Keep it Local – Three Ways to Celebrate National Root Beer Float Day

Did you know today, August 6, is National Root Beer Float Day? You do now! I don’t know about you, but by the time August rolls around in the Valley I’m looking for any way I can to cool off. If you want to keep it local while you celebrate National Root Beer Float Day, I’ve got three ways.

1. Make your own root beer float – FresYes style

Naturally, a FresYes root beer float has to include products with a local connection. Start with a scoop or two of Fresno State vanilla ice cream (I get mine at The Market on Herndon and West) and top it off with Bulldog Root Beer (found at BevMo), which originated in Fresno. That’s all you need to make your own FresYes Float.

2. Free root beer floats at A&W

Don’t want to deal with the mess of making your own root beer floats at home? A&W locations nationwide are celebrating National Root Beer Float Day by giving away free root beer floats between 2:00 p.m. and closing. There’s only one A&W in the area, and it shares space with Long John Silver’s, but that counts! During the giveaway A&W will also be accepting donations to go toward the Wounded Warrior Project, a program that provides services and programs for injured military veterans and their families.

A&W
406 W. Shaw Ave.
Clovis, CA 93612

3. Enjoy a root beer float that’s not really a root beer float

The absolutely fantastic (and local!) Leilani Shave Ice offers a twist on the traditional root beer float with their “root beer cheer” shave ice. They start with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, top that with a small mountain of finely shaved ice, and douse it with root beer-flavored syrup. A cap of condensed milk completes the whole glorious concoction. Basically, it’s a root beer float you can eat with a spoon. There are now two Leilani locations, one in Fresno and one in Clovis. Whether you go for a root beer cheer or a more traditional flavor, you will not be disappointed.

Leilani Shave Ice – Fresno
1097 E. Champlain Dr.
Fresno, CA 93720

Leilani Shave Ice – Clovis
1177 N. Willow Ave. #106
Clovis, CA 93611

While preparing this post, my middle school-aged son informed me that National Root Beet Float Day is a made up holiday. He’s not wrong, but it does provide a convenient reason to enjoy a summertime favorite. Cheers!

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Kate Fries

Kate is a writer, wife, mother, runner, podcast enthusiast, and iced coffee addict. A Fresno native who has spent time living in Chicago and the Bay Area, she and her family recently moved back to Fresno. She writes about things like parenting, pop culture, fitness, food, and education issues for a variety of print and online publications as well as her blog, katefrieswrites.tumblr.com. If you think you've seen her running around her Fresno neighborhood, you probably have.

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