It's a teensy takeout place in Cambridge (pictured), but the bigger Waltham location of Lizzy's Ice Cream feels like an old-style ice cream parlor – a funky one with work by local artists on the walls.

WHAT TO GET: Charles River Crunch: dark chocolate ice cream with almond toffee nuggets.
WHEN TO GO: Stop at the Cambridge shop after a movie at the theater across the street or before a stroll through Harvard Square, but don't expect to sit – there's just one table. The shops are open from noon until 11 p.m. (Cambridge) or 11:30 p.m. (Waltham) every day in nice weather, but Cambridge closes at 10 p.m. from roughly mid-October through early March.

367 Moody Street, Waltham, 781-893-6677, and 29 Church Street, Cambridge, 617-354-2911; lizzysicecream.com