Applegate Farm

[Rosie]

on Ridgedale Ave. near Rt 10, East Hanover is now open. There ice cream is very good but my favorite ice cream is from Thomas Sweet. What about you?

[Nick Reingold]

This is very good news. I've been going to the Upper Montclair location for a few years now, but this is much more convenient.

By the way, the place is Applegate Farm (singular) not Applegate Farms (plural).

[phaelon56]

It's also worth noting that as good as their hand-packed ice cream is (to go by the quart or in a cone to eat on the spot), the prepackaged stuff they sell in the freezer is much airier and IMHO not of the same quality. The fact that it was so much cheaper should have been my clue but it just didn't taste like the same stuff - it was closer to being like a good supermarket ice cream (denser than Breyer's but not as dense, rich or creamy as Edie's).

[rhubarbd]

I'll take Holsten's over Applegate any day of the week!

[Rosie]

Holsten's??? Where can I find this brand?

[rhubarbz]

Holsten's Brookdale Confectionary is a 1950's-era homemade candy & ice cream store on Broad Street in Bloomfield. I can't say enough good things about it. They make around 15 flavors of ice cream - nothing wacky; just the basics (mint chip, vanilla chip, coffee, cherry vanilla, etc.) - and hand pack, like, a quart of ice cream into every pint! Prices are more than fair.

It's also a luncheonette with stools at the counter and around 20 tables in the back. They sell things like egg salad and chicken salad sandwiches for $2.95.

Kids love the place, as you might imagine. It's a total time warp. I've even had book group meetings there where we all sit around discussing literature over hot fudge sundaes!

Really well-mannered high school kids work there. You gotta check this place out, Rosie; it's a treat. And they're open seven days a week ...

[newguy]

You have beat me to the Holsten's place. I live in Little Falls and will go to Applegate Farms. But if we really want to go ice cream, we head straight down to Holsten's, grab a burger then one of their sundae's. Everything in that place is home made. The hot fudge is some of the best.

I am 30 and have been going to this place my entire life. My father grew up in Bloomfield and he has been going since he was a kid. A few different owners I believe, but quality is always good, and the price is right (very cheap).

Denville Dairy is a close second.

[tkrongold]

Holstein's is good, but for really outstanding ice cream, you should try Gelato on the border of Totowa & Paterson. They have some gelato, but primarily they have excellent ice cream. I have been going to Applegate's since I was 5 years old & it has definitely gone down in quality over the years. Try Gelato's.

[201]

Holstein's is good, but for really outstanding ice cream, you should try Gelato on the border of Totowa & Paterson.  They have some gelato, but primarily they have excellent ice cream.  I have been going to Applegate's since I was 5 years old & it has definitely gone down in quality over the years.  Try Gelato's.

I definitely have to second tkrongold on this one. I haven't yet tried the Applegate Farm ice cream, but I have been to Holsten a couple of times and the ice cream just doesn't do it for me.

Gelato (is that really the name?) has been my favorite ice cream place in the area for a while now and I'm sure I must've mentioned it on this board before. Ah yes... it's right here along with a couple of other suggestions for desserts. I messed up in that thread saying it was on Union Ave when it's really Union Blvd... I guess it was a brain freeze.

Speaking of gelato (the product, not the business)... if I get in the mood for gelato specifically I tend to head to Four Seasons on Market Street in Elmwood Park rather than the place described above. It's run by a really nice guy from Sicily who always seems to have RAI on the TV and makes gelato as nice as he is. I think the hazelnut is probably my favorite there.

[Rail Paul]

I believe Applegate Farm uses a Parmalat (Welsh Farms) base for its ice cream. AF adds its proprietary mix of fruits and fillings. I definitely concur the quality seems to have gone downhill (or maybe my tastes have gone up).

In the immediate area of AF in Hanover, I would recommend Maggie Moo's for ice cream. Route 10 West, opposite Novartis, in a little strip mall. I've found the taste preferable to AF.

Holsten's is great stuff. Broad Street, 100 feet south of Watchung Ave in Bloomfield

[Rosie]

What about Thomas Sweet?? Doesn't anyone like Thomas Sweet?

I think there is also an "old fashioned" ice cream parlor on Bloomfield Ave in Montclair. Anyone been?

[201]

What about Thomas Sweet?? Doesn't anyone like Thomas Sweet?

I think there is also an "old fashioned" ice cream parlor on Bloomfield Ave in Montclair. Anyone been?

I was there once and didn't order anything which would be substantial enough for me to formulate an opinion. I think I can safely say I'm not a big fan of the 50's retro style though (if that's any help at all)!

[Wiener]

Thanks to Rosie , who mentioned the following place to me about two years ago, my favorite place to go for ice cream is in Florence, Italy, and is called Vivoli.

Ciao

[Poots]

nothing compares to the fading memories i have of Grunnings Ice Cream in South Orange. They closed many years ago, and we started going to applegate farm after that, but oh that ice cream was the best i've ever tasted!

[rhubarbz]

The place in Montclair is called Soda Pop Shop & it's on Bloomfield Avenue near the Screening Zone movie theatre. While i've been there several times (hey - it's within walking distance!), it's not much to write home about.

The place is decorated with hundreds of kitschy '50s & '60s items - album covers, games - even the furniture is pop. Kinda cute. Sometimes they have mini-concerts - like Peter Tork from the Monkees has performed there.

But the ice cream is no big thing (IMHO). I've never sampled any of their other dishes.

[rozrapp]

What about Thomas Sweet?? Doesn't anyone like Thomas Sweet?

I do! Nothing like strolling around Princeton on a warm summer day and stopping at Thomas Sweet for some delectible ice cream.

In Ocean Grove, Nagle's Apothecary Cafe has very good ice cream in a wide variety of flavors. As the name of the place suggests, it's located in what used to be a pharmacy, and there is a lot of interesting old drug store paraphernalia along the walls.

Also, last summer, we stopped for lunch in Chester and then had some delicious ice cream in a shop on Main St. Don't know its name.

[pnapoli]

there's a place called mike's on paterson plank rd. in secaucus that has really good ice cream. applegate is overrated imo. people i work with rave about denville dairy. other than that, there's this place called springer's in stone harbor...good ice cream if you are willing to brave the crowds.

tommy -- the pipeline in newark (from the link in 201's post)?! you are my hero.

poots -- i remember grunning's--very sad when it closed and became--what?--a condo development? am i imagining things or was there also a grunning's in the building where the claridge theater in montclair is? this is going back *many* years (before they remodeled the lobby), so i could be totally wrong about that.

[Howie]

Anyone ever been to Denville Dairy in downtown Denville?

I grew up loving their ice cream, and must admit, I'm pretty biased by this point. Their french vanilla is one of the best I've ever tried!

Howie

[Rosie]

No. But Denville has a very good Italian restaurant now--Casa Di Amici.

[Casey]

I grew up in Rockaway, and lived for the soft serve ice cream at Denville Dairy! I don't know if its still owned by the Fine family, but they were also a nice group (went to high school with one of the sons), and I always feel good about patronizing family-owned establishments, as they seem to be more and more rare.

And yes, Rosie, I share your love for Thomas Sweet. In college, I visited the New Brunswick location once a week. Now that my metabolism has changed, and I live a few miles away, I am both sad and relieved when I try to visit and cannot find a parking spot to stop there!

Casey

[Rail Paul]

poots -- i remember grunning's--very sad when it closed and became--what?--a condo development? am i imagining things or was there also a grunning's in the building where the claridge theater in montclair is?  this is going back *many* years (before they remodeled the lobby), so i could be totally wrong about that.

Grunings "at the top" of South Orange Avenue was a favorite make out place during the 1960s and 1970s. High bluff at the crest of South Mountain, large parking lot, take out ice cream, etc.

Other Grunings were located in downtown South Orange near the corner of Vose Avenue, in Short Hills where the Hardees is now, and, as noted, adjacent to the Claridge theater. There's a 1955 picture in the lobby which shows the Grunings.

[MishyPoo]

I have a favorite old fashioned Ice Cream Parlour in Manahawkin, NJ called "Hurricane House." From what I gather, it has been there for many years although it was closed down a couple of summers ago, it re-opened last summer, with the same great ice cream and delicious whipped cream. The ice cream isnt super spectacular, but it is very good. I think the brand is Arctic, which I think they sell at Thomas Sweet, at least the one in Princeton.

Michelle

[Rosie]

I thought that Thomas Sweet made their own ice cream.

[Kim WB]

I know the Princeton Store, in the location on Palmer Square that closed, used to have a sign thatthe IC was made on premises. I am pretty darn sure about that..

[MishyPoo]

Oops...Maybe I am thinking of a differnt place. The place I am thinking of is a few doors down from Thomas Sweet Chocolates in Palmer Square , Cambers Cafe (or something like that). So sorry! Please forgive my faux pas. I must have been dizzy from the Thomas Sweet Chocolates, which are excellent, BTW. Did you ever have their freshly made raspberry or blueberry bark? It is soooo good.

Michelle