Dania Beach, Florida · Founded 1956
A family-owned Dania Beach ice-cream parlor founded in 1956, known for its trademarked Original Kitchen Sink dessert and Monroe Udell’s civil-rights-era legacy.
Monroe Udell opened Jaxson’s Ice Cream Parlor in Dania Beach in 1956. He chose the name for its Southern sound while navigating antisemitism in a town where Jewish and Black residents faced discrimination. Jaxson’s became a family-owned South Florida landmark known for large sundaes, old-fashioned ice cream, and its trademarked Original Kitchen Sink dessert.
Monroe Udell's family moves from Connecticut to South Florida and operates Harry's Good Food on Hollywood Beach, where Monroe works before opening Jaxson's.
Source: Visit Lauderdale, "70 Years of Sweet Tradition: The Story Behind Jaxson's Ice Cream"
Monroe Udell opens Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlor in Dania Beach, initially occupying half of the current restaurant space.
Source: Jaxson's official history; Visit Lauderdale, "70 Years of Sweet Tradition: The Story Behind Jaxson's Ice Cream"
Monroe chooses the name Jaxson's because it sounds Southern while he faces antisemitic discrimination in Dania Beach.
Source: Jaxson's official history; South Florida Sun Sentinel historical reporting summarized by Yahoo News
During the segregation era, Monroe Udell hires Black workers and serves Black customers despite local discriminatory practices and pressure.
Source: CBS Miami, "Founder Of Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlour Dies At 86"; Jaxson's official history
Dania Beach honors Monroe Udell by naming the street in front of Jaxson's Monroe Udell Street.
Source: Jaxson's awards and accolades page; WPTV, "Jaxson's serves up nostalgia"
Founder Monroe Udell dies at age 86.
Source: CBS Miami, "Founder Of Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlour Dies At 86"
Linda Udell Zakheim contributes an original 1950s Kitchen Sink container to History Fort Lauderdale's Roots Resil: The Story of Black Broward exhibit.
Source: Yahoo News, "Monday: Mr. George Hadley Day"
Current regional reporting identifies Linda Udell Zakheim as owner and describes Jaxson's as an active Dania Beach landmark.
Source: Visit Lauderdale, "70 Years of Sweet Tradition: The Story Behind Jaxson's Ice Cream"; WPTV, "Jaxson's serves up nostalgia"
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
Jaxson's identifies the Original Kitchen Sink as its signature dessert and current owner Linda Udell Zakheim says the restaurant holds a trademark for its Kitchen Sink. The record supports Jaxson's distinctive branded version, served in a sink with a siren and sparklers, but this review did not retrieve the trademark registration or prove that no earlier sink-themed sundae existed elsewhere.
Jaxson's official materials say the business has been family owned since opening in 1956. Monroe Udell's daughter, Linda Udell Zakheim, is identified by both the company and current regional reporting as the present owner.
Contemporary reporting after Udell's death and the company's own history say he ignored Jim Crow segregation practices by hiring Black workers and serving Black customers before the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The sources do not establish a single 1964 desegregation event; they document a continuing practice during the pre-civil-rights-law period.
Jaxson's has a documented 1956 founding and family continuity, but this review did not compare earlier South Florida ice-cream parlors, soda fountains, closures, successors, or ownership histories. The source record supports a landmark status, not a regional oldest title.
Jaxson's was named after a founder named Jackson.
Monroe Udell founded Jaxson's and chose the name for its Southern sound while trying to navigate antisemitic discrimination in Dania Beach.
Source: Jaxson's official history; Yahoo News, "Monday: Mr. George Hadley Day"
The Original Kitchen Sink is proven to be the first kitchen-sink sundae ever invented.
Jaxson's has a trademarked Original Kitchen Sink dessert and strong evidence for its own signature version, but this review did not retrieve the trademark registration or prove that no earlier sink-themed sundae existed elsewhere.
Source: WPTV, "Jaxson's serves up nostalgia"; Visit Lauderdale, "70 Years of Sweet Tradition: The Story Behind Jaxson's Ice Cream"
Jaxson's desegregated its lunch counter in a single 1964 action ahead of local mandates.
Sources describe Monroe Udell as hiring Black employees and serving Black customers during the segregation era before the Civil Rights Act of 1964. They support a continuing practice, not the candidate's specific one-time 1964 event.
Source: CBS Miami, "Founder Of Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlour Dies At 86"; Jaxson's official history
The current Jaxson's building was constructed in 1956.
Jaxson's began operating in part of the present restaurant space in 1956, but this review did not establish the building's construction year.
Source: Jaxson's official history
Jaxson’s survives because the Udell family made a single ice-cream parlor into a shared family ritual, with oversized desserts, a theatrical dining room, and a strong local identity. Monroe Udell’s willingness to hire and serve Black people despite segregation practices became part of the venue’s larger community story. After his death in 2014, his daughter Linda Udell Zakheim continued the family business and its distinctive standards.
Jaxson's opened in Dania Beach, Florida, in 1956 when Monroe Udell created a family ice-cream parlor on Federal Highway. Udell chose the name for its Southern sound while facing antisemitism in the area, and he hired and served Black people despite segregation practices. His daughter, Linda Udell Zakheim, now owns the continuing family business.
No verified evidence establishes Jaxson's as Florida’s oldest ice-cream parlor. Jaxson's was founded in 1956, and this review did not complete a statewide or South Florida comparison of older ice-cream businesses. Its strongest supported distinction is long-running Udell family ownership and the Original Kitchen Sink dessert.
Jaxson's created and trademarks its distinctive Original Kitchen Sink dessert, a large ice-cream creation served in a small sink with a siren and sparklers. That supports Jaxson's signature branded version, but this review did not establish that it invented every earlier use of a “kitchen sink” sundae concept.
128 S Federal Hwy, Dania Beach, FL 33004
(954) 923-4445
Jaxson's currently serves lunch, dinner, and ice cream seven days a week; confirm current hours, Kitchen Sink availability, wait times, and holiday exceptions directly with the restaurant before visiting.