Staying true to a vision: Beloved Broward ice cream shop celebrates 70 years

A few years ago, Linda Udell Zakheim, owner of Jaxson’s Ice Cream Parlor & Restaurant, was doing some cleaning in the restaurant’s second dining room. As she wiped down surfaces and some of the old-fashioned, kitschy decor that defines the Dania Beach ice cream parlor, she opened one of the old metal boxes on display.

Inside, she found love notes from customers, scrawled on napkins and bills, thank yous and congratulations, jokes and praise, not only for Jaxson’s beloved ice cream but also for the warm memories created across generations.

“We’ll have these memories forever!” one note reads.

“This one is from 2017,” Zakheim says now, showing the grateful patron’s words. “We had no idea people were putting them in here or how long they’d been doing it or how they even knew to start doing it.”

When and why may remain a mystery, but what’s not up for debate is that Jaxson’s, which first opened on Federal Highway in 1956, has been drawing loyal customers for decades. Generations of South Floridians from Broward County (and Miami-Dade and Palm Beach, too) return over and over, drawn by the exquisite comfort of walking into a place that’s barely changed over the years, which is something of a miracle in a world that changes the way South Florida does.

“People have been coming here for 70 years,” Zakheim says. “Sometimes they break down and cry. It’s not just a neighborhood restaurant. It’s a feeling. Maybe they used to come down to Florida to see their grandpa and came here, or came because they got straight As, or it was their birthday or the last day of school. It brings them back to a wonderful time in their lives.”

Jaxson’s is celebrating its 70th anniversary this month, with a party on Feb. 19 with dinner specials, balloon animals for the kids and live music. There will be ice cream, of course, in a variety of flavors, including the basics (chocolate and vanilla) the most popular (Oreo cookie), your grandma’s favorites (butter pecan and rum raisin), fun for fruit lovers (strawberry, blueberry, black cherry) and a pistachio flavor made with whole nuts. Plus many more.

The flavors are proprietary blends created by original owner Monroe Udell, Zakheim’s father, and they’re a ferociously guarded secret. Don’t ask how to make Death by Chocolate or white chocolate macadamia or piña colada. Employees who know sign non- disclosure agreements, and they aren’t telling.

Even the Florida Panthers were impressed: For the past two years, the South Florida hockey team has come to Jaxson’s to eat ice cream out of the Stanley Cup.

The most famous item on the ice cream menu, of course, is the iconic Kitchen Sink. Saying the trademarked dessert is known around the world is not an understatement. Served in a “sink” designed by Monroe Udell, it offers a pound of ice cream per person, topped with bananas, homemade whipped cream, nuts and cherries and requires at least four people to order it.

For Zakheim, who had never intended to take over the business, growing up in Jaxson’s was a sugary paradise.

“I probably had more cavities than any child on this earth,” she says, laughing. “I ate so much bubble gum and licorice.”

At 14, she was allowed to help out running the candy store on Saturdays, then eventually graduated to being a server at 16.

“I was never handed money,” explains the Hollywood Hills High grad. “My dad was old-fashioned. He said, ‘You could make $100 a night as a waitress.’ I started there, then started cashiering all through high school.”

Zakheim went on to study social work and later became a stay-at-home mom with two kids, helping out her husband’s law firm and never expecting to find herself running a restaurant. But when her father was diagnosed with cancer, she knew things had to change.

“He was coming here every day up until he was 86,” she says. “We just never expected him to get sick. He was strong, still driving. But when he started to slow down, I was here by his side being a kind of manager and learning everything he loved. ”

Monroe Udell died in 2014, leaving behind a couple of instructions: Don’t change the pickles (she hasn’t) and keep the long tables (she has).

In truth, not much has changed at Jaxson’s over the years. The old player piano died a slow death and couldn’t be repaired, so it’s gone. The candy store is no longer a separate shop like it was back in the old days; it’s right at the front of the restaurant as you walk in, distracting you with items you may not have seen since your childhood (candy necklaces and cigarettes, wax lips, Necco wafers) as well as modern favorites (gummy bears, licorice).

There’s still a walk-up, takeout window for cones and cups on the go, an outside dining area that helped Zakheim and the staff tremendously during the COVID pandemic and the wooden signs with the faces cut out, a spot for selfies before selfies were even invented.

The restaurant continues to make its own syrups and whipped cream, even its own soda and root beer (Zakheim gets bread for the sandwiches from a local baker). She tries to keep Jaxson’s just as her father would have wanted. Customers still get a free basket of popcorn when they sit down (from a new popcorn maker) and if they order a Reuben or a patty melt, they can expect the marble rye bread.

One mistake never ceases to amuse her: After all these years, there are still customers who don’t realize Jaxson’s is not just an ice cream takeout window but a full-service restaurant that serves lunch and dinner.

“They see a line for the takeout window and just get in it,” she says.

You also don’t have to order a full meal to eat inside — you’re welcome in even if you just want a cup of ice cream. But If you’re hungrier than that, menu items include a variety of burgers (Miami blogger Burger Beast himself praised the patty melt back in 2011), sandwiches like the Reuben and giant hot dogs, like the half-pound Mile Long Dog and the gigantic, one-pound Artillery Dog, which also earns you sound effects when you order it. Salads have been added to the menu, as has a giant pretzel with dipping sauces.

Overall, though, Jaxson’s remains a fixture that celebrates the past. Massive change is not on the menu.

“People don’t want us to change anything, and that’s why we don’t,” Zakheim says. “We stay true to my dad’s vision. That’s the beauty of it. Where else can you go that’s exactly the same as it was when you were a child?”

Jaxson’s

Where: 128 S Federal Hwy, Dania Beach

Hours: 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 11:30 a.m.-midnight Friday-Saturday

Anniversary party: Feb. 19; balloon animals 5-7 p.m. in dining room; live music outdoors 6-8 p.m.; $19.56 special available all day, includes choice of burger or hot dog, fries, a soda and a scoop of ice cream. Enter to win a $100 gift card to Jaxson’s at form.jotform.com

More information: www.jaxsonsicecream.com or 954-923-4445

This story was originally published February 9, 2026 at 4:30 AM.