Chelmsford Creamery is a little roadside ice cream shack with a huge parking lot, on 3A just south of I-495. (The internet being what it is, this was Gary's Ice Cream from 1973 to 2020 and searching still turns up pictures of the old place.) Counter service with an overhang, and plenty of picnic benches out front and around the lot.

First Visit

I had a bright yellow Butter Pecan, which had more of a buttery taste than I've had before; I made the mistake of having it on top of an Orange Sherbet (I was craving "creamsicle" after missing out on it at Cabot's and it was good - but combining them was a mistake on my part.)

They also had a good strawberry ice cream, with strawberry bits in it. Overall they had a pretty good range of "summer" flavors along with the traditional New England ones.

I do owe them a return visit to get an orange sherbet frappe, and also to try their "Chocolate Decadence" Flavor.

Little Z's is just off 110 east of Chelmsford Center. Outside picnic tables and window service, but also a couple of indoor seats and an indoor counter - and an opening in the wall that connects it to Zesty's Pizza (Little Z's is basically a seasonal spinoff.) It's also in the same building as Euphoria Coffee (which should really just add an Affogato to their offerings, especially if it involves sneaking out the back door to pick up the ice cream from Little Z's. ⛾ 🍨 ) Plenty of shared parking - and the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail runs along one edge of the parking lot, so there's also plenty of trail to walk off your ice cream, if you're into that.

The Little Z's menu includes ice cream, smoothies, soft serve, frappes, floats, smoothies, and raspberry lime rickeys; an interesting list of flavors and toppings (including twix pieces, toffee bits, and sour worms.) Their August Specials included a "Salted Caramel Pretzel Frappe" which seems like too many salts, though perhaps it's worth a try anyway.

First Visit

I had Grasshopper Pie (which was a refreshingly strong mint with crumbled chocolate cookies throughout - if you often find yourself thinking that mint chip ice cream is just Not Minty Enough, it's worth trying this instead) and also Cookie Chaos (which, as the name suggests, has a little bit of everything. Lots of crunch.)

I also got a taste of their strawberry - after trying their amazing mint so I was braced for not being able to taste anything else - but the strawberry shone through, I was pleasantly surprised.

Next Time

Next time I'll probably try the Pistachio and complain about the lack of Maple Walnut (though they do have walnuts as a topping, maybe mocha chip with walnuts and pretzels to get a similar texture.)

Stumbled on The Creamery while looking for ice cream around Home Depot. It apparently just opened a few months back and it's directly adjacent to the Brandeis/Roberts commuter rail stop.

Aside from ice cream they have a range of ice cream sodas, floats, and a milkshake (not a frappe, oh no) as well as a range of hot and cold coffee drinks (specifically from an espresso machine, so your "normal" coffee will be an Americano, but that's fine.) They also have Raspberry Lime Rickeys - not my thing but a few friends are fans so I have to point it out.

The thing they are really into is Sundaes, nearly half of the menu board is an amazing range of ice cream sundae concepts. I was waffling between the Peanut Butter Pretzel Sundae, the Chocolate Lover's Dream Sundae, and the Waffle Sundae (ha ha) when my friend pointed out that they have a Baklava Sundae and I'd missed out on the Baklava Ice Cream at New City last week. It was amazing.

Baklava Sundae

(This was a Large) Loaded with pistachios, walnuts, and honey, but they also had small-cannoli-shaped baklava "tubes" which they sliced disks off of to include in the sundae. Of particular novelty: they started by dumping toppings into the cup, then added ice cream, then the "top" toppings, so that when you get down to the bulk ice cream layer (which, don't get me wrong, was a good vanilla in it's own right), "surprise!" another layer of crunchy bits to finish it off.

Next Time

As a First Visit, I don't yet have an "if you're picking something up for me" preference yet, but I certainly want to try their Tiramisu Sundae and Waffle Sundae (waffle-cone bits, should be Very Crunchy) but wouldn't object to any of the other 14 Sundaes on the current menu (well, the Tropical Paradise Sundae appears to be Very Coconut so it's going to be pretty far down the list, but it has Mango! so it's not off the list entirely.)

They've only been open since May but it looks like they've got a good spot so I wish them luck!