My obsession is ice cream. Plain and simple. Not only can I not get enough of it, but I will walk barefoot about 15 feet for some, if it is good. In all kinds of weather, I might add.
One would deduce, simply by association, that would mean I am equally obsessed with the milkshake. I am not. I love them, of course, but I don’t dream about them like I do a pint of Ample Hills Creamery or Off Track in Charleston or Leopold’s in Savannah.
Why not? Well, I’m glad you asked.
One should know that the perfect milkshake is not simply a matter of adding milk to a large cup of ice cream and then hitting it with a blender. Not at all. The ideal milkshake is carefully crafted. Not all ice creams make for great milkshakes. How do I know this?
Once upon a time in Savannah, during a chat with the owner of a newly opened burger and wings joint, he asked me to try a milkshake. OK, I’ll bite – or sip. It was excellent. Seth proceeded to tell me that they sampled about 40 different ice creams to get to that final product. Something about fat content and thickness and consistency.
There was a lot of science that day. I glazed over, tuned out, and sucked on the shake.
Since that day, I’ve understood why no matter how well-intentioned some places may be about a milkshake, they just don’t hit that sweet spot of perfection. Don’t get me wrong, many do, but perfection is a fleeting thing. That’s what makes it special.
Fortunately for you, it now exists on Hilton Head Island. The Milkshake Factory is that place.
I admittedly had never heard of the Milkshake Factory until a friend of mine on the island mentioned it to me in passing back around Memorial Day. It took me two weeks to get there, but I was able to have a chat with Brent Howard. Brent is one of a group of partners who own this location in Main Street Village. It also wasn’t until that first visit that I realized that The Milkshake Factory is a Pittsburgh-based chain that started back in 1914.
My visit with Brent was quick, but very helpful in understanding the concept. The ice cream and flavor syrups are proprietary. The Milkshake Factory has developed their recipes and the products are mass-produced for them. I make a point of this because of what I made reference to earlier. These ice creams aren’t being made for a bowl with fudge on them. They are being made to be blended with milk and other flavorings. I don’t think I have any problem convincing you that The Milkshake Factory is all about the milkshake.
There’s a large menu on the wall. They have their specialties, of course, but I’m fairly certain you can make your own. They are thick and rich and everything you want a milkshake to be.
My first dabble was called The Cookie Jar, which featured chocolate chip cookie dough, crushed cookies and cream, peanut butter cookie crumbles, topped with a chocolate-dipped cookies and cream cookie. I thought it would be good, of course. But I didn’t expect what happened after a first sip.
The moment stopped me in my tracks. I turned to my friend standing next to me holding a mint chocolate chip shake she hadn’t sipped yet. I begged her to do so.
I could tell she liked it, but she wasn’t nearly as impressed as I was. Something about not being a big milkshake person and a bunch of other foolishness that sounded like Charlie Brown’s teacher. Yeah, OK, whatevs. This is serious business. This was the best milkshake I had ever tasted. Every subsequent sip confirmed my belief. Just outstanding.
In fact, I liked it so much that I did something I rarely do. I asked my friend to take my phone and shoot a video of my natural reaction in the wake of that milkshake experience. I sipped on the s’mores shake we had left over and loved that too. And as I mention in the video, I don’t even like s’mores. But that’s just me. The taste of the shake I had was wonderful.
All of that to say I simply love what this place is all about. If you are scoring at home, then you know we don’t generally make a big fuss about chain restaurants around here. It’s an unofficial policy.
But sometimes, something comes along that demands your attention. If you like milkshakes, then this is one of those times and I already told you where I stand with them.
The only challenge for me now is to resist the temptation to pull in for one on my way back home to Savannah whenever I’m on the island. I don’t want to be needing a nap on my drive, and they aren’t fat free. They are thick, heavy, and very rich. Anything in moderation, of course, but proceed with caution, lest you ruin your hot boy summer before it gets started.
Once they make it to Savannah, which Brent tells me they hope to eventually do, then I will have my own set of problems to deal with. In the short term, you need to head over to TMF and Drink It and Like It.
