Woodside Deli: Chocolate and Strawberry Milkshakes

Josh

There are two absolute facts in milkshake consumption, namely thickness and ice cream quality. Before anyone begins to question my expertise, I want to make clear that there can certainly be excess (sprinkles, fudge, brownie bits, etc) that obviously increase the delightfulness of this wonderful treat, but without the basics, excess, is simply that. The Woodside Deli has been a Silver Spring, MD, staple since 1947, and the décor screams it. One fun aspect of dining is, perusing the 1924 Cleveland Plain Dealer front page conveniently located in the men’s restroom. Obviously, a gender-restrictive luxury.

The deli itself is one of those awesome "we can make anything ever conceived" restaurants with a very extensive menu. The highlight for me was of course the Old Fashioned Thick Milkshakes. Only available in three flavors, chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla your options are limited, but a wise man once told me to stick to what you do best, and apparently that's what's going down here. A hard thing to really "screw up," milkshakes are not really an exotic or sexy dessert.  However, there's a balance with all successful cuisines and the Woodside’s milkshakes are the exact type of thick that allows both fluid movement through a straw and/or consumption with a spoon; quite distinguishable in fact from simply eating regular ice cream, a must in the frozen- milk trade. Therein lies the yin and yang of a great shake. The consistency is crucial and often taken for granted. Not here, not ever, and for that, I applaud and highly recommend a quick stopover. Grab a light sandwich and prepare yourself for a very filling dessert, one that comes with the blending cup on the side, the way our ancestors drank their shakes. The only way to really drink them!

9329 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20993

(301) 589-7055 

Google map & reviews (1.5/5)

Washingtonian 
Also, Todd Kliman recommended Woodside Deli’s chocolate milkshakes in a June 8, 2010 online chat:

One place I know that does chocolate malteds is The Woodside Deli, in Silver Spring. They're good. The food? Sometimes good, sometimes not so, but I like the shakes and I like the texture of the place, the old Vargas girls up on the wall in the back room, the black-and-white memorabilia.

Washington City Paper (3/5)

Metromix

Yelp (3.5/5)