Order a hot fudge sundae in most American cities today, and you’ll get vanilla ice cream, warm chocolate sauce and a cherry, pretty much the same bowl someone got at a soda fountain 70 years ago. Walk into the right shop this week, though, and you might find pistachio in the mix, or a swirl of blueberry cutting through the fudge. Just in time for National Hot Fudge Sundae Day on July 25, the classic dessert is still getting fussed over.
Here’s the catch: nobody agrees on where the sundae actually started. Two towns have been arguing about it for well over a century, and neither one is backing down.
2 towns, 2 stories
Wisconsin’s Two Rivers traces the dessert back to 1881, when local tradition says soda fountain owner Edward Berners poured chocolate syrup over ice cream because a customer asked for it. Ithaca, New York, counters with a 1892 newspaper ad and surviving business records that put its own claim on paper. Los Angeles has a case too, just for a different sundae: C.C. Brown’s, a downtown candy shop that opened in 1906, is often credited with inventing the hot fudge version specifically, before it moved to Hollywood and built a following among movie stars. It closed in 1996.
The old-school fountains still pouring it
A handful of soda fountains and pharmacy counters still serve sundaes close to how they always have:
- Eddie’s Sweet Shop in Queens, New York, has scooped hot fudge sundaes and homemade ice cream from the same Forest Hills storefront since 1967, inside a building that’s been an ice cream parlor since 1925.
- The Franklin Fountain in Philadelphia recreates a turn-of-the-century soda fountain down to its original 1905 marble-and-bronze counter and has poured its Mt. Vesuvius sundae the same way since opening in 2004.
- Norm’s Soda Fountain has served burgers, shakes and sundaes in downtown Kalispell, Montana, since 1938.
- Crown Candy Kitchen has poured sundaes from its original St. Louis counter since 1913, run by the same family for four generations.
- Borroum’s Drug Store in Corinth, Mississippi, has served hot fudge sundaes from its working soda fountain since 1865, and is often called the oldest drugstore in the country still run by the same family.
- Leopold’s Ice Cream in Savannah, Georgia, has served sundaes from its marble soda fountain since 1919, using recipes passed down from its three Greek immigrant founders.
- Fenton’s Creamery in Oakland has served hot fudge sundaes since 1894. It’s also the shop that inspired the ice cream parlor scene in Pixar’s “Up,” after director Pete Docter and producer Jonas Rivera, both regulars, asked to have it included.
The rivalry isn’t cooling off
Two Rivers celebrated 145 years of the sundae this year with its annual festival, complete with 25-cent sundaes, an eating contest and a performance from the Manitowoc Marine Band. Ithaca held its second annual Sundae Showdown this spring, picking 10 finalists from recipe submissions sent in from around the country, building on a first event that drew more than 450 people in 2025. Proceeds go to The History Center in Tompkins County, which holds the records behind Ithaca’s claim.
Restaurants haven’t lost interest either. Comfort and nostalgia are shaping menus in 2026, and sundaes are riding that wave: they now show up on 15.3% of U.S. menus, up from 13.7% five years ago, with pistachio, pretzel, gummies and blueberry among the fastest-growing toppings. So next time dessert comes up, don’t assume you know what’s coming. The bowl might be classic, but what’s on top keeps changing, and it’s worth finding out what your favorite scoop shop is doing with it right now.
Mandy Applegate is the creator behind Splash of Taste and seven other high-profile food and travel blogs. She’s also the co-founder of Food Drink Life Inc., a unique and highly rewarding collaborative blogger project. Her articles appear frequently on major online news sites, and she always has her eyes open to spot the next big trend.