This is but one of the many ways you can do it at Hank's. Image: Joanna O'Leary

On a sultry summer afternoon, what's better than two scoops of ice cream from Hank’s Ice Cream Parlor?

How about two scoops garnished with chocolate syrup, pineapple, strawberry, and/or caramel, plus whipped cream and a cherry? It’s sundae season and there are few sweeter places than Hank’s to satisfy your cravings, not only because of the quality of their creams but because the broad spectrum of inventive as well as traditional flavors—100 in total, 18 of which are available on any available day—enable some refreshingly unusual creations.

Sundaes ($6 with tax) include your choice of two flavors plus syrups and toppings (e.g., M&Ms, gummi bears, etc.). On a recent weekday, I stopped by Hank’s shortly after it opened and was thrilled to be greeted by Hank’s daughter herself, Aladrian Mims, and later by another generation of ice cream royalty, her son. I selected butter pecan and vanilla (served up in softball-size scoops) as the base for my sundae, over which Aladrian ladled a heavy pour of buttery caramel followed by a spiral of whipped cream and a cherry.

And while during my inaugural visit of the summer I went for a relatively pedestrian confection, next time—and the time thereafter and thereafter and thereafter—I plan some trying sundaes with innovative combinations of flavors and toppings, such as: just chocolate ice cream, Texas Oreo, chocolate syrup and M&Ms; rum raisin ice cream, grape nut ice cream, strawberry syrup and peanuts; mango ice cream, strawberry cheesecake ice cream, pineapple and rainbow Jimmies; or black walnut ice cream, cream corn ice cream, caramel and chocolate Jimmies.

Hank’s also makes a mean banana split, which I recommend ordering with their famous banana pudding ice cream instead of standard vanilla.