Marlborough

Picco is a contraction of Pizza and Ice Cream Company - the Marlborough location opened in August 2025 (after the original Boston location had already been in business for twenty years.) It's down the block from Thairiffic which is how I stumbled upon it. It's also a new entry on the Massachusetts ice cream shop master list, both because it's new and because it turns up as a pizza place rather than an ice cream shop... however, the first thing you see when you walk in the door is the ice cream counter and menu, the pizza-place seating is around to the right, so it certainly qualifies to me as "an ice cream place" rather than "a pizza place with dessert".

And yes, the sign is a combination of an ice cream cone and a slice of pizza with cheese dripping off - which definitely looks like an ice cream cone first (especially from down the street) and then "wait a second..." once you realize that it's a pizza place. (Of course, then you stare at it too long and the pepperoni pieces start to look like two eyes and an open mouth, so maybe don't do that, just go in and get some ice cream!)

Picco's has an interesting list of flavors and toppings - though they got chopped off in this picture, rainbow and chocolate sprinkles, along with whipped cream and chocolate sauce; they make their own ice cream, with no eggs, and the sorbet is dairy-free, and apparently the things that can be gluten-free (not, for example, the ones with cookies mixed in) are gluten-free, it's not just a few specific items.

I looked at a menu picture from google maps to get an idea of how often they change flavors, but the only one I found was from earlier today so it was identical to this one.

They also have t-shirts and baseball caps - with most places I'd say "it's just a brand" but their logo is great and frankly I can see declaring one's enthusiasm for pizza and ice cream!

The paper menu has more detail, as well as an interesting point - since they're a pizza place with a liquor license, they can make an "Adult Ice Cream Soda" - though given that it's a Raspberry Lambic, they could also have just had "Root Beer Float / Actual Beer Float" instead. (This also means that their Rum Raisin has alcohol - probably not enough to do an Ice Cream Flambé though.)

Despite actually having beer, they have a 3-scoop "sampler" rather than a "flight", so I'm still curious about how that term is spreading through the ice cream shop world.

They're also equipped for Affogato (which I'm likely to try on a future visit - but not this time, having filled up on Duck and Crab at Thairiffic beforehand.)

I ordered "Coffee Cookie" with chocolate sprinkles. The texture was great - I would not have guessed that it was egg-free - and there were reasonably sized cookie chunks - but I had trouble placing the flavor as actually coffee - it certainly wasn't the usual "for people who don't actually like coffee" classic coffee ice cream flavor, but it wasn't a strong traditional coffee flavor either - I got more of a caramel or perhaps brown sugar flavor instead. On looking at the picture, it actually looks like I might have gotten two different kinds of ice cream, so maybe my order was misheard - looking at the menu, it's possible I got the Chocolate Malt flavor instead. (If it was, I know who to blame and it's not the server :-)

Regardless of the confusion, it was tasty, and an excellent dessert, even if I could only manage a small. Worth noting that even though it's only March, they were still serving ice cream at 9pm (the place seems to be open until 10) which I heartily approve of.

Next visit

I'll probably try an Affogato next time, and possibly the Vanilla with Peanut Butter Swirl. The Dark Chocolate with Peanut Butter Swirl is tempting but that's a non-dairy sorbet and I personally find chocolate goes better with dairy. (Apparently the Lemon and Tangerine Sorbet is quite good but would be a bit much for my tastes.)

Picco's is in a good spot - even if you're not there for pizza, there's Thairiffic, several Chinese places, Welly's and Wemmy's, and a Colombian place all a short walk away, and Marlborough Center has pretty generous parking options.

Trombetta's Farm in Marlborough is an ice cream shop that looks like it's trying to hide by pulling a garden center around itself like a blanket. Even the website shows more plants, minigolf, and event info than ice cream (to be fair, there is an ice cream-specific page but that's basically the catering menu.) We won't be distracted by the camouflage, as you see from the three serving windows in the above picture (if you ignore the Corn Husks and Pumpkins - it is Autumn in New England after all, they're kind of obligatory.)

It turns out that they also have an indoor counter and a bunch of indoor seating, plus four porch swings and at least half a dozen picnic tables - they're just not particularly near the serving window, but distributed around the multi-purpose building. Despite all that, they have an extensive ice cream menu and a wide range of related options: Sundaes (including a banana boat and a waffle bowl), a dozen flavors of soft serve, Richie's Slush, a Pup Cup¹, Raspberry Lime Rickey, Freezes Frappes and Floats, Frozen Yogurt, Sherbet and Sorbet. Didn't see any No Sugar Added² options, though there was a side panel of a handful of Vegan flavors on the Specialty Flavors chalkboard.

They seem to be open year round and, in addition to having rows and rows of pumpkins and other gourds in the garden shop areas, seem to be "Leaning In" to autumn with flavors like Pumpkin, Pumpkin Oreo, Apple, Cinnamon, and S'mores³ - plus they have Pumpkin Soft Serve.

Finally, they have two things I haven't seen on any previous menu - popsicles (maybe to go with their catering-ice-cream-truck service, since that includes Bomb Pops, an ice cream truck staple) and the Dirt Cup - soft serve with cookie crunch, gummy worms, and candy rocks - no mention if they serve it in the traditional flower pot, though.

First Visit

Despite the gourd-filled surroundings, I was not mislead, and got Dutch Chocolate ice cream - for a "pure flavor" ice cream (no mixins, no fudge swirl, just ice cream) it was surprisingly dark-chocolatey, I'd definitely pair that with a crunchy topping or some other chocolate-contrasting flavor next time (they do have Grapenut, my usual "pure crunch" choice, but Peppermint Stick or Black Raspberry would be interesting pairs as well.)

I paired it with one of the specials, "Peanut Butter Implosion" - mini peanut butter cups, peanut butter m&ms (or something like that) in what might have been a peanut butter ice cream base - but I'm not sure, it didn't stand up to the Dutch Chocolate (though I was happy with it as far as supplying extra crunch.) I might try it by itself or with something lighter on a future visit.

Future Visits

I'm definitely going to end up here again - it's less than ten minutes drive from The Fix Burger Bar, Gerardo's Italian Bakery⁴ - and it's also right near Lake Williams⁵ which is a great option if you want to balance your ice cream with some outdoor activity, especially on a sunny fall day.

As for ice cream choices - the Mocha Cappuccino Soft Serve sounds tempting (possibly because I'd started the day with an actual mocha from Sudbury Coffee Works) as does the Death By Chocolate (from the specialty menu.) I'd normally think of Salted Caramel as a good topping but they had it as a flavor; a friend tried it, it seems like it needs to be paired with something else but it could work.

(My inner twelve-year-old who isn't a Massachusetts-trained ice cream snob wants a Dirt Cup with vanilla/chocolate twist and walnuts and jimmies on top. Maybe next spring, I'll bring a mini-shovel...)

Just don't get distracted by the surrounding garden shop! (picture below suggests ordering Ice Cream Cakes... and firewood?)