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Justin Levesque of the Fish Family Farm Creamery in Bolton holds a double scoop cone of Vanilla and Nutella.
Justin Levesque of the Fish Family Farm Creamery in Bolton holds a double scoop cone of Vanilla and Nutella.
Ice cream is one of the most popular treats in the country. It’s great on a hot summer day, but it’s not restricted to seasonal eating, as people serve it every day of the year with birthday cake, and it’s often served a la mode with Thanksgiving and other holiday meals.
But when the weather does warm up and parents have had a long day with the kids at the park or pool, where can you take the kids for a quick, cool ice cream treat?
Here are six popular local locations where people can go to get their fix.
THE SCOOP ICE CREAM CAFE
Location: 18 Church St., Ellington
Open for its sixth year, The Scoop Ice Cream Café has found a niche in its little corner of the plaza that connects Sadds Mill Road, Frog Hollow Road, Maple St., and Main St.
With colorful cow-themed decorations, and an outdoor picnic table area, The Scoop offers at any time, 16 of its 43 flavors from the mini-moo size up to sundaes and milkshakes.
With sundaes like Dirt & Worms, which has a cookie crumble and gummy worms, and the Brownie Delight — a chocolate brownie with your choice of ice cream, topped with fudge, whipped cream, and a maraschino cherry — there are plenty of options for those wanting more than just a single scoop on a cone.
Other treats include milkshakes, floats, smoothies, and funshakes a sundae that involves heaping scoops of ice cream, and more toppings than you can count.
The Scoop also offers treats for four-legged family members with dog-friendly frozen yogurt that comes in a small scoop with a dog treat on top.
“We come here because it’s the only place to get the doggy cups,” said Richard Magaldi of Ellington who was with his partner Dionne and their dog Arlo. “When I get here and I see what they have, my mouth waters.”
KLOTER’S ICE CREAM BARN
Location: 216 West Road, Ellington
Kloter Farms may be known more for its selections of outdoor structures like sheds, garages, barns, and gazebos, but in the midst of their expansive display is one barn in particular called the Kloter’s Ice Cream Barn.
The walk-up stand offers 22 flavors of ice cream, both hard serve and soft serve, three specialty sundaes — Eyes Wide Open, Peanut Butter Lovers Sundae, and Strawberry Sensation — as well as dairy free options.
Kloter’s also serves milkshakes, and floats, as well as four different sauces, nine dry toppings, and chocolate and rainbow sprinkles.
They also have Scooby Snack Dog Treats as well, which is vanilla soft serve with crunchy kibble.
A plus for Kloter Farms is its playground area for kids to play on while weary parents take a respite under an umbrella at a table.
Erin Pack, of Ellington, who was there of a family outing said, “It has the best ice cream in the area for the price. I love the ambiance, the seating, the playground nearby, it has a great family feel.”
WILMA’S SCOOP DU JOUR
Location: 122 Mountain Road, Suffield
Opened in 1995, Wilma’s Scoop Du Jour has the look of the quintessential small business ice cream shop.
The owner, Mona Mastalisz has been operating the place the entire time and it has been a go-to summer work spot and hangout for high school and college students.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Scoop Du Jour has remodeled and become an outdoor-only establishment with an order window on the side facing the parking lot on the Webster Bank side of the building, where there are picnic tables set up for people to sit, relax and enjoy their ice cream.
Scoop Du Jour offers 35 different hard packed ice cream flavors and chocolate and vanilla soft serve, served in either a bowl or a sugar cone.
Scoop Du Jour also offers a variety of sundaes, floats, and flurries, including Wilma’s Works, a sundae that comes with four scoops of the ice creams of your choice; four toppings; and banana, marshmallow, nuts, whip cream, cherries, and sprinkles.
This year, Mastalisz said, they’re carrying dairy-free ice cream for the first time.
FISH FAMILY FARM CREAMERY
Location: 20 Dimock Lane, Bolton
For a real rural ice cream environment, Fish Family Farm is located up a lengthy drive that sits on a hill overlooking the Bolton countryside.
On the farm property is a small shop that sells, fresh bottled milk, eggs, cheese, and other dairy farm staples, but they also have their own homemade ice cream.
Justin Levesque, one of the family members who runs the farm, said they’ve been making their own ice cream since 1992, using milk from their Jersey cows to make it.
There isn’t any fancy or elaborate sundaes or milkshakes, but Levesque said that because of the cows and the butter fat that’s produced from the cows, Fish Family Farm makes the best ice cream around.
“All of them have been born here and raised here,” he said. “We do about 200 to 250 gallons a week just for us. We also make Shady Glen’s base. We sell our ice cream and either the mix or our frozen tubs to restaurants for owners to sell as well.”
The treat with the Jersey cows, he said, is the extra butter fat that is in their ice cream.
“You get more flavor, richness, and taste,” he said. “With other styles of milk, you don’t get as much body to it. The Jerseys just stand out.”
The store does a total of 86 different flavors throughout the year, but serve about eight to 10 at a time at the store, but also have dozens of other flavors for larger containers.
SHADY GLEN RESTAURANT AND ICE CREAM PARLOR
Location: 840 Middle Turnpike E, Manchester
Known just as much for its “winged” cheeseburgers as it is for its homemade ice cream. Using a base from Fish Family Farm Creamery, Shady Glen’s ice cream will have a similar flavor and consistency.
Still a cash-only establishment, one of the few remaining in the area, Shady Glen maintains a classic diner aesthetic, with lengthy counter service and booth and table seating. It’s one of the few places in the area where you can get a burger and a milkshake or a root beer float in the classic style of a bygone era.
Shady Glen currently offers 17 different flavors of ice cream, sundaes, and root beer floats, and banana splits.
They also offer an eclectic list of toppings, including hot apple, maple nut, hot butterscotch, and pineapple toppings.
For sherbet fans, they also offer lemon and orange sherbets.
BLUE CHIP CREAMERY
Location: Wherever you need it.
Blue Chip Creamery is an anomaly in the local ice cream business, as it isn’t a centrally located business. It is a food truck.
Open for five years, Blue Chip is run by husband-and-wife team, Matthew and Cristina Zajac, they’re not like the monotonous melody-playing ice cream truck you may remember from your childhood, and they don’t make circuitous routes around neighborhoods.
Instead, the Zajac’s business is more for catering parties and events.
“We do parties mostly now,” said Cristina Zajac. “Public events. We bring the party.”
“We use 14% butter fat ice cream,” she said. “We do all different flavors. We have cups, waffle cones, unlimited toppings on everything.”
The truck has all the classic ice cream flavors like mint chocolate chip, chocolate, and vanilla, but their centerpiece item is their four different “Chillwiches,” or ice cream sandwiches.
Their most popular is the Cookie Monstah, a generous scoop of cookie dough ice cream between two large chocolate chip cookies, with chocolate syrup drizzled over it.
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