Max’s Best Ice Cream in Bethesda has been named one of the “6 Coolest New Ice Cream Shops in America” by Food & Wine magazine, earning national recognition less than a year after opening its doors.
Located at 7770 Woodmont Avenue, the shop debuted in July 2025 and has quickly built a following for its creative desserts, oversized milkshakes, boozy shakes, specialty floats, and handcrafted sundaes. Max’s sources its premium ice cream from Delaware-based Vanderwende’s Farm Creamery, emphasizing high-quality, farm-fresh ingredients.
Beyond its dessert menu, Max’s Best Ice Cream has also partnered with Best Buddies, an organization that supports individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, helping create employment opportunities within the community.
The menu features a variety of inventive offerings, including the Over the Rainbow milkshake, Island Turtle boozy shake, Raspberry Lime Passion Fruit float, I Dream of Peanut Butter milkshake, and the Home Run Popcorn Sundae.
From Food & Wine, “Maybe no ice cream shop to open this year has such an optimistic origin point. Max Alexander, along with father Cory and stepmom Angela, partnered with nonprofit Best Buddies International to staff this Bethesda shop with folks who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, per the Washingtonian. The ice cream itself offers over-the-top sweetness: there are 33 flavors upon Max’s May 2026 opening, and four “extreme” milkshakes. These are the stuff of Augustus Gloop’s imagination, with chocolate bars and Oreos sprawling over the rim. All the ice creams are made in-house relying on Delaware’s historic family-owned Vanderwende Farm Creamery.”
