Loard’s Orinda has been scooping ice cream and selling old-fashioned candy from a storefront across from the Orinda Theatre for over 70 years — the sign on the door says “An Orinda Tradition for over 70 Years” and it isn’t marketing. The original Orinda Loard’s opened in the early 1950s, when the theatre was still showing first-run pictures and Orinda was a much smaller town. Three generations later, it’s still doing roughly the same thing in roughly the same way.
It’s one of only two surviving Loard’s locations in Lamorinda — the other is Loard’s in Moraga, in Rheem Center. Together, they’re the last East Bay outposts of what was once a regional chain spanning Alameda, Castro Valley, San Leandro, Pleasanton, and Walnut Creek.
The Orinda Loard’s Experience
You walk in from Brookwood Road, three steps from the Theatre Square crescent, and the room reorganizes you into a much simpler version of yourself. There’s a long glass case of 43 hand-dipped flavors. There’s a candy counter on the right. There are two or three small tables and a counter ledge, but most people get their cone and walk back out to sit on the Theatre Square benches, or — depending on the show — duck across the street to the theatre lobby.
The room is bright, the staff is fast, and the line moves. On a normal weekday afternoon, you’re in and out in five minutes. On a Friday night with a movie crowd, expect to wait — the line for a post-7 PM showing routinely runs to the door.
The Flavors (~43 on rotation)
The Orinda case carries the full Loard’s lineup:
Premium Ice Cream — The Classics
Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry, Mint Chip, Coffee, Rocky Road, Cookies & Cream, Mocha Almond Fudge, Chocolate Marble
The Nostalgic Lineup (mostly unique to Loard’s)
- Burgundy Cherry — the signature dark-cherry classic
- Black Walnut — the grown-up choice
- Butter Brickle — toffee-crunch nostalgia
- Bubble Gum — with the pieces; kids only
- Black Raspberry and Black Raspberry Marble
- Cherry Vanilla
- Caramel Cashew
- Banana
- Butterscotch Marble
Sherbet
Champagne, Lime, Orange, Rainbow, Raspberry
Seasonal & Dairy-Free
Pistachio rotates in for summer. A separate dairy-free lineup is posted in the case — the selection rotates, so ask what’s in today.
What to Order
- Hot Fudge Sundae — the house standard and arguably the best-executed sundae in central Lamorinda. Real hot fudge, real whipped cream, a cherry.
- Hot Caramel Sundae — caramel people, this is your stop.
- Banana Split — three scoops, three toppings, an actual banana. Easily shareable.
- Milkshake — old-fashioned, blended hard, served with the metal mixing tin on the side (extra half-shake — the move).
- Black & White Shake — chocolate ice cream, vanilla syrup, blended.
- A single scoop on a fresh waffle cone — the most underrated choice. The Loard’s waffle cones are actually warm-pressed.
- Custom ice cream cake — call 48 hours ahead. Generations of Orinda kids have had their birthdays end at this counter.
Toppings (10 standard + 23 candy)
Hot Fudge, Hot Caramel, Chocolate, Marshmallow, Butterscotch, Whipped Cream, Pineapple, Strawberry, Nuts, Cookie Chunks — plus the 23 candy topping bins at the candy counter. Children will need approximately four minutes at this counter. This is normal and good.
Why Locals Love It
- It’s the after-theatre stop. A 5:30 PM matinee at the Orinda Theatre ends, you cross Brookwood, you get cones. This has been the post-movie routine for three generations of Orinda families. The theatre and Loard’s are, structurally, one ecosystem.
- It’s open 7 days a week, including Mondays. This is a notable Lamorinda detail: when Loard’s Moraga is closed on Monday, Loard’s Orinda is the only Loard’s option in town. Monday-after-soccer, Monday-after-school, Monday-after-the-grad-party — Orinda is open.
- Late hours on weekends. The 10 PM Fri/Sat close is the latest dessert option in Orinda. There is no realistic alternative.
- Walkable from a real meal. Pair with dinner at Casa Orinda, Shelby’s, or Fourth Bore, all of which are within a four-minute walk.
- The candy counter — old-school penny-candy energy, modern prices. Still a destination for kids who want to spend their birthday money.
Local Lore
Loard’s was founded in 1950 in San Leandro as a candy company; ice cream came shortly after. At its peak, the chain had a dozen-plus stores across the East Bay. Most closed through the 1990s and 2000s as East Bay commercial real estate consolidated. The Orinda store, in the small commercial pocket across from the theatre, quietly outlived almost all of them — partly because the theatre kept drawing foot traffic, partly because Orinda is a generationally-stable town where a post-school cone is still part of the actual week.
If you grew up in the East Bay in the 1960s, ’70s, or ’80s, the Loard’s Orinda case looks exactly the way it did when your parents took you. That’s the whole product. That’s why it survived.
Seasonal Note: Early Summer 2026
Late spring through early fall is Loard’s Orinda’s peak season. Sunsets are past 8:25 PM, the Theatre Square plaza fills up in the evenings, and Orinda summer programs are wrapping by 3 PM and dispersing kids straight to Brookwood Road. Expect lines:
- Saturday afternoons 2–5 PM (post-Little League, post-swim)
- Friday and Saturday nights 7–10 PM (theatre crowd + dinner crowd)
- After the Orinda Farmers Market Saturdays — the 12:30 PM market wind-down sends a wave of families straight here
The mid-week sweet spot is Tuesday or Wednesday 3:30–5:30 PM — kids are out of school, parents are off the worst of the workday, and the line is two-deep instead of ten.
Friday, June 12, 2026 is the first true summer Friday with Lafayette’s Rock the Plaza running 6–8 PM downtown. A meaningful number of Orinda families will route Lafayette → home → Loard’s, putting a 7:30 PM bump on the Friday Orinda line. Plan around it or embrace it.
Good to Know
- Open 7 days a week — Sun-Thu 11 AM–9 PM, Fri-Sat 11 AM–10 PM
- Cash and cards both work
- Counter ordering — no table service
- A few small inside tables and a counter ledge; most customers take cones outside
- Closest parking: Theatre Square public lots (free 2-hour) or the Orinda BART garage if you’re catching a late film
- Walkable from BART — Orinda BART is a 4-minute walk
- Ice cream cakes by special order; 48 hours’ notice
- Be patient with the candy-counter kids; the candy counter is the whole point for them
- The Monday option when Loard’s Moraga is closed
The Verdict
If you live in Lamorinda and you’ve never combined a matinee at the Orinda Theatre with a cone at Loard’s, that’s a small civic project to schedule this summer. If you’ve done it a hundred times, you already know — the line moves, the scoop is generous, the cone is warm, and the seventy-year-old room still smells faintly of waffle cones and butterscotch.
Lamorinda has a lot of fancy new food. It only has two Loard’s left. Use them.
Related: Loard’s Moraga · Orinda Theatre · Orinda restaurants · Things to Do in Lamorinda