Meola's Wayside Ice Cream (first visit)

After a youtube-inspired outing to explore the Old Stone Church in West Boylston, it turned out that Meola's was just a short hop down Route 12. Meola's includes multiple buildings - it's not as large as Kimball Farm Westford, but it might be bigger than anything else I've encountered - enormous parking area, lots of outdoor seating (multiple areas of picnic benches), and two entire loading bays converted into brightly colored indoor-ish seating.

The loading bays have artwork, hanging airplanes, swinging benches, and a piano. They're in the back of an adjacent building that looks more like a light-industrial office space, which also has a large "Meola's" sign that says "Good Milk", suggesting that it is, or was, the dairy?

They had four serving windows open (and a short line, on a Tuesday evening); it looked like they might be able to open a fifth. (I didn't get a good shot of the whole front¹ since there were a lot of kids in line.) There were traditional signs and a row of enthusiastically hand-written posters describing everything² - waiting in line gives you the time you'll need to decide, it looked like they had around fifty flavors of actual ("16% butter fat") ice cream, plus seasonal flavors, frozen yogurt, sherbet and sorbet (non-dairy), and a couple of no-sugar-added flavors. They also have basic soft serve, "flavor burst" (six more brightly colored flavors), and multiple dips: chocolate, cherry, and a "cotton candy coating" I've never seen before. (I suppose that pairs with the Cotton Candy soft serve but it's not going to be on my list.)

They also have sundaes and splits, and 24 oz frappes with optional sundae toppings mixed in. They also have "specialty popsicles" (kid-media styles, Power-puff, Spider-man, and SpongeBob) along with some kind of "soft serve on a stick".

First Visit

(The serving counters and the tables in the loading bay had the same bright yellow countertops, the decor was generally very cheerful.) I went with a two scoop cup of Triple Chocolate Ecstasy (I did consider Boston Blackout but I decided against brownies) and Butter Crunch, with chocolate jimmies.

The butter crunch was a fairly plain ice cream, though the crunch bits were fine. (My standards for butter crunch have perhaps been unfairly elevated by Chelmsford Creamery and Johnson's Restaurant and Dairy Bar which were brightly colored and had a distinctly buttery taste - if you haven't tried those, this won't disappoint you.)

The Triple Chocolate Ecstasy had a strong dark-chocolate taste, and plenty of "bits" - chocolate chips, fudge pieces and fudge swirl. More chewy than crunchy, but that's why I got the jimmies on top anyway.

Next Visit

Next time I'm out this way, I'll probably go for a soft serve vanilla cone dipped in chocolate - not enough places even do dip cones these days and it does take a bit of skill. I'm also eyeing the Chocolate Walnut Fudge, Salted Caramel Pretzel, and maybe even the "Juan Valdez" if I can get over the idea that it's "coffee ice cream, but for people who remember the 1960s" :-)

Meola's is also on the list for Smore's Day (10 August) since they have both a Smores flavor and a Campfire S'mores Sundae.

Food

I was surprised when I got there that, tucked in the corner of the menu displays, they had a Fried menu - clam rolls, fish sandwich, waffle fries - but they also managed to have "dessert fried" including Churros and Fried Dough (with optional Cinnamon Sugar.) So if my next trip includes more hiking, it might also include stopping here for dinner and ice cream.