05-08-2025
I visited Sidoli's in Rhyl and tried its famous ice cream
Located on Wellington Road, the famous old café takes its name from founder Domenico Sidoli, an Italian immigrant who started the business in 1910.
Now run by his granddaughter Maria, the shop is like stepping back in time, having retained many of its original features including an old coffee machine.
A charming interior, with retro black and white flooring and pink walls, I was reminded of the film Grease - the T-Birds and Pink Ladies would have fit in perfectly.
Back in the day, Sidoli's had only served vanilla ice cream before later branching out into other flavours.
Now, just vanilla ice cream remains an option, so I went for the classic - a few scoops in a cone (coated in strawberry sauce) - to sate my thirst on a very hot day.
Beautifully whippy and smooth, the ice cream was delicious, and with the sun baking Rhyl I had to be quick to not get my handed covered in its sticky cream - an easy task when the ice cream is this good.
Sidoli's operates in a busy area of Rhyl, and the business had also run three kiosks on Rhyl promenade before the Second World War.
Despite a greater choice of ice cream and dessert shops in Rhyl and the wider world today, something about businesses like Sidoli's just cannot be replicated.
Its local, family-based ethos, that special feeling you get when you walk in, and the cafe's history, are all hard to come by.
Sidoli's truly is a Rhyl landmark, and represents the best qualities of the town.
