Most ice cream shops use shiny modern equipment, but one old-school Virginia drive-in is doing things very differently.
That’s because a 120-year-old waffle cone machine is still hard at work, cooking thin wafers that are rolled by hand into crispy cones.
Add carhop service and a fascinating connection to the early days of the ice cream cone, and this family-run spot feels like a trip back in time.
Keep reading to discover the story behind this Virginia classic and why it deserves a stop on your next road trip.
Where Is It?
You’ll find Doumar’s Cones & Barbecue at 1919 Monticello Avenue in Norfolk, Virginia.
It’s about a 25-minute drive from Virginia Beach, roughly 1.5 hours from Richmond, and around 3 hours and 15 minutes from Washington, D.C., depending on traffic.
About
Doumar’s Cones & Barbecue offers an old-school drive-in experience where you can order from your car and enjoy barbecue and hand-scooped ice cream.
It is especially famous for its freshly made waffle cones, still produced using the original waffle cone machine dating back to 1905.
You can actually watch the cone-making process while you’re there.
The machine cooks thin waffle batter into round wafers, then each warm piece is quickly rolled into the familiar cone shape before it cools and hardens.
Once done, it is crisp, fresh, and ready for your favorite scoops of ice cream, including vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, butter pecan, lime, and orange sherbet.
You can also order a milkshake in flavors like chocolate, cherry, pineapple, and strawberry, plus seasonal choices like cheesecake, peach, and egg nog.
If you still have room, try a sundae, banana split, or the famous Ringo, a vanilla ice cream topped with cone chips, hot fudge, whipped cream, and a cherry.
Beyond the sweet treats, Doumar’s is also a full drive-in restaurant with a menu of classic American comfort food.
The highlight is the pork barbecue sandwich, but you can also order hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, steak sandwiches, fries, and other classic favorites.
You can eat inside, but for the full drive-in experience, order from your car and let a carhop bring your food right to you.
The setup feels wonderfully different from a modern fast-food drive-thru because you can park, order, eat, and hang out without constantly moving your car through a line.
History
The story behind Doumar’s starts with Abe Doumar, a Syrian immigrant whose name became closely connected with one of America’s favorite desserts.
According to the Doumar family’s account, he was selling paperweights at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair when he noticed an ice cream vendor had run out of paper dishes.
Nearby, another vendor was making waffles, so Abe bought one, rolled it into a cone while it was still warm, and topped it with ice cream.
The idea helped the ice cream stand continue serving customers, and Abe spent the rest of the fair selling ice cream in rolled waffle cones.
After the fair, Doumar brought his family from Damascus to join the business and built a four-iron waffle machine that could cook several waffles at once.
In 1905, he opened the first of a chain of ice cream stands that eventually stretched from Coney Island to Jacksonville, Florida.
Two years later, Abe and his brother George opened a stand at Norfolk’s Ocean View Amusement Park during the 1907 Jamestown Exposition.
It became the family’s most successful location, reportedly selling nearly 23,000 cones in a single day.
After a hurricane damaged much of Ocean View Park in 1933, George reopened Doumar’s at its current Monticello Avenue location in 1934.
He added sandwiches to keep business going year-round and introduced the curb service that you can still enjoy today.
The family kept the business going through the decades, even as national fast-food chains brought new competition.
Today, Doumar’s still makes its waffle cones by hand using the same recipe and four-iron machine built more than a century ago, keeping a piece of the family’s early history alive.
Know Before You Go
Opening Hours
Doumar’s Cones & Barbecue is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.
It’s closed on Sundays, and hours can change around holidays, so check the restaurant’s current schedule before making a special trip.
Parking
Free parking makes it easy to stop by, whether you want to eat inside or enjoy carhop service from your vehicle.
The laid-back atmosphere keeps things simple, so no need to dress up for your visit.
Things to Do Nearby
It’s easy to pair a stop at Doumar’s with a day of exploring Norfolk, since several popular attractions are only a short drive away.
The Chrysler Museum of Art is about 5 minutes away and has more than 35,000 works spanning thousands of years, plus free general admission.
Right next door, you can stop at the museum’s Perry Glass Studio to watch glassmaking demonstrations and learn how artists work with molten glass.
You can also head about 5 minutes from Doumar’s to Nauticus, a maritime discovery center on the downtown waterfront that’s home to the 1943 Battleship Wisconsin.
If you have more time, take the 20-minute drive to Norfolk Botanical Garden, a 175-acre attraction with walking paths winding through 60 themed gardens.
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