visa, American Express
  Features: Takeout
  Serving: Snack Food
• Alcohol: None
  Reservations: Accepted, Not Necessary
  Parking: Street

Description

Bringing more than a hint of corporate suburban-mall kitsch to this part of Hollywood, the Disney Soda Fountain & Studio Store also brings the excellent ice cream imported from Dewar's. The original Dewar's, a 1909 candy counter across from Bakersfield High School, is so little changed that it looks almost art-directed, like a set modeled on the pages of an old Saturday Evening Post. When you order a sundae, the soda jerk at Dewar's packs the ice cream densely into a goblet with a butter knife, then pours fudge over it until it cascades stickily onto the counter. Disney's waitresses, whose smiles seem superglued to their shiny, shiny teeth, may not do the trick with the butter knife, but they efficiently bring out black-and-white sundaes lubricated with hot fudge and whipped marshmallow, banana splits drowning in marshmallow and strawberry sauce, and milk shakes made with vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, fresh bananas and ground walnuts, which taste like the kind of protein drinks they might prepare in Valhalla. On the other hand, the sundae called Mickey's Masterpiece, eight scoops of ice cream, three sauces and bucketfuls of whipped cream served in the brim of a version of the sorcerer's hat from Fantasia, looks like the aftermath of a Roman feast. Hollywood strikes again.