Thomas Sweet

The shop at 3214 P Street NW has been at this Georgetown address long enough that it has become part of how residents describe the block. Thomas Sweet started in New Jersey in 1979, and the Georgetown location, run by Mohammed Ali for nearly four decades, has built the kind of local institutional standing that requires staying in one place for a very long time and consistently producing a product that justifies the return visit.

Mohammed Ali has run the Georgetown Thomas Sweet for 38 years, which makes him one of the longest-tenured owner-operators in the neighborhood. The ice cream is made in-house, running to 63 flavors, which gives the menu a range that covers the expected standards and the more specific seasonal and specialty flavors that a serious ice cream operation adds to distinguish itself. The blend-in format, which folds toppings and mix-ins into the ice cream at the point of service, was part of Thomas Sweet’s repertoire before Cold Stone Creamery made the format a national chain concept. For Georgetown’s older residents, the blend-in is the Thomas Sweet signature that preceded the large chain’s version by years.

The chocolate and fudge operation runs alongside the ice cream. The homemade fudge comes in variations that fill a wall of the shop and covers the range of what a serious confectionery counter carries: plain chocolate and vanilla, nut-incorporated versions, seasonal flavors, and specialty preparations. The chocolate’s quality was apparently recognized at the highest levels: President Reagan served it at White House dinners, which is the kind of endorsement that a Georgetown sweets shop earns through product rather than marketing.

The Clinton administration added its own footnote. Chelsea Clinton stopped by most Sundays during the years the family was in Washington, and President Clinton’s consistent order was mango sorbet, which is the kind of specific detail that the longtime counter staff at Thomas Sweet can report because they remember it. The shop’s customer list over nearly four decades of Georgetown operation includes the range of what Washington produces: presidents, diplomats, senators, university presidents, and the generations of Georgetown students who discovered the P Street shop during their years at Georgetown University a few blocks away.

The shop occupies a position on P Street between 32nd and Wisconsin Avenue, in the cluster of small food businesses that has anchored this block of P Street for decades. Hours run from 11am daily, with the shop closing at 10pm on weeknights and 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays. For a first visit, the blend-in is the format to order rather than a scoop in a cup: it is the product that Thomas Sweet does differently from the surrounding ice cream options, and the 63-flavor menu provides enough range to make the combination interesting.