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Categories: Donuts, Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt [Edit]
318 Marine Ave
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Where do I begin? Oh right, at the beginning! A vanilla bar dipped in chocolate covered with almonds. Classic move and smart. 'Cause this is a true food item to compare with. Yes, you know the standard bars you can buy at the market, so how good could this be? WELL, let me tell you exquisite! Absolutely heaven!
It doesn't stop there, do you want sprinkles, toffee? Everything... well sure, they'll put it all! Get it on a vanilla or chocolate bar, frozen cheese cake or banana! YUMMY!
I want one now, gosh they're so good!
Oh, yeah they have some other desserts like donuts and pastries, but really... go for gold! PLATINUM!
--Double dipped--
-Try it all
-Great location! Walk around and devour that frozen banana! Be proud!
-Just rigth!
Balboa Bar I love you...
A vanilla/chocolate bar dipped in chocolate then rolled in your topping of choice for $3!
If you don't like that, you don't like sweets.
The funny thing is there was a shop 50 feet away that served the same exact thing for the same price and it was completely empty, while people just keep coming in at Dad's...
I follow the locals...they know what's going down on the streets
Great donuts and hand dipped Ice Cream cones! Great mom and pop Ice cream stands like these are hard to find since Starbucks is the Nazi that is executing Mom and Pop shops left and right.
They sell great donuts, coffee and the best frozen treats in Newport Beach!
Enough of this swirly twirly pinkberry frozen yoghurt bullshit, this place is the real deal!
Great hand dipped vanilla ice cream which is drenched in a chocolate hardening shell and then dipped in walnuts/peanuts/almonds. Such a great ice cream bar!
This is a great mom and pop place to go and visit! You must try their frozen banana!
One of the last great ice cream parlors in Orange County that hasn't been taken over by a god awful reality show or the desperate housewives of newport beach! Highly recommended!
I love me the Balboa Bar with nuts or with 'everything' if I'm feeling really wild and crazy!! =)
I've tried both Dad's and Sugar 'n Spice which is a couple doors down. Both claim to be the 'original'.
In my opinion, Dad's is better. The Balboa Bar is better, the toppings are better and the frozen bananas are better.
And the people are friendlier.
I'm not saying I wouldn't eat a Balboa Bar or frozen banana from Sugar 'n Spice if you handed me one right now..... I'm just saying when I'm walking down the street, my first choice is Dad's ... even if the line is longer.
After reading Britt's review, I can't wait to go back and try a Hippo cookie!
I've been coming to Balboa Island my entire life. For as long as I can remember the Balboa Bar was the signature dessert for Balboa Island and the best place to buy one was at the iconic Dad's Donuts. Yes, Dad's is an icon for the most expensive zip code in Orange County. When you see this famous bakery on T-shirt's and the subject of local watercolor portraits you know it's more than a place to buy a ice cream on a stick.
Dad's is one of those rare businesses that has something for every time of the day and a crowd of patrons to follow. If you drive by Dad's in the early morning you will see the coffee and donut crowd. Dad's has a normal variety of donuts that are good but their apple sauce donut is exceptional. No wonder you can barely navigate the sidewalk in front of the store shortly after dawn.
Clearly most people know Dad's for their frozen treats. A Balboa Bar is a vanilla ice cream bar plunged into a vat of liquid chocolate and then dipped in the topping of your choice. Chopped peanuts or rainbow sprinkles are classic but crumbled Oreo cookies is my personal favorite. Frozen bananas and frozen cheesecake are also popular desert on a stick options and you get the same choice of toppings to adorn the chocolate coating. Dad's also offers hand scooped Dreyer's ice cream and a variety of sweet soft serve frozen yogurts.
BUT, the best kept secret at Dad's is not a donut and is not ice cream. If you are a fan of shortbread cookies with icing then you have to try the HIPPO COOKIE! I usually have a take it or leave it attitude when it comes to cookies but the hippo cookie is something that should not be missed. Dad's has started a wall of fame for the kids that eat their hippo cookies every day. If I buy any more of these heavenly goodies I might be the first adult to get his picture added to the wall. My niece has instructed me that the best hippo cookie is the one with purple frosting and blue M&M eyes because it's just like the hippo in It's a Small World in Disneyland. Who am I to argue with that kind of logic?
When I was a kid and my family came to Balboa, we either got our frozen bananas and Balboa bars from Dad's or Sugar 'N Spice. As I remember it, Sugar 'N Spice was open later, but Dad's was classier. And the ice cream from here was better.
Both place serve up mean frozen bananas, but I think Dad's Balboa bars are better.
Oh, and when I was a little kid, I thought you had to order the menu item at the window corresponding to the sign hanging above it. I had no idea that these signs were just there to entice passersby. My dad might have initially put this idea in my head; if he didn't, I'm sure he abetted it, just like he used to tell me that the crosses painted on the street in and around Carmel were Native American grave markers. These "crosses" (actually brackets) are, of course, there to designate parking spaces. But I used to believe everything my dad told me.
I haven't tried anything at this place but the frozen banana, but that's all I ever want because it's just so good! I love getting it with toffee and peanuts, but they have it so many other ways (oreo, sprinkles, almonds, peanuts, mixed...). I like that it's not too hard and not too messy. It's just right.
I'm my opinion a trip to Balboa is never complete without stopping here.
I could see Dad's from the sidewalk when I was standing in line at Sugar & Spice. The bf and I had to split up since I wanted to try something from the two competitive stands. I was waiting in line and was going to order a Balboa Bar with everything on it, to see which was the better of the two, but the bf came by just in time with the one from Sugar & Spice and I bit into it and decided I would go with a frozen banana instead. The ice cream in the Balboa Bar was too soft for my taste.
There was only a two-person wait on a Saturday afternoon and you could choose your banana size, which ranged from small to XL (hehehe, insert joke here). I wanted a medium, but they ran out, so I just went with the small instead (hehehe), and got the "everything" topping which included a tub that mixed all their separate toppings of chocolate sprinkles, peanuts, almonds, Oreo crumbles, Heath Bar crumbles, and rainbow sprinkles. It was awesome, and really frozen hard (hehehe). For $2.50 (tax included), it's probably one of the cheapest, and most satisfying, frozen desserts you can get!
And you can walk around and window shop or sit on one of the many benches along the sidewalk. So fun on a lazy weekend afternoon.
Visiting Balboa, had to have a Balboa bar, right? I'm glad I did. It's quite the treat. Vanilla ice cream dipped in melted chocolate and then your choice of toppings so that they freeze around the ice cream. The cinnamon crunch was yummy! Eat it quickly or it will be a sidewalk bar!
very tasty. had the frozen banana with almonds and a balboa bar with some sort of toffee. good to the last bite.
of note, our balboa bar stayed on the stick until finished. the same could not be said of a similar bar had at a nearby establishment.
Wow, I love this place. The plethora of desert temptations can be hard to choose from. But the way I see it, I can get pretty good doughnuts and ice cream at plenty of places, on the other hand I CANNOT get wonderful fresh hand dipped frozen bananas and ice cream bars just anywhere. I am partial to the frozen bananas because it is a relatively healthy desert. You get to pick the size of banana, they pull it right from the freezer and then proceed to dip it in a bath of wonderful melted chocolate. If you're feeling adventurous, you can take your pic of freshly chopped peanuts, almonds, sprinkles, etc. So good!
I've had the hand dipped vanilla ice cream bars, and they are also fabulous. So when a store bought, processed desert just won't do... head down to Balboa and get yourself one of these freshly made treats.
My Breakfast at Wilma's this morning was so ...blah....that I needed something to lift my spirits. A frozen banana would be just the thing. Probably the best frozen banana I've ever had. Most of the time to me they are just too "frozen." Not at Dad's, definitely frozen but, easy to eat without breaking your mouth. I highly recommend the everything topping!!
The frozen banana's are scrumptious and the Balboa Bar is milky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Even though the frozen banana shop a couple of doors down says it's the "original" I tend to favor Dad's because it's open later. Two things come to mind whenever I see the bananas:
First, I am reminded of when I used to work at Disneyland right out of high school. One day a excited tourist inquired what the "chocolate things on sticks that were shaped like bananas" were? She could hardly believe it when I told her that it actually *was* a banana.
Then I wonder, who's job is it to rate the bananas? I mean, who decides what is medium and what is extra large? Do they use a ruler or do the true experts judge by sight alone?
Anyway, this trip I had a Balboa Bar instead. Soft, creamy vanilla ice cream dipped in rich chocolate and rolled in toffee pieces is the perfect summer night's treat. If you take the ferry across and walk to Dad's, you won't feel so guilty about indulging in one.
Definition of a Balboa Bar - A thick vanilla ice cream bar on a stick, dipped in chocolate then coated in your choice of chopped nuts or sprinkles.
The ice cream is light so you can enjoy the crunchy chocolate shell and the customized nuts stuck to the chocolate.
Won't break the bank either - $4 each.
The balboa bar with chocolate sprinkles can't be beat. Lots of places sell balboa bars in Newport but this place is the best. The chocolate toppings are unbelievably sweet, maybe even too sweet for some people. Well worth braving the stares of the rich snobs on Balboa Island who know you don't live there and give you dirty looks. Stare all you want Chauncey Abercrombie, I'm gonna eat my ice cream.
Whadya mean it's to cold for a Balboa Bar! I was back home for a visit last week and my friend wanted to go to Balboa to get a Balboa Bar. (And to visit his "girlfriend") After driving around for parking (Luckily it was February and not July or else we'd still be looking for parking) we headed over to Marine Ave and hit the first place which was Dad's. I haven't had a Balboa Bar in years so I was jacked. Besides the dipped chocolate, I had toasted almonds on one side and Heath Bar crumbles on the other. After the first bite, it felt like I had went back in time to the last time I munched down on one of these. The crunch from the hardend chocolate along with the almonds and Heath Bar made the vanilla ice cream bar come alive. It's a great treat to have while sitting on one of the benches weatching people walk by.
my frozen banana virginity has been lost here and i am completely satisfied. nothings better than eating a frozen banana after biking up the hills around irvine and newport. But then again a frozen banana is a frozen banana, nothing too special.
I guess i just love walking around Balboa after biking and relaxing with a not too sweet treat, but gets your sweet tooth satisfied, frozen banana.
i shared a large frozen banana( $3.00) with a friend and it filled us both up pretty nicely.
Disclaimer-I wrote this review on my wife's Backberry so it'll be brief cuz my fat thumbs keep pushing extra keys. My kids contributed to this report as they.consumed most of the ice cream. This is a concession on Balboa Island in Newport Beach that sells ice cream, doughnuts, frozen bananas and drinks. They have been a fixture for close to 50 years. My kids all got hand-dipped ice cream bars. I sampled them, of course, and felt the vanilla bars were better than the chocolate ones.
I didn't even bother looking at the donut or ice cream selection... went straight to the window for the Balboa bar and frozen banana.
I get the Balboa bar with Oreo topping, but it could easily be just as amazing with any of the toppings they cover the soft-serve bar with.
The banana is best with the everything topping, maybe just because I can't choose one topping over the other.
Bring someone with you so you can get a banana and a balboa bar and split them, they're both worth it.
Eating food off of a stick might be one of my favorite activities. Now, don't get me wrong, I love ice cream on a stick, but I don't really understand why people get so excited over Balboa Bars. IT'S CHOCOLATE COVERED, VANILLA ICE CREAM ON A STICK. with toppings.
I could buy a box of Klondike bars for less money and be just as satisfied. Yes, Balboa island, you invented vanilla ice cream on a stick...how extraordinarily amazing. Now get over it.
We're here every night when we're in town, comparing the balboa bars and frozen bananas with Sugar and Spice's to decide which place is better. I always get mine with crushed almonds. I still can't decide between the two, I love them both! Looks like I need to try the Hippo cookie! We tried making the frozen bananas at home, but they don't compare!
Great place to take people who are visiting in town, but honestly it is not worth making a habit out of it. The frozen bananas are good, but they aren't kidding when they say frozen, THEY ARE FREEZING! My teeth hurt for about a half hour after eating this chocolate covered treat.
i like this place.. but this review would only concern the frozen banana... for the price of $2.75 it was good... of course you shouldn't expect explosion of flavors c'mon its just frozen banana with chocolate and peanuts... that what i got... the size is a bit small compared to the bananas that you can get in you local grocery... but they pick the right bananas and its good! the chocolate is not overpowering too... over all its an awesome treat to have while walking around balboa island...
Dad's is the best place to get your frozen banana fix. They offer different sizes, and it is not as stuffy as Sugar and Spice. They also sell donuts, which is good if you are craving it, but try the bananas first. Perfect on a warm day!
kinda pricey.... $3 for a dipped ice cream bar? was pretty small size to be $3...
my gf got sprinkles on hers and tasted way better than mine which just had nuts on it...
sprinkles made it taste like cake, which was better...
essentially, this place is no different than foster freeze and is just a prime example of OVER HYPE
2-3 stars is all this place deserves... defintely not an average rating of 4-5 like it has currently...
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