Entry No. 84 — the New Orleans file — filed under: ice cream
Creole Creamery
The Tchoupitoulas is eight scoops with eight toppings, whipped cream, cherries and wafers, and if you finish it without help your name goes on the Hall of Fame plaque — the running list is up to 751 finishers, the most recent added on January 26, 2026, and one Steven Hammond is logged at seven minutes flat. The sundae is sold at all four shops but the challenge itself is only sanctioned at the Prytania Street location, which is the point of coming Uptown. The permanent board is where the real personality lives: Nectar Cream sherbet, Lavender Honey and Creole Cream Cheese sit there year-round, with rotating guests like Thai Basil Coconut, Ube, Strawberry Jalapeño Cheesecake and a Grapefruit & Campari sorbet. It is a narrow neighborhood scoop shop, not a spectacle — the plaque just happens to be on the wall.
→ Three more weird eats & drinks in New Orleans — never the same twice
The story
The Tchoupitoulas is eight scoops of ice cream with eight toppings, whipped cream, cherries and wafers, and the rule is that you finish it without help. Do that and your name goes on the Hall of Fame plaque on the wall. The list runs to 751 names. John Valdespino set the mark at six minutes and forty seconds in October 2010 and nobody has taken it back; Cecile Abbott finished at ten years old in August 2015; Jack Ellman was added on January 26, 2026. A few people appear on the list twice, which raises its own questions. The sundae is sold at all four shops, but the challenge is only sanctioned here on Prytania, which is the point of coming Uptown for it.
The plaque is the least interesting thing in the room, though. Everything is made by hand in small batches, and Bryan Gilmore has run production since day one. The permanent board reads like a syllabus in local dessert — Nectar Cream Sherbet, Creole Cream Cheese, Petit Four, Café Au Lait, Lavender Honey — while the rotating list is fifty-odd deep and swings hard: Doberge Cake, Buttermilk Drop, King Cake, Green Fairy, Ube, Thai Basil Coconut, Strawberry Jalapeño Cheesecake, Azuki Bean, plus dairy-free sorbets in blood orange, black currant and watermelon. Waffle cones are made on site and pints and quarts are packed by hand at the counter.
There are four shops now — this one, Lakeview, Old Metairie, and Bay St. Louis across the Mississippi line — plus a wholesale arm that sends one- and three-gallon tubs to restaurants and will build custom flavors to match a menu, which is why the name turns up on dessert lists you weren't expecting. The Prytania storefront stayed the small one: a narrow neighborhood scoop counter with a plaque on the wall, open until 10 most nights and 11 on Friday and Saturday.
What it's like
It's a small shop and you order at the counter, so the whole visit is decided in the two minutes you spend reading a board of fifty-odd flavors while someone waits on you. Ask for sample spoons — they're handed over without drama, and the rotating flavors are where the kitchen is actually showing off. Seating is a handful of tables; families dominate early and the room skews younger as it gets late. If someone orders the Tchoupitoulas, everyone finds out: eight scoops arrives with an audience, and the staff will confirm the rules but won't coach you through it. No reservations, cards are fine, street parking on Prytania thins out on weekend nights. Nut cross-contamination is possible across all flavors.
The move: Walk in around 9pm on a weeknight. One of you orders the Tchoupitoulas and commits; the other gets a single scoop of Nectar Cream, runs the stopwatch, and negotiates nothing. If the attempt dies at scoop five, cut your losses and walk it off down Prytania toward the Garden District — the shop is open till 10, till 11 Friday and Saturday, so there's no rush on the postmortem.
📍 Before you go Open noon–10pm Sunday–Thursday, noon–11pm Friday–Saturday; phone 504-894-8680. The Tchoupitoulas Challenge can only be attempted at this Uptown location — the Lakeview, Old Metairie and Bay St. Louis shops sell the sundae but don't run the challenge. No reservations, cash or card, street parking on Prytania. Seasonal flavors turn over constantly, so check their Instagram if you're coming for a specific one.
- 📍 New Orleans
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 4924 Prytania Street, New Orleans, LA 70115
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Prytania Theatre Midnight Movies — Four blocks up the same street sits Louisiana's oldest continuously operating cinema — eat first, then take the eight-scoop regret into a midnight Rocky Horror shadowcast.
- Peaches Records — Half a mile over on Magazine, and it closes at 7 while the Creamery runs to 10 or 11, so dig through the New Orleans 45s first and let dessert be the second act.
- Miss Claudia's Vintage Clothing & Costumes — One block from Peaches at 4204 Magazine, for the version of the evening where you assemble an outfit for each other before committing to a sundae the size of your head.
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Good to know
Can I attempt the challenge at any Creole Creamery?
No. The Tchoupitoulas Challenge is only sanctioned at the Uptown shop at 4924 Prytania. Lakeview, Old Metairie and Bay St. Louis sell the sundae but don't run the challenge or keep the plaque.
What exactly are the rules, and what do I win?
Eight scoops with eight toppings, whipped cream, cherries and wafers, finished without assistance. The prize is your name on the Hall of Fame plaque — 751 people have managed it, and the fastest on record is six minutes forty seconds.
What are the hours, and do I need to book?
Noon–10pm Sunday through Thursday and noon–11pm Friday and Saturday. No reservations for anything; call 504-894-8680 if you want to ask about a specific flavor or a cake.
Will the flavor I want actually be there?
Eighteen flavors are permanent, including Nectar Cream Sherbet, Creole Cream Cheese, Petit Four and Lavender Honey. Everything else rotates out of a list of more than fifty, so call ahead or check their Instagram if you're coming for one specific seasonal.
How do I get there and where do I park?
4924 Prytania Street Uptown, roughly 15 minutes from the CBD by car, with street parking on Prytania and the surrounding blocks. It's a four-block walk up Prytania from the Prytania Theatre.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site
last checked: 2026-08-26