If you live in Fall River, Somerset, or the surrounding area, chances are you've been visiting Somerset Creamery since you were a child. With their many flavors of fresh ice cream made the old fashioned way since 1937, anybody who's anybody gets their cones at this Somerset institution. Mom and I often drive by on weekends - or any other summer day for that matter - and the place is always packed. Mom compared it to a 1950's car hop because of all the socializing and eating that goes on in the parking lot. We had only visited Somerset Creamery one time and found the ice cream to be a bit overpriced. Since that was many years ago (pre-New England Bites), we decided to give this place another shot. Mom kept dropping hints about how Somerset Creamery packs pints of their fresh ice cream, so naturally, I had to stop by and check it out. I pulled into the parking lot at around 5:20 p.m.
Since I had just gotten out of work, I figured that now was a good time to visit because many local residents are too busy eating dinner to think about dessert. I was right. The parking lot only had a few cars when I pulled in, which gave me plenty of opportunity to take pictures without being seen by everyone. When I stepped inside, I noticed two things: the overwhelming smell of the freshly baked waffle cones, and how clean everything was. You cannot eat inside Somerset Creamery because there are no tables, which is probably why the customers usually hang out in the parking lot. There is, however, a rope to keep the line of hungry people at bay while the scoopers make the ice cream treats. Luckily, when I entered, there was no one in line. I walked right up to the counter and ordered two pints - black raspberry for me, and frozen pudding for Mom. The total came to: I paid in cash, which is the only acceptable form of payment at Somerset Creamery. As I waited for the young girl to finish scooping my pints, I took some pictures of the inside.
Along with their large list of flavors, there are a bunch of little hanging signs that showcase each of their specialities. Everything seemed to be under $7 (with the exception of a quart of ice cream - $7.15), and each novelty seemed more delicious than the next. Of course they offer the typical sundaes, cones, banana splits, and milkshakes, but they also have the black cow, root beer floats, and Creamsicle frappes. Ice cream flavors include banana, black raspberry, blueberry pie, butter crunch, butter pecan, cherry chocolate chunk, chocolate, chocolate chip, chocolate chip cookie dough, chocolate coconut, chocolate mint, chocolate walnut, coconut, coconut Almond Joy, coffee, coffee chip, coffee Oreo, cranberry bog, French vanilla, frozen pudding, fudge ripple, ginger, Grape Nut, maple walnut, mint chip, mocha almond, mocha peanut butter, orange pineapple, Oreo, pistachio, rum raisin, strawberry, vanilla. They also offer sugar free coffee and maple walnut ice cream; orange, raspberry, and watermelon sherbet; and black raspberry chip, chocolate almond, coffee Heath, strawberry cheesecake, and cranberry frozen yogurt (although cranberry is only available at the Cape Cod store).
Speaking of the black raspberry chip yogurt, a co-worker of mine had complained to me that she did not get enough chips in her yogurt, while her husband ordered the pistachio ice cream which had plenty of nuts mixed in. "What's up with that," she asked me. I told her that I would have to check it out for myself, but when I got to Somerset Creamery, I found myself overwhelmed by all the ice cream flavors and shouted "black raspberry" without remembering to order the yogurt with chips. Oh well, maybe next time.
Once the girl had finished packing my ice cream, she put a sheet of wax paper over each pint before putting the covers on. Then she marked each cover with the correct flavor, put them in a brown bag, and sent me on my way. I was glad that she took the time to make sure that I was not handed a sloppy pint because I've had this happen at a few ice cream shops. God knows I hate ice cream on my hand (see: Sea Swirl). I drove the pints home in our handy freezer bag complete with ice sheets. When I got home, I put them in the freezer for an after dinner treat while Mom and I watched Project Runway later in the evening.
At 9 p.m., just as Project Runway began, Mom headed for the freezer. Before we devoured our pints, we made sure to take a spoonful of each other's flavor so that we could have a taste. I thought Mom's frozen pudding was delicious, and so did she! She said that the ice cream was better than that last time we had it, but to be fair, we had our ice cream in sundaes and the flavor was kind of lost in all of the toppings. However, she found this pint to have a deep buttery rum flavor with just enough pieces of candied fruit. She said that it was very tasty, and she can't wait to try another one of Somerset Creamery's flavors.
Now that we're back on track with the rest of Southeastern Massachusetts, Mom and I will definitely be making many more stops to Somerset Creamery. The taste of the ice cream is fantastic, the price is average, and who knows who you are going to run into there? It could very well be New England Bites.
Somerset Creamery is open from 12-10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 12-10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. They also have a second location in Cataumet, MA, which is on scenic Cape Cod.
