New England Ice Cream Stands That Stay Open During the Winter

New Englanders have a true love for ice cream. How else could one explain several ice cream stands remaining open during the frigid New England winter?

To top it off, you wouldn't believe the steady traffic these ice cream stands get even during the coldest days.

When ice cream is great, it's great and when it's bad, it's still pretty good. Here, however, we will only focus on the top New England ice cream stands that remain open during the winter because you deserve the best for putting up with the freezing temperatures!

Gray's Ice Cream (photo by Eric)
Gray's Ice Cream, Tiverton Four Corners, R.I. Gary's has been in business since 1923 and is open 365 days a year -- the reason being, as they state, "Because ice cream is good everyday!" Featuring more than 40 flavors, as well as some excellent sundaes, Gray's is one of the few places in Rhode Island to make its ice cream on the premises. You can never go wrong with chocolate, strawberry and vanilla, but we strongly recommend cherry vanilla, strawberry cheesecake, pistachio, ginger and frozen pudding (how appropriate for a cold winter day!). USA Today once featured Gray's in its USA's best ice cream parlors.  Hours vary during the year, so call ahead at (401) 624-4500.

Gray's is located in a pastoral farm setting in the Rhode Island FarmCoast region at  16 East Rd., Tiverton.


Ice Cream Machine flavors.
Click to enlarge.
(photo by Eric)
Ice Cream Machine, Cumberland, R.I.  The Ice Cream Machine might just have the best tasting ice cream we've sampled in the region, so it's nice to know that this classic ice cream stand remains open, year-round. Located across the street from Diamond Hill Park in a semi-rural section of Cumberland, the Ice Cream Machine offers some really wonderful flavors like cinnamon, key lime pie, raspberry truffle, s'mores, and cherry chocolate chip. Winter hours, at this writing, are Wednesday-Friday 12 p.m.-6 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

The Ice Cream Machine is located at 4288 Diamond Hill Rd., Cumberland RI. Tel. (401) 333-4513





Crescent Ridge Dairy Bar
(photo by Eric)
Crescent Ridge Dairy Bar, Sharon, Mass. Once ranked as one of the top 10 ice cream places in the world by National Geographic, Crescent Ridge Dairy Bar features some rich-tasting, truly amazing flavors -- especially black raspberry, toasted walnut fudge, peppermint stick, coconut and one of the best tasting vanillas anywhere. Hours, at this writing, are 11 a.m.-6 p.m., seven days a week.

Crescent Ridge Dairy Bar is located at 355 Bay Rd., Sharon MA. Tel. (781) 784-2740




Peaceful Meadows, Whitman, Mass. Going to Peaceful Meadows is like having a comforting, best friend. Perhaps the busiest of the ice cream stands in the winter mentioned here, Peaceful Meadows is also the most welcoming and friendliest from order to window delivery. Most importantly, the ice cream is as good as ever. This ice cream stand that has been around since 1962 is located in a farm setting, and turns out frozen gems like coffee, coconut chocolate almond, maple walnut, and grapenut. They also offer huge sundaes, and you can design your own.  Like Gray's, Peaceful Meadows make its ice cream on the premises. and the farm setting is scenic and, well, peaceful, any time of the year. Peaceful Meadows winter hours, at this writing, are from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. seven days a week. 

Peaceful Meadows is located at 60 Bedford St. (Route 18), Whitman MA. Tel. (781) 447-3889

Editor's note: we do recommend calling ahead before visiting these ice cream stands to ensure consistent hours of operations.

Related articles:
Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream, Mystic, Conn.
Abbott's Frozen Custard, Needham, Mass.
The Best New England Ice Cream Stands
Kimball Farm Ice Cream, Westford, Mass.
Kool Kone, Wareham, Mass.
Bubbling Brook Ice Cream, Westwood, Mass.
Ben and Jerry's Factory Ice Cream Tour, Waterbury, Vt.

Comments

eileensideways said…
Treadwell's Ice Cream in Peabody, Massachusetts is open year round too. http://www.mytreadwells.com/

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