Cliff's Dairy Maid

1475 Rt. 46, Ledgewood, NJ - (973) 584-9721

Overview Reviews(1) Rate Restaurant Upload Photos Bookmark Email

Posted By Michael Stern on December 29, 2009 4:36 AM

Since it opened in 1975, Cliff's has become a beloved part of the landscape along Route 46 in Ledgewood, New Jersey, just a hop off I-80. It is a modest-sized drive-in (no indoor seating) with a large parking lot and a grove of picnic tables in back. Its claim to fame is ice cream – thick and creamy although not so over-the-top butterfatty that you can't easily enjoy two scoops or three one evening, then come back for a skyscraper cone the next day.

Proudest of its dozens of hard ice cream flavors, which range from the familiar to such extravaganzas as the wonderful Graham Central Station and Double Dark Chocolate Fudge Crunch, Cliff's also boasts a half dozen kinds of soft-serve. The ones I have sampled are extremely dense and rich, although not as full-flavored as they feel. I did very much enjoy a double-flavored twirl of chocolate and the soft-serve flavor of the month, mint.

Beyond ice cream, Cliff's has a fundamental drive-in menu of hot dogs and hamburgers as well as grilled cheese and chicken breast sandwiches. I've had a foot-long hot dog and the 5-ounce Big Bud Burger, which, while not necessarily in the top rank of New Jersey drive-in eats, are altogether agreeable preludes to an afternoon's ice cream orgy.

Overall Rating

Small Ice Cream

Milk Shake

Egg Cream

Foot Long Texas Wiener

Big Bud Cheeseburger

9 out of 9 people found the review helpful. Was it helpful to you?

No Yes