Richardson’s Ice Cream crews: Where has the best experience?

Last week, I decided to share with you all my challenge to find the best ice cream in the area (see my original post here: https://bucketlistbroad.com/the-great-ice-cream-debate/). This week, I decided to compare all locations that serve Richardson’s Ice cream. So out of all the Richardson’s ice cream crews, where has the best experince?

When you hear “Homemade” you automatically assume Richardson’s will be the best. Especially when you’re comparing it to other locations that serve the exact same ice cream. So this was the debate this week. Because Richardson’s makes their ice cream on-site, will it be the best shop that serves Richardson’s? The short answer? I don’t think so.

THE LONG ANSWER

When comparing several shops that serve the same ice cream, you can’t just take a bite and decide “yup, this is delicious so they’re the best.” There are many other factors that come into play. The cleanliness of the location, expecially while facing a pandemic, is probably the most important. Other factors are price, location, toppings, and the demeanor of the staff. For this review, I went to the following locations that ALL serve Richardson’s Old Fashioned Ice cream.

• Richardson’s Old Fashioned ice Cream (Obviously, They’re the O.G.)
• Hawksie’s
• Jeff & Maria’s
• Findiesen’s

Findeisen’s Ice Cream

24 Jackson Street, Methuen, Ma. 01844
BEST: Friendliest Staff
Overall rating: 3rd place
Pricing: *Most expensive* Small-$4.30/Banana Split- $7.90

I’ll start by saying that this is the ice cream shop I’ve visited the most. I grew up on Findeisen’s. As a kid, when we were told we were getting ice cream my mind immediately went to the little white shop tucked on the side of a plaza. As for location, it’s not the best. Yes, it’s located in a highly frequented street, but it’s a plaza parking lot. This means a lot of cars and not a great place to sit with kids and enjoy an ice cream. Now, this, for me, doesn’t completely break it, I’m a big “to-go-er” when I get ice cream (bonus, I live about 5 minutes away). Which brings me to my next complaint- their to-go packaging. Now I’m not asking for anything fancy, but they don’t even provide covers for most of their containers. You get a piece of wax paper and an elastic. Does it do the job? Absolutely. Is it the best presentation? No. Is it the most convenient way to transport ice cream? Not particularly.

I chose to stick with a classic,

I went with Black Raspberry ice cream with rainbow jimmies in a waffle cone. The transaction is a walk-up window, with a rope creating a line. The entire establishment seemed clean, but not overwhelmingly noticeable.

As for the staff. They were great! I was a total jerk and showed up at the window for ice cream at about 9:55 pm. They close at 10 pm. BUT they didn’t care a bit! and I know what you’re thinking. I work in the food business, and they probably wanted nothing more than to close up immediately. But they didn’t act it. They were pleasurable and professional.

(They do not have a website at this time)

Hawksies

146 Main Street, Salem, NH 03079
BEST: N/A
Overall rating: 4th place
Pricing: Small-4.25/Split-$8.25 (large)

After a day spent at the pool, there’s truly nothing better than piling in the car to grab an ice cream to end the night. Especially when you have your nephew to spoil! Hawksie’s location is okay. On the main road but they have a private parking lot (shared with Sammy J’s, but they’re only open for breakfast). They have picnic tables set up in the parking lot area and also an indoor area. (Indoor area is temporarily closed due to the pandemic). We did ask for our ice cream to-go and were given lids that fit snuggly on the containers. However, the employee forgot to give us spoons. For three different transactions.

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For this visit,

I chose to get “Crunch-o-Saurus”, blue vanilla ice cream with cookie bits. I got a take out for my SIL and they put hers in a bigger cup because it had a topping- this is one trick I loved! The transaction was a walk-up window as well and the place did seem very clean.

Ugh, the staff. I would like to acknowledge that its not particularily fair to judge a place off one visit/one server. There are always bad apples. Always bad days. But for this experience, the service was awful. The server was just plain miserable. You could almost hear the misery while the order was being taken. Unfortunately, this and the fact that nothing particularily stood out, is why Hawksie’s takes last place. I mean the place isn’t terrible, it’s just not that great either.

(They do not have a website at this time)

Richardson’s

156 South Main Street (Rte 114) Middleton, MA 01949
BEST: Flavor Variety
Overall: Runner-up
Price: *least expensive* Small-$4.21/Split:$7.48 (*unavailable*)

I was so excited to finally go to Richardson’s! I have (surprisingly) never been. Well, at least that I can remember. I went with my family and had made the decision to get banana splits and some vanilla soft serve for the pups. I will say, the set-up for lines and social distancing was probably the best out of all places. So as we stand in line, trying to narrow down what three scoops we’re getting, I see it. A small 8X11 paper that says “In order to keep lines moving, we are not serving sundaes or Frappes.” Are. You. Serious. It’s the middle of the summer and one of the very few things we have left this year is ice cream stands. And I get it. It’s a weird time-they take a while to make, blah, blah. But, like, why not have two or three lines dedicated to sundaes/ frappe orders? I saw how much staff you had there, you totally could have done that. OR wild idea- put a freaking bigger sign-up or, like, somewhere you can see it before you’re next in line. Yeah. This one made me sour.

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Instead of my highly desired Banana Split,

I ended up with Toffee Crunch with Heath bar and a sugar cone on top. Abby got the Green tea flavor. As unique as it sounds, The Green Tea was actually really good! Again, the transaction was window service, and this by far was the cleanest. Everything was crisp white and immaculate.

The staff was okay. I honestly have nothing good or bad to say about them. As far as to-go packaging, we decided to sit on the back of my dad’s car and eat. My dad did ask for a box to carry his and they gave him a foam tray. Not the greatest, but atleast it’s something, right?

Check out their website here: http://www.richardsonsicecream.com/

Jeff & Maria’s

 918 Salem St, Groveland, MA 01834
BEST: Menu variety (Secret menu anyone?!)
Overall: First Place
Price: Small-$3.75/Split-$7.75

This was the first time I had ever gone to Jeff and Maria’s, however, for the past month or so, I haven’t stopped hearing about it. I HAD to give it a shot, and at this point, my expectations were HIGH. So did they deliver? Abso-freaking-lutely. They’re also off the main road, but they have a private parking area and a small sitting area with benches if you want to hang out there. The night we went was a mosquito soiree so we took it home. (Told you I was a big to-go-er!) The to-go containers were great, they even had lids for the sundae boats!

If you ever stumble onto Jeff & Maria’s take my word for it,

Ask for the secret menu.

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You won’t be disappointed. For this reason, I decided not to decide on a flavor on my own. I asked for the most popular ice cream they serve. I ended up with the “Peanut Butter Wizard”, basically a peanut butter lover’s dream in a cup. The only downside of it: all the toppings were on the top and the ice cream was buried at the bottom, It would have been better layered between the ice cream. However, I would definitely order it again. The secret menu items were a little pricey, especially when compared to the regular (a special menu PB split was $11.50). Just like the other three, Jeff and Maria’s was a walk-up window. The establishment itself seemed extremely clean and well organized as well.

And finally, the staff. The staff was great! In fact, when I went to snap a photo of my friend’s sundae, he was upset he already put the to-go cover on and ruined its perfection. The thought was awesome, but in my eyes, ice cream is always perfect. I also loved how they asked an order name and called you when your order was ready instead of standing in front of the window waiting. They were super efficient and friendly!

Check out their menu here: https://jeffandmarias.com/

How the heck did I get that conclusion?

Overall, out of all four of the places, there isn’t one that I would refuse to go to. They all had their own unique touches and they each had their own downfalls. The pricing was similar, as were the serving sizes. However, I was disappointed with Richardson’s limitations. I mean, it’s summer and you’re an ice cream place. Splitting a sundae is just something that goes with a beautiful summer night. Between this and the staff just being mediocre, is what made Jeff and Maria’s pull forward into first place. Okay, the secret menu totally helped- I’m a sucker for local places and unique secret items!

Do you agree with my rating? Think I’m a total whack job and don’t know what I’m talking about? Let me know in the comments and be sure to follow my search for the answer to the Great Ice Cream Debate.