The Quest for the Best Ice Cream of New England

RoadfoodDigest.com New England residents Chris, Amy and Stephen have frequented many ice cream stands and read many articles claiming to find the best, but were never content with reading about other people’s experiences - we had to find out for ourselves! Our goal was to taste our way throughout New England on a comprehensive journey to find the very best ice cream and hot fudge sauce. To make things even more exciting, we did this over two weekends so all the tasting notes and experiences remain fresh in our taste buds. To our knowledge, nobody has ever visited and rated 50 New England ice creameries, and certainly not in such a short period of time.

You can read more about it here: http://www.roadfooddigest.com/IceCream and here: http://www.roadfooddigest.com/category/New-England-Ice-Cream-Tour.aspx

No Dr. Mike's review.... yet?!?!?!?!

It's coming...we have been too busy getting our cholesterol levels down.

This month's Yankee magazine had their list of the five best ice cream places in NE. I disagreed with all of them, and they left out my favorite from Hampton Beach, NH.

AND your sugar levels down too

How many cases of brain freeze did you get??

After looking at the list I am happy to say that I have eaten ice cream at ALL of the places in MA and NH. But I did this over the course of 15 years!

No expert here, I eat ice cream once a year or less.
But when I do it's Bensons in West Boxford.
Their stawberry is loaded with fresh strawberries, they grow their own there.
You may have missed a good Roadfood experiance along RT.#133
A stop at Bensons, then just down the road to Masons farm stand for home made pies and further north to the Butcher Boy for some great meat selections.
Oh what the hell, you could have also visited the Clam Box and the Agawam diner all on the same route.
But Benson's is worth the trip alone. Chow Jim

Sorry ment to add Harrison's Roast Beef in N. Andover Rt.#133
Every bit as good as Nick's and Kelly's.
What an area, great ice cream, fried clams, roast beef, diner fare, and great beaches and farm stands all in a very short driving distance from each other. Chow Jim

That is truly amazing that the three of you were able to visit and rate 50 ice cream places in such a short amount of time. Although I don't agree with the rankings on some of my favorites, I sure am looking forward to trying out the places you guys raved about. Thanks for doing such a great job on this ambitious undertaking!

Did it really only take you two weekends to hit them all? And have any of you eaten ice cream since?

To be 100% accurate, we went to 48 places over the two weekends, and that doesn't include the five Roadfood joints that don't serve ice cream.

quote:

Originally posted by Stephen Rushmore Jr.

To be 100% accurate, we went to 48 places over the two weekends, and that doesn't include the five Roadfood joints that don't serve ice cream.

Great job Stephen! and company! I will get out that way one day and this list will be a starting point!

I love this so much! My only question: Where is Wentworth's, in Hamden, CT?

The review of Gray's in RI was interesting. I suppose that being in the top 50 is good, but in most lists they do better. For the record, I agree with the RF rating. It is worth the stop if in the area, but not worth a long drive. Sad to say, I've never been to a lot of places on the list......thanks for getting my taste buds going just as gas passes $4!!! GREAT, GREAT list!!! Thankyou for a wonderful public service!

So true! We get out on the road most every weekend. So many New Englanders come up here to the Lakes Region (NH) to vacation. We usually go to Maine to see family, but when we stay put we love the Dipsy Doodle Dairy Bar in Northfield, NH, right off the highway (exit 19 Route 93). They have real ice cream stand ice cream, not a commercial brand. They have waffle cones decorated (chocolate, nuts, sprinkles, Heath Bar, etc) that adds a treat for the grandkids.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimeats

Sorry ment to add Harrison's Roast Beef in N. Andover Rt.#133
Every bit as good as Nick's and Kelly's.
What an area, great ice cream, fried clams, roast beef, diner fare, and great beaches and farm stands all in a very short driving distance from each other. Chow Jim

I can vouch for Harrison's. First rate roast beef. Not near a beach, though...(and not ice cream, and maybe a different thread, but I saw it mentioned and had to second Jimeats' good taste!).

I've only had the pleasure of being in New England once, but we went to Newport Creamery there and it was fantastic :)

I have to be honest here... These Ice Cream Reports on the blog are getting old. Finally saw one on a hot dog place the other day that raised my eyebrows. But even then, report was so-so... But given it's summertime now, I'll lay low and keep my trap shut!

These places are great. We went to Maine last month and went to Toots in North Yarmouth 3 times within 4 days. Its excellent ice cream and highly recommended.

That was a truly admirable quest, Stephen & mates! I enjoyed reading about it. The only part I didn't understand was the hot fudge sundaes. If a place has really good ice cream, why would you want to intentionally cover it up and partially melt it?

timbigworm11, we're so pleased that you tried Toot's -- multiple times! Hope you had the Licorice ice cream!

RubyRose, Stephen did extensive research, and he found that vanilla & hot fudge is the top seller in the USA. Thus, part of our journey was to find the best of that, too. I'm not a toppings lover at all, but I now understand why people love hot fudge so much.

UncleVic, thanks for your honesty. New readers are pouring in for these continuing blogs, however, so we're trying to do more of them. How did our Modern Apizza feature strike you? Let us know how to make them better! Chris

OK, feeling a little nostalgic for places in southeastern NH - where I grew up - that are not on the list (and noticing a bunch that must be new).

Is it possible they're not there any more?

In particular, I'm wondering about the dairy bar at the University of NH in Durham.

My Favs are:

Big Daddy's in Wells, ME
Brown's in York , ME

Giffard's Grapenut is my all time favorite.

Mark

http://www.post-gazette.com/food/20030626lactose0626fnp6.asp has article about Lactaid ice cream, made by Hood in New England, which is lactose-free and has less sugar than most commercial brands. I use it at home, and it tastes very good, although not up to Dr Mike's, of course. Mix the vanilla with summer fruits and you'll have a tasty desert.

While on the road in PA, (or in Maine at Beal's) don't forget to sample Teaberry ice cream (made with wintergreen) for something different. Rarely seen outside of PA, the local CT ice cream shops have told me it doesn't sell well in our area.

quote:

Originally posted by Mark in VT

My Favs are:

Big Daddy's in Wells, ME
Brown's in York , ME

Giffard's Grapenut is my all time favorite.

Mark

I like Brown's as well, but an inside source (nephew who worked there) told me their ice cream was purchased from[url='http://www.shainsofmaine.com/']HERE[/url].

It is very good, but I had always thought they made their own.

quote:

I like Brown's as well, but an inside source (nephew who worked there) told me their ice cream was purchased from[url='http://www.shainsofmaine.com/']HERE[/url].

It is very good, but I had always thought they made their own.

Wow, I guess I will be spening more time and $ at Big Daddy's!
Thanks for the info.
Mark

quote:

Originally posted by Moss Miller

While on the road in PA, (or in Maine at Beal's) don't forget to sample Teaberry ice cream (made with wintergreen) for something different. Rarely seen outside of PA, the local CT ice cream shops have told me it doesn't sell well in our area.

I had no idea that Teaberry flavored ice cream was a Pennsylvania thing. I have only ever seen it at one place and that is at Brr-Kee's ice cream in Oakmont, Pa. Any specific region of the state it is more popular? I would love to try it at some other places.

quote:

Originally posted by Stephen Rushmore Jr.

To be 100% accurate, we went to 48 places over the two weekends, and that doesn't include the five Roadfood joints that don't serve ice cream.

Thats what I call taking one for the team!

I hit the famed[url='http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=14']Shady Glen[/url] restaurant in Manchester, Connecticut last month -- a place which scored in the top third of this site's recent "Quest for the Best Ice Cream of New England." After trying the Butter Crunch, Chocolate and Butter Pecan (all fantastic ), I had a theory that being: did the better ranking ice cream establishments all have restaurant personnel wearing some form of this?:



Maybe not in the more farm-oriented rural ice cream establishments but I've long noticed that the better ice cream I've had came from servers adorned in such paper toppers.


(I'm not sure that Science magazine will explore this theory so thought I would just throw it out here. Thank you. )